I built my first stitch and glue (a CLC 17) from scratch a couple of years ago. It was my fist attempt and I read a lot (read this forum a lot) and learned a lot which did slow the process a bit. I picked up the wood just before Christmas and launched it on the following Memorial Day. Building from plans was excellent, but it definitely consumed more time in the early stages of the project.

I just finished my second boat, a CLC North Bay, which was built from a kit due to time constraints. I started in early January but lost about three weeks of epoxy work in the early stages due to unseasonably cold weather (well, it was cold for Dallas :-) )and an unheated garage. Since I was higher on the learning curve, I avoided some problems from the first time around and progress was much faster. If the weather holds, I'll be launching the boat this weekend.

Since time is a factor, I can highly recommend the CLC kits and I've also heard only good things about the Pygmy kits as well. (There are probably others as well that I'm not mentioning...) All the parts are there, they're precision cut, materials are high quality, instructions are complete, etc., etc.

You may THINK there will be time constraints, but I think I speak for many here who find that once you start, the whole building process is incredibly addictive, creative, relaxing and fun (although you'll mutter a curse or two before it's over as well...). You'll MAKE the necessary time.