Type of wood?  The wood is what most people call door skin.  These are most often made from an Asian evergreen hardwood commonly referred to as Philippine Mahogany or Lauans (Shorea).  There are several dozen popular species of imported Shorea [Family/Genus: Dipterocarpaceae / Shorea].  I found 177 listed at www.worldagroforestrycentre.org.  I'm not sure which one I used on this Woody but the characteristics are good for this type of work.  Thin strong light flexible plywood that bonds well, with no voids.  And a public thank you to Duke Wells for donating the old growth Western Red Cedar that I used for the nose and tail blocks.

This Woody is laminated with epoxy and S-glass and will weigh in at about 20 pounds.  

The half completed paddle in the foreground is made of Alaskan White Cedar, Sitka Spruce, and some unknown hardwoods that I found washed up on the beach.