Huron chines, Keel, Knuckle

[Tom Clark]

In the bill of materials for the Huron, the longitudinal pieces are 3/4" x 1 1/2" x 16' for instance. When purchasing the mahogany( spruce is not available here), what should I look for in the wood as far as wood grain. Sixteen feet is pretty long and it might be hard for me to find a piece with the grain running lengthwise the whole way. What advice can you give me on selecting the wood for these thin longitudinals?

Also, I will drill a pilot hole before I screw and glue the pieces in place. What happens if the wood splits. Splitting seems likely to me, maybe I am wrong. Please advise.

[AaronStJ]

If the wood splits, it splits. And it will split. I usually saturate the area in glue and clamp it, but I don't know what one is "supposed" to do.