> Looking for a fast sturdy expedition kayak that can be used for day trips
> as well as 2 week excursions. Never built one before so I am not sure if
> going off plans will be very easy. Need suggestions. Leaning towards the
> CLC Chesapeake 17'.

I'm currently building the CLC Chesapeake 17 from plans. Have never done anything this precise before, but the boat has shaped up and I am in the final stages of construction. Most of the warts will only be known to me.

My biggest goof up was the first set of scarfs that I did. One of them was completly hosed. If this had been a kit, I would have been in big trouble, but since I was using raw materials, I had enough wood to make up for the mistake. Do pratice some scarf joints before doing the real thing.

The best advice is to take your time - do not get in a hurry. Remember this when working with epoxy. You will have time before the stuff kicks, especially the MAS system that CLC recommends (rushing an epoxy job was the source of a couple of early mistakes).

Search the bbs archive of this site. There are plenty of tips on building these boats.

The next boat, my wife's, will be a kit - she is anxious to get on the water with me. Building from plans does take a lot longer. However, you do learn a good deal.

I have found support from CLC to be great. I usually get a reply to my e-mail questions within a couple of hours.

hth