Hi Tom,

I'd be interested in hearing more about your designs. I've looked at your web pages and I'm really intrigued, but a little intimidated by working with aluminum. I'm a woodworker (and barely that), and have no experience working with metals. Is the construction pretty easy for someone with no metal working experience?

I'm just starting to plan out my next boat, and thinking an SOF would be a fun way to go. I've got Putz' book but haven't read any of the others, so I really don't know what options are out there beyond the two boats he describes.

I'm looking for something that is quick to build, inexpensive, and will handle my size and weight (6', 215 lbs). For this boat I'm not necessarily looking for cargo capacity, and I expect to be using it mostly on calm water. If you have a suggestion among your designs (or anyone else's, for that matter) I'd like to hear it.

Chris