Why:

Light, pretty, paddles the way it should. Enjoyable building is a additional benefit. :)

: I've been paddling composite boats alongside my cedar kayaks for
: years, and for the most part I've had good composite boats,
: until my most recent one. Even though it's considered a high-end
: composite, it flexes when going over waves, the rear deck
: collapses due to air pressure, the gel coat cracked in what
: looks like a stress riser damage at all the bulkheads (the front
: one is vented so it can't be air pressure), the cockpit was put
: on lopsided, the seat was put in at an angle and in the wrong
: position, a 3-foot section near the bilge spider cracked in a
: massive web (I think from just sitting my roof rack -- I don't
: over-tighten the straps if you're thinking that), the
: carbonfiber seat cracked in the first couple of months, plus it
: wasn't wet-out correctly (still dry fabric in places), the skeg
: box cracked, the fiberglass around the skeg box is chipping
: away, the layup job on the bulkheads looks like a first grader
: did it, the seams look slightly dry and not wet-out completely,
: the fittings let the bungee cords slip out through their sides,
: the skeg control hits my knee, and I could go on. For a $3,800
: boat, you'd think it'd be perfect, but, of course, the
: manufacturer doesn't want to take any responsibility. They don't
: believe that they have a persistent problem with quality
: control.

: With a wooden kayak, I know that anything that's wrong with it is
: my fault, and I can fix it. They're way easier to fix than
: dealing with gel coat. The hulls are stiff and feel more
: responsive. They're lighter than a fiberglass boat. With the
: right layup, they take a beating. Stress riser damage is pretty
: much non-existent, the decks don't flex with changes in
: pressure, and since you build the cockpit and seat, you don't
: put this in like you didn't care. You can make the skeg box out
: of something that isn't breakable plastic. You can tweak all the
: fittings to suit your needs. You can build your own design. An
: expensive strip boat runs only about $1,000, so I can go through
: four for about the same price. And that's just the start of
: everything good about strip boats.

: It just seems to me that strip kayaks tend to be superior then some
: brands of composite boats.

: Yep, that's why I like cedar-strip kayaks. You?