First of all I must thank all of you for your advice. I have some more time to think about my choices before I begin my project. I am still waiting on a couple of books from B&N and Amazon. I'll do some reading and then take the plunge.

One thing to remember about wood is that it takes a fair amount of equipment to work with it. Since the height of my technology is a circular saw this puts me in a bit of a bind. Yes, I know I could do it with the C saw, I have done that sort of thing before, but it is a pain in the a** to set it up and do it right.

I am looking for the simplist construction method possible. To that end, I will almost certainly use plywood ribs. The choice of stringers is still up in the air. At this time I am leaning toward a mix of galvanized conduit and wood gunnels. I am going to use wood gunnels so I can use the staple method of attaching the canvas.

I think the galvanized conduit is at least good as the PVC and easier to work with than wood. It will take a pretty good whack to put a permanet bend in it. And by that time I should know if this paddle thing is for me or if I should just stick to my motorcycle. All that said, I still have some time to wander around the local adult toy store (Lowe's) and look at other alternate materials. (I noticed some slats in there the other day. You wood folks mights win out yet) (i wonder if you could do a strip and glue with slats)

regards,

John

: Your first kayak is really about success, and to that end, I always
: encourage builders to stick with proven materials, and leave the
: experimenting
: to kayaks 2 through 500.

: In this case, wood is best. It's both inexpensive and well proven.

: If a first time builder fails due to the materials used, or the complexity of
: the project, they may never try again. I've seen it happen many times.

: It doesn't really matter how good the first kayak looks, as long as it's
: completed. You can work on the cosmetics next time. And in most cases,
: a first time success leads to a second, a third, and so on.......

: Success is contagious,

: Tom