Western red cedar is similar to white pine in weight; northern white cedar is lighter, bends easily, but is softer than pine. The Adirondacks were full of large virgin pine and spruce back in the day, and both woods adapted well to building boats. I built a ribless guideboat in red cedar, glassed inside and out. It was much too heavy, but rowed like the wind. Then I built a fully ribbed 14-foot Grant stripped in white cedar glassed on the outside only. I have now fully converted to planked Grants, no glass, and the only epoxy in them is for the laminated ribs. I planked one in flat sawn white cedar - big mistake. Quarter sawn may have been better, but the flat sawn cedar cracked severely, requiring a lot of filling. The current build is another Grant 14-footer, planked in quarter sawn eastern white pine. Much better, though it seems slightly heavier.
By the way, if you strip a guideboat in pine, use bead and cove strips with waterproof glue like Titebond III, and make sure every strip joint is tight, you don't need fiberglass. That saves many $ and makes for a lighter boat. I know of one boat built that way, and it worked out just fine.
