Unless Pygmy Boats is giving away their designs, they do stand to profit. I assume at the very least that they would charge the buyer for a set of plans, and let the at-home builder do the whole kit from them. But that would require that the builder find all the materials and components himself. Most likely Pygmy supplies a complete kit, for about $700, and the builder tacks on his wages. So Pygmy is searching for surrogate employees to help fill a niche in their business, catering to the clientel that would like a wood kayak but don't want to build their own. If I were Pygmy, I'd just add a section to my own website titled 'Looking for builders' and not use the competition's pages. Many of us pop back there now and then to see if there's anything new. Remember, too, that profit doesn't necessarily come in dollars. Any boat they can get built that otherwise wouldn't have been built adds another tick-mark to their tally sheet -- so that they can boast how many of their kits have been built.

BTW -- I built my first kayak, a Pygmy Arctic Tern, this past winter and love it, so it's not that I have anything against Pygmy Boats...

> Dean,

> I don't think that Pygmy was attempting to advertise by posting the
> notice. Unless I am interpreting it incorrectly, Pygmy does not stand to
> profit. How many of the home builders out there would love to have the
> opportunity to build kayaks and possibly make a little income from doing
> so? I think the answer would be -- most of them.

> By the way, I overheard one fella commenting to another about getting rich
> by building wooden boats as a career ... " The solution is simple,
> all that you need to end up with a SMALL FORTUNE as a boat builder is to
> start your career with a LARGE FORTUNE!"

> Joe Greenley

> Redfish Kayaks