Willie-O, it sounds pretty much like how dugouts were/are used on the northern end of the west coast. The Makah have resumed whaling, on a small scale. Sounds like you'll have plenty of local resources there where you are. A friend of mine in Minnesota was searching for a suitable log for the same reason such as you describe and had no luck. On the west coast there is still some very large western red cedar, and I believe we risked biological censure in mixing our species when teasing him about "pinus envy."

SRS