: Hope y'all don't mind...but...I had to post the following post I read on the
: paddling.net forum....says it all. Plus...although I am building my first
: SOF now...and have plans to build a Redfish King this Spring....I am
: beginning to salivate over Nick's new S & G as well. I am totally new
: at this but hooked...lined and sinkered....

: The following is a post by a fellow builder (JF)...a great posting that was
: discussing the longevity of homebuilt boats: I was amazed when I started
: asking around as to how long a glass boat will last. I talked with a guy
: who has glass boat from the mid 50's and he lives in Hawaii! That says
: something.
: I took my Tern 14 out into water that consisted of 7 foot clapotis and it
: promptly took my little boat and clapped me into the air and crashed me
: back down upside down. The boat didnt break but it sure felt like enough
: of a jolt to cause damage. I was glad I had added a few extra ounces of
: reenforcing tape where it looked like the design could use it. Overkill
: probably. The guy who designed it is smarter than me.
: There is one danger to home building a kayak that I never took seriously. I
: was told over and over that you can't build just one. Now I am selling all
: my extra gear to finance my second kit the S&G Night Heron. I pine for it.
: I obsess over any web page with pics and info on it. I dream about that
: skinny, jigsaw puzzled boat. I will not stop until it arrives at my
: doorstep as a pile of parts. My wife will shutter. The kids will groan.
: The dog will howl. I will disappear to the basement and reappear only
: occasionally looking a whiter shade of pale covered in epoxy dust, raccoon
: eyed from the respirator. The sander! No, not the sander!
: GOD HELP ME!

Sounds like you got it BAD, Bob. So do I. Many of us have it like that. We just can't say no when we hear that someone else is buildin' and we're not. We see a finished boat and we just know we have to have one. I'm waiting for my Night Heron Stripper plans. I've seen so many beautiful Night Herons completed and afloat with the proud builders posing in them I broke down. I'll be taking my time with this project. I can't be like Mike and work at a feverish pace even when all hell is breaking out around me (he lives in San Diego where the fires are about a mile from his house). I gotta take this one slowly because I do not have great woodworking skills, but I do have a good eye so that should compensate. Bob, we feel for you and totally understand. Earlier on someone mentioned he knew a good divorce lawyer, scan the archives and I'm sure you can find the name, just in case.

Good luck with the building.

Robert N Pruden