I agree with most of what's been said. You won't really know what you really want until you've had a kayak of your own for awhile, paddled in it, and lived with it. You'll probably end up with a second boat after awhile, but then you'll probably realize its shortcomings and get a third boat, etc. I know people who do this with store-bought boats! They have more money than I do. But when you build them yourself you have the fun of building (it's addictive), plus the pride when finished, plus the fact that you can customize to satisfy all of those wants and needs you realize when you realize your present boat's shortcomings. Plus, it's a whole lot cheaper!

However, you have to start. Build a good boat, follow the directions, get it done, and paddle it. Then, in a year or two or more (or less), you can think about what you want next, and you can build it at your own pace, because you'll already have a boat to paddle.

I've never paddled a Pygmy. I think they're excellent boats. I built a Chesapeake 17, and I love it. It's very stable, which I appreciated when I was starting out, and it holds a ton of stuff. I'm 6'4" and weigh 200. I've paddled to Catalina and to Anacapa and Santa Cruz, and it handled the open ocean great. However, it does better in big water when I'm carrying a load (like I was when I crossed to the islands). On the calm waters of Morro Bay (where I live) it's an extremely comfortable, fast, pleasant boat.

Building it was very easy. I bought a kit. Everything I needed was there. I finished it in a couple of months, working nights and weekends. I think I made a wise choice for my first boat. I was very worried that I was going to mess something up. The process was easy enough that I didn't.

If you know what you're doing, you can save money by building from plans. You can buy all the materials a bit cheaper than CLC sells them. But then you have to loft all the panels yourself, and cut the scarfs yourself. It's not that tough, but I didn't want to try it on my first boat. I think the kits are the way to go for a first-timer.

Now I'm building a Guillemot, which is a strip boat. It's more time consuming and difficult to build, but I think its rounded shape is more pleasing, and strip boats are even more beautiful than stitch and glue. I bought the plans, ripped all the strips myself from lumber purchased at a local lumberyard. I bought the fiberglass from RAKA. I think it'll come in around $500 for everything. Of course, for the project I bought two planes, two saw blades, a Japanese pull saw, some more spring clamps, and a set of Bead and Cove router bits. But tools are an investment, right? I won't have to buy all that stuff for my next boat.

Speaking of which, I recently purchased a set of plans for a Chesapeake 17. I plan on building it from the plans - no kit this time. Of course, I may build a second Guillemot first - to correct all the mistakes I'm making on this first attempt.

See what I mean about being addictive? You have to remember to get out of the garage and onto the water occasionally!

- Gordon