Greetings; This message is directed toward those folks who have built a sea kayak from one of the many kits available. I'm new to the idea of building a kayak and am looking for recommendations. Some of my concerns are: 1. Reliability and support from the manufacturer. 2. Quality of the materials and manuals 3. Ease of construction 4. Design quality, i.e. how well does the boat handle, tracking, weathercocking, etc. I'm looking for a sea kayak for day paddling and exercise, maybe some light touring. I'm 5' 10", 195 lbs with good upper body strength. I would appreciate any recommendations with this project. Dave David J. Misisco Confidentiality Notice: This is a transmission from Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. This message and any attached documents may be confidential and contain information protected by state and federal medical privacy statutes. They are intended only for the use of the addressee. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this information is strictly prohibited. If you received this transmission in error, please accept our apologies and notify the sender. Thank you. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I built a CLC Chesapeake 18 from kit last year. I can use basic hand tools but am by no means a craftsman. The quality of the components in the kit were top notch. The only thing I substituted from what was in the kit was some bronze fittings for stainless for appearance. The on line group was a major help. Any question I had was answered by someone within hours and if appropriate by someone at CLC within a day. I'm told they are also very good at answering questions over the phone, but I did not have to resort to that. Before I began each phase I scanned the archives of the group to see what problems others had encountered. That saved me quite a bit of trouble. I probably have about 80 - 100 hours in building the boat. The panels fit without a lot of work. All the parts I needed were there. My longest trip last year was 142 miles in a week. The only problem I had was the seat came loose. I had used silicone instead of the recommended contact cement. The urethane paint is not standing up to rocks as well as I would like, but so far all the damage is cosmetic. I paddle rivers and lakes. The boat paddles easily, tracks beautifully, and gets a constant stream of comments. The arch in the front deck is quite high, but it is rather low on the sides and I don't have any problem with hand clearance. The rear deck is high, if you are going to roll it, don't plan on laying back. On the 18 foot boat I use a rudder. The boat does respond well to body lean and when lightly loaded you can put it on edge and bring it about fairly quickly. Kulczycki's book "The Kayak Shop"was also a real help to understanding how the process worked. The instructions that came with the boat were a little sketchy in places. I have seen bits and pieces of their new video and what I have seen makes it easier to understand. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I've built 5 CLC boats, obviously I'm partial to them, here's my 2 cents for what it's worth. > 1. Reliability and support from the manufacturer. Excellent > 2. Quality of the materials and manuals Material quality is great, the parts are cut with a CNC machine and match very well. The manuals are good, some experience with woodworking is obviously a help. The support forum and phone support are very helpful. > 3. Ease of construction Very easy, we built boats #2 and #3 with the help of a buddy of mine with zero woodworking experience and zero tool experience. He documented it at http://home.dmv.com/~cbeckman/yak1a.htm > 4. Design quality, i.e. how well does the boat handle, tracking, weathercocking, etc. Depends on the design, the Chesapeake series tracks very well, the North Bay series handle well, but a skeg helps them track better. The catalog is free and the model comparison matrix is very useful. The trick is to be truthful with your wants and abilities. Chris the extended family fleet includes: Tred Avon Triple Chesapeake 16 Chesapeake 18 North Bay XL North Bay Patuxant 19.5 various plastic boats *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Both Pygmy and CLC are both good companies. On points 1-3 they will be very equal. Point 4 is different. Pygmy puts a lot of time into R&D. Their kayaks handle quite well. They are strong trackers, weathercocking is not a problem on my Arctic Tern. They seem to like big water a lot. A friend of mine who paddles both a Pintail and an Osprey Std., says "Pygmys are good at helping keep paddlers out of trouble". They are very sea kindly. The one negative thing is that most Pygmys are designed for bigger people (kind of ironic). They are bigger boats designed to be able to haul a lot of gear. They work fine for day paddling, just like most production kayaks do. They don't have a longer low volume kayak yet. Their best models are the Arctic Tern and the Coho. I have heard comments that CLC has rushed a few designs into production. I don't think they are bad kayaks, but they could be better. Some of their designs weathercock quite a bit. They seem to have more variety in their designs, but the design quality is not there on some of their models. I paddled the North Bay last weekend, it is a neat boat, but it could use some refinement. There is a reason many people recommend a skeg with it. It is fast and nimble, but it does weathercock. I haven't paddled any kayaks in their Pax line-up so I can't comment on them. Your size is about right for most of the standard models from both companies. I have also heard very good things about Shearwater designs, but have not paddled any of their kayaks yet. I don't know about Roy Folland kayaks either, but it looks similar to a CLC. Mike >1. Reliability and support from the manufacturer. >2. Quality of the materials and manuals >3. Ease of construction >4. Design quality, i.e. how well does the boat handle, tracking, >weathercocking, etc. > >I'm looking for a sea kayak for day paddling and exercise, maybe some light >touring. I'm 5' 10", 195 lbs with good upper body strength. I would >appreciate any recommendations with this project. > >Dave _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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