: Hey Justin,

: Just to put this out there for your consideration, you mentioned
: that you have been kayaking a few times which makes it sound
: like this is a relatively new hobby for you. If you haven't
: paddled a SOF before, you might consider doing a stitch and glue
: or strip build first. You'll find them to be generally more
: beamy and solid feeling with little to no freeboard. They are
: also great platforms to fish from.

: SOF boats will sit deeper in the water and feel less stable. They
: are also more difficult to get into and are easier to roll (both
: the good and bad way) than some others.

: Don't let the length be a detractor. 17' may seem like a lot of
: boat, but given your size, it will be much faster than the
: shorter wider boats you are considering. To put things in
: perspective, I'm 5'7" and my normal go to boat is a 16'
: CLC. I am currently finishing a 17' Sea Ranger. Those may sound
: like big boats for someone my size, but I can easily average 3.5
: mph in my CLC, fully loaded.

: IMHO, unless you have some friends to paddle with until you get
: used to it, start with a S&G or Strip build. If you go right
: to a SOF without the community support, you may create a boat
: that frustrates you and ends up sitting around.

: Eric M.

I disagree with this. I went straight to sof with only a little kayaking experience. I didn't build a 19" wide boat first... i started with a 24" single chine. I'm finishing a Sea Bee right now.

My sof after removing the 1" foam padded seat has just as good initial stability as some wider plastic boats, and better secondary. Advantage of sof is build time. I can build an sof in 25-30 hours. I'm also a fast builder. Most people take 40. How long does a strip built take? Alot longer. Whats the cost difference? With scrounging my sof's are around$ 125-$150. If i build one and am frustrated by its performance i'll happpily build another. If i spend all that time and money on a strip and i don't like it? Talk about frustrated...