Who are we trying to kid here? This first boat Justin builds won't be his last....... I think it makes sense to build what you want Justin and once you get out and start paddling, your newfound interests may take you in different directions with boat designs. I was in the exact same shoes as you a short 10 months ago. I built a wood strip 14' x 24" over the winter, a 15' Gentry chuckanut and a 17' Yost Sea Cruiser in the spring and am now working on a 17' Sea Tour EXP and have plans for a bit longer, higher volume strip boat for camping trips to build over the winter. The reality is....once my family got out and started paddling and joined a local paddling club, what we thought we wanted wasn't always the case. However.......all boats I've built to this point have their place and will get utilized in certain circumstances.

SOF is a good cheap and fast way to get a boat built and on the water and see if you like it. Unfortunately, my least favorite boat is the cedar strip that took 250 hours and all winter to build. All of the strip boats are designs that suit my needs much better, so I think you're choosing the right build method, now it's just a matter of building that first one to try out and see where that leads you.

: those aren't really what i was thinking. some of the closer to
: shore ones. but that would be something i would want to do in
: the future. for now it would probably be more inland lakes and
: slow rivers with the occasional trip on to lake michigan if its
: dead calm. I want something smaller to start with just due to
: room for building and transportation. I'm not concerned about
: speed or anything like that. really just want to build one cause
: it sounds like a fun project. I've helped people build the strip
: canoes and kayaks but dont have the time or money to invest into
: that. this is starting to get far more complicated than it first
: seemed.... just wanted something that was a little wider for
: stability and room and also short for weight and transportation.

: Justin