: Thanks! to all those who have given straightforward (as well as extremely
: verbose!) advice to someone trying to get into the wooden kayak scene.
: These "rendezvous" everyone is talking about are not convenient
: travel destinations for someone in southern Michigan (Lets see...spend
: several hundred dollars in airfare and accomodations to then spend an
: additional thousand for the boat building supplies...NOT!). Surely, there
: must a get-together somewhere in Michigan, especially since it is bordered
: on three sides by three of the largest lakes on the continent! I have
: heard there might be a Michigan get-together this month in Bay City...is
: this accurate? Does anyone have any details? My dilemma is fairly simple:
: I like the performance of the pygmy coho, but I want to build a similarly
: performing watercraft with wood strips...which model best approximates the
: coho? A free bottle of beer(upon meeting) will go to anyone who gives a
: satisfactory answer/solution which saves me from having to fly to NH or WA
: just to try out a few boats! Thank you all in advance!

: Rob

Hi Rob,

Don't dismiss the "fly out to NH" thing quite so fast. Last summer I had the same dilemma, I wanted to build a stripper but the only info I had to go on was the descriptions on various websites, it seemed that everything had "good initial stability, tracks well yet very maneuverable, etc..." Just for the heck of it I put in a bid on Priceline for 2 ticks from Chicago to Manchester and got them for 150 ea., rented a Geo Metro and got a rustic little cabin for 2 nights through Newfound. Grandma watched the kiddies and my wife and I ended up having a fantastic weekend we'll always remember.
I showed up with no paddle or PFD, but everyone was happy to lend me whatever I needed to test as many boats as I could. Loved the Coho, Great Auk and surprisingly, the Expedition Single, too. Some boats felt pretty scary, but I'm still on the far left side of the learning curve. I ended up building the Georgian Bay and have been paddling the heck out of it this summer. So try to make it to NH if you can, if that's out of the question, drive down to Chicago and I'll let you paddle my GB (bring that bottle of beer with you).

Jim