Dave, that's a popular question that this Board gets. It's also one that's hard to answer. Much of it depends on your skill level with paddling. You said you had none, so that issue is answered. But, other issues relate to your intended use. Boat designs are a compromise and you need to choose the right combination of factors for you. For example, you can't easily get a boat that is a strong tracker and also turns on a dime. Some baots are better than others, but most have their areas of strngth or weakness. So, do you want stability, trackability, maneuverability, speed, day use, camping, etc? Are you going to paddle the ocean, rivers, lakes? What about on windy, rainy days or with pan ice on the water? Will you be in surf or in rock gardens? Are you going to try to fish from it, take nature photos, or something like that? All of those require different boat designs, widths, hull configuarations, hatch space, and so forth. It all goes into figuring out "which boat". It's like buying a car.... what's your situation and how will you use it.

If you don't mind, how about providing a little more info - help us help you, so to speak.

Regarding the wood working part.... what a great and satisfying way to spend your free time! The process is far scarier (for first time builders) than it actually is to build. Looks hard... it's not. Well, it's not as hard as your boats admirers are going to think it was, anyway. Study, ask questions on this board, have patience, and understand that almost all mistakes are recoverable. Almost all - not 100% all. And this is important... don't approach this as a one time project. Boat building should be controlled by the DEA because it's very addictive! Many builders become hooked and build numerous boats.

It's also time consuming. Experienced builders can build a stripper in a few months. There are others on the board who built a boat over a two year span. I've heard that the average first time boat builder will spend about 350 hours on it, then 250 on the second by taking advantage of lessons learned on the first. I'm 80% done with my first, and both numbers sound about right. The key is to figure out how long it will take you to get in 350 hours worth of work. My best month was 78 hours and my worst was 8.

Anyway, good luck and have fun!

Rick