Rob,

Wow, do I hear ya about the cold it's -30's with wind chills in the -40's here and the arctic air mass that is over us is not supposed to move for 10 days.

My paddling buddy Dave who built a Ches17LT told me to sit in his kayak when it was being supported at both ends on foam like you mentioned with the sawhorses and I thought he was nuts. I gingerly placed my 205 lbs into the cockpit expecting lots of demolition type sounds and to go crashing through the hull.
Not a sound, and no flex, it just blew me away how strong the boat actually was.

Cheers,

Ken