: After careful scientific analysis (meaning I asked my son which
: design he liked the best on Tom Yost's site) we have decided to
: put together a SOF sea flea. Depending on how things go I'll
: build another boat for my daughter.

I really think that once your daughter sees the boat for your son the demands "Build me one, NOW" will rebound off the family walls. Here's a tip which will make it much faster and easier to build that second boat:

When you cut the frames for your son's boat, cut a duplicate of each part at the same time. All you need to do is stack two layers of plywood and cut them both together. Draw your forms on one piece of plywood, or on paper which you can glue to your plywood with rubber cement. Secure the top layer of plywood to the bottom layer with 2 or 3 nails or drywall screws placed in areas which will eventually be cut away. Because of the thickness your cutting will be a little slower than if you are cutting just a single layer, but the difference should be slight. Just don't cut into the nails or screws. If necessary, after you have cut away a lot of the waste, and lost the screws or nails, you can stop cutting long enough to put a C clamp on the frames to hold them in alignement while you finish cutting them. Just do this once for both boats.

When you rip the wood for the chines, buy an extra board and rip enough extra so you'll have the stock on hand for that second boat. Oh, and have a couple of spares. They are easy to store, and it is good to know you have a spare on hand should the boat get dropped and one of the chines cracks.

I've assumed you are building the wood-framed version. If you are going for the plastic/aluminum frame version, buy your plastic for both boats and stack and cut them as described for the plywood and get your tubing when the budget allows.

If you don't think you'll build your daughter's boat this year, the extra wood shouldn't be to big a strain on this years budget. Put off buying the skin material for the second boat until you are ready to build it. Let your daughter pick the color.

When you build your daughter's boat you'll have the parts for the frame on hand, the strongback, and the experience of your first boat. The second one will go much faster.

: Thanks for all your input. You must really love kayak building.

Actually, it is more like a compulsion or an addiction. We love the rush, and they haven't made building boats a taxable recreation, or illegal (yet)--so I guess we'll keep it going.

Good luck with your project.

PGJ