Steve,

Don't let these guys talk you into more than you want to bite off. I let them and ended up building my first attempt from plans and I wish I had gotten a kit. BUT, I am succeeding, albeit very, very slowly and you have lots more woodworking experience than I did/do. I concur that farming out the fiberglassing doesn't make a whole lot of sense unless you have an experienced friend you can lean on to help you out. If you can do the rest of it, you can do that too.

Patsy