I agree with what Rick said, but you have to remember that Rick is the resident speed-demon on this board. He's now working on his fourth (is that correct, Rick?) boat for 2002. Two of them strippers. All of this in three months less than its taken me to build about 95% of a kayak.

I absolutely agree with Rick that you should simply enjoy the process, and let it take as long as it takes. Its not work, after all.

If your goal is to complete a canoe in as few hours as possible, you're probably better off working a minimum of 3 or 4 hours in each session. If you just chip away at it, putting in 30 minutes here and 30 minutes there, you'll be repeating some of the setup time and "getting organized" time for each session. On the other hand, though, putting in 30 or 60 minutes after a long day of work is a great way to wind down and clear your head, so in that case, who cares how long it takes to finish?

If you haven't already found it, another excellent board you might be interested in, thats a little more canoe-oriented, is at Bear Mountain Boats.

: I saw a message posted somewhere from a guy who said he built a red cedar
: strip canoe in 80 hours, including the time to build the strongbacks. Is
: that possible? I see people talking about anywhere from 250 to 500 hours
: for many of the kayaks I see here.