Check at your loacl library for some of the books which are frequently mentioned on this board. You can also search amazon.com for books on building kayaks. When you find a book title there, be sure to read thru the listing and check on their lists of other books that are similar, or have also been bought.

Copy down the book titles, the authors, and the ISBN numbers and head to the desk at your library that handles interlibrary loans. You may have to ask about this service, as it seems to be one of the hidden secrets of the library world. Through interlibrary loans your local library can share in the resources of other libraries across the continent and around the world. (Sometimes) Once the books are located they will be shipped to your library (usually for free) and you will be able to check them out for a while. If you find a book you absolutely MUST own, go buy it. he typical books I buy are those that have plans in them. This way I have the data on hand without worrying about a due date for returning the book.

In some cases buying the book grants you the right to build a boat form the designs in that book. In other cases, the author does not specify whether the palns are freely available, for sale, or require a royalty payment. If they don't ask for money, you don't have to send them any. Sometimes you'll read the book and then order a set of full size plans at an additional cost. Some of the books are detailed instructions for assembly. One book, David Hazen's book on strip building canoes, not only deals with building kayaks, but includes the full size plans.

There are 4 basic typse of home made kayaks: Woodstrip or cedar strip, Stitch and glue plywood, skin-on-frame, and solid fiberglass. The first three are mostly wood or wood-framed. The last one may be built on a wood mold, or not. There are books that specifically relate to each of these building methods, so you'll need to look through at least three books to get a firm grasp on your options.

Read thru the information on this bbs and check out many of the links. In a few hours you'll start to get an idea of which way you want to go to start.

For a quick start I'd recommend you look at kayak plans offered for sale at Clarkcraft and Glen-L. The urls are: www.clarkcraft.com and www.glen-l.com respectively. Keep in mind that there are mnay other sources of plans, these two, however, have good descriptions for the boats they offer, and contain informative reading for the beginner.

Wjhetever style of boat you wish to build you'll find that there are some "exotic" or strange materials involved, which you may have never seen before at your local stores. We have had pretty good luck with helping people around the world find what they needed, and they have built their own boats. You can too.

Write back and let us know how you're going.

hope this helps.

PGJ