I was trying to find likely places where Nephi built his ship. I was looking for a forest next to a river in the middle east. I know that the native people and THOR HEYERDAHL built boats of reeds. The nearest forest i found was on the Malibar coasts of India. I believe it was made of trees becase the BoM states it was made of timbers and had a mast that several people could be tied to.
A lot of research has been done in recent years on the journey Lehi took and where they ended up at. The following article has some good info on where nephi built the ship.
https://www.meridianmagazine.com/articles/0...1nephiship.html