Your mission, should you choose to accept, is to make a kayak that is fancier than what you've seen on this bulletin board. Make somithing so fantastic that it makes the rest of us cringe with envy. It's called 'raising the bar.'

I think Shawn's work of art was his first stripper, if I remember correctly, after having built a Chesapeake. I built my Outer Island with some inlays after only having built a Pygmy kit. How fancy you can get probably has more to do with your own level to attention to detail (read: retentiveness) than experience. You can make your first kayak an outstanding one.

Dean

: I've received my book and my plans and I'm reading this KBBB daily for tips.
: I saw Shawn's recenlty completed kayak picture with the great deck pattern
: ... now, here's my question.... just how fancy can one successfully be on
: his first kayak deck pattern? Should I just keep it simple and concentrate
: on construction technique without the added challenge of changing wood
: colors to make a designed pattern? I plan to take my time and pay
: attention to the details (after all, I do have my honey-do list). I've
: even thought about not using staples and just doing one strip ... let the
: glue dry then another... but I know me...and I'll get excited as my skill
: improves and I'll get IMPATIENT (is that pretty much how it works?).
: Anyway, I'm interested in your feedback about just how fancy YOU were with
: your FIRST kayak deck and hull patterns. Mark