I'm not sure how much he's actually going to use it. I think the project was more about making it than using it. Maybe a few decades ago he would have been more into the idea of using it.
EDIT: he told me a great story of his first boat when he was a kid. He got two 1940's era car hoods, screwed them together, sealed the gap with tar and voila. Something like this style:
We launched the bark canoe at the same public park where he used to use his old "two hoods boat".