i can't really tell what kind of wood that is. it kind of looks a bit like oak, but it doesn't appear to be as dense as oak. i know, you can't tell density from a pic, but i'm going by how tight the grain pattern looks.

brian is 100% correct, driftwood from the ocean is nearly impossible to remove the salt content from.

go get some manzy boy! you will not regret it. oh, and take some pics from monterey!!