Yesterday I made up what were going to be gunwhales out of some of the sassafras I already had, mostly to test out my scarf jig. I noticed a couple of tiny pinholes, which I was told are from a boring beetle and would not affect the strength, but tonight I decided to break them anyway as a test for my peace of mind.
With titebond 3, cured 24 hours, I bent a 16 foot scarfed gunwhale until it broke, nowhere near the joint. I kept trying to get the joint to give up and I couldn't, also couldn't get a failure near/across the pinhole.
I am satisfied, and will be buying the rest of my stringer material tomorrow