Kath,
The whole reason for messing with boats is to buy tools isn't it?

Okay, I'm not familiar with the Stillwater design, but I have built 2 Mill Pond 13's from the plans in Woodenboat and have the plans for the 15 on my bench. I'll get to it once the tandem I'm building to my design is on the water and I finish the wife's wish list. Funny, not a single boat on it. The Mill Creek is realtively easy to build and a nice safe boat on the water in protected areas (its not a surf boat). My wife likes it because, in spite of her bad back, she can easily get in and out of it. I built one for my 11 year old daughter to starting paddling in and it has proved a good safe trainer. I ordered the plans for the 15 to get something with a little higher performance.

The hull goes together fast, the deck may require you to find a helper to get started, although I work alone, using clamps and screws for third hands. The process is much faster than a stripper. The cockpit coamings are probably the most difficult part. You'll need all those clamps CLC recommends. When I do the next one I'm going to pre-drill three holes on the bottom edge of the coamings and screw them to the carlins after they're clamped. The coaming has a tendency to wander out of position even with all of the clamps.

Of course now that your boat is built the second half of the project starts, finishing it. If you have chosen to sheath it in fiberglass you will have to fill and fair the hull before painting. I paint most of my boats because I've spent far too many hours of my life with a varish brush. I use a good quality gloss latex enamel and apply it by rolling and tipping. While this part of the project can be dull (remember an electric sander will take only about 1/100th of the time as hand sanding, gotta get that tool!) stitch & glue is so much faster and more pleasent than a stripper. I've built strippers. I won't say I'll never do it again because they can be beautiful. You should expect to spend five times the amount of time on a stripper of the same size as your sitch and glue. First you glue it together, with all those staples. Then you sculp it to a fair form with high powered sanders. Then you sheath it and fair it all over again. On the up side once you've built a stripper any other woodworking project seems easy. After completing a stripper I did a kitchen full of cabinets and was amazed how easy working in flat plains was by comparison.

Hope this is helpful. If you have any questions let me know.

: Hello, I am a total first time novice when it comes to woodworking. I've got
: a plastic tandem rec kayak that paddles great, but I really want to build
: my very own kayak for myself and my pooch. I've been checking out all the
: websites and reading bulletin boards, and would like your opinions on the
: type of boat a novice should try to build. I understand a stripper will
: take a lot more time (and sanding, finishing, etc.) than a stitch and
: glue, so I'm leaning away from the stripper. I'm definitely getting a kit,
: and the less tools I have to buy to finish it, the better. My favorites so
: far are the Stillwater Sunset or Sunrise Double or the CLC Millcreek 15.
: Has anyone built these boats and have any advice?