I thought you might find this interesting.
A few months back I visited with Bill Monette, the shop teacher on the Makah Indian reservation on the tip of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. He has his students building strip-built whaling and racing canoes - I was quite surprised and impressed by the degree to which they've immersed themselves with these projects - the entire high school shop is filled with these boats, either finished or under construction. The boats range in size from 12' to 50'.
This photo is of the gray whale skeleton that the Makah Indians harvested during the 1999 hunt - this of course was done with a hand launched harpoon from a whaling canoe powered by paddle. The other skulls are from whales that the tribe scavenged - from whales that washed up on shore.
Bill's wife is involved with the Ski-to-Sea race out of Bellevue, Washington and wanted a strip-built kayak to race with this year. Bill suggested, and I eagerly agreed to, a deal - a kayak for a "large" quantity of old growth blow-down cedar from the reservation's rain forest.
Joe
Redfish Kayaks