Mark,

the skilsaw vs. tablesaw isse have been much debated. The person I know who has the most experience building small strip plank boats reccomends using a skilsaw instead of a table saw. His experience is that the skilsaw produces just as good strips as the tablesaw for less work (setup, running planks trough it, breaking strips while handling etc). The short experience we have with the skilsaw is pretty good. We will at least give it a serious try.
Strips are 5mm btw. We expect to remove a full millimeter while sanding.

You are a professional woodworker? Whow! We will keep on posting updates to the blog and do a reminder her from time to time. Please keep comments, suggestions and everything else coming.