Hey, I wanted to post a quick review of Bill's kayak building class that ran for 6 weeks in 1/10-2/10.

I took this class since I'd be considering doing a kayak build for a few months but really had no background in woodworking, epoxy, or most of the tools involved.

Bill did a really nice job of making the class run efficiently with limited time, by having certain repetitive steps (cutting forms) mostly pre-prepared with one or two still to do so we could learn how something was done but not chew up hours repeating the task. Handouts and a manual were useful both for seeing how the project would run and for reviewing later when working on other boats. It made for an efficient class.

We also learned Bill's dacron/fiberglass covering method, which is pretty slick in that it creates a permanent, tough, light SOF skin. Folks who have a background in doing SOF boats but not fiberglass/epoxy stuff would find the class valuable just for that feature.

By the time we wrapped up I was very confident I could build a SOF kayak on my own, and could fiberglass any kayak without worrying about a lot of the things that stress out first time builders.

Finally, Bill gives the boat away to one student in a drawing, which is a pretty huge benefit given the low price of the class. We built a modified Yost Sea Tour 15, photos of which I'll post once I get it painted and rigged.

I'd highly recommend taking any of Bill's kayak-related classes; I drove each Saturday up from Chicago to Rockford and it was definitely worth the time.