Re: [Paddlewise] Proud Pappa of a New Strip Built Boat

At 10:29 AM 3/9/2004 -0500, Michael Neverdosky wrote:
>John Fereira wrote:
> >
> > At 08:29 AM 3/9/2004 -0500, Rick.Sylvia_at_ferguson.com wrote:
> > > > That's beautiful work!  How long did it take you?  Enjoy!
> > >
> > >Thank you, and I have three answers for the question.
> > >
> > >
> > >Second, it took about 400 hours, which is at least 100 hours too many.
> >
> > Actually, I've heard "400 hours" frequently as an answer to "how long will
> > it take to build a cedar strip kayak".
> >
> > Given that you're not going to build a cedar strip boat in a weekend or two
> > I don't think one can put a figure on how many hours it should take.  It's
> > a long process and IMHO trying to speed build a kayak would likely cause a
> > builder to burn out on the building process.
>
>
>If you want to build quickly, choose a material and building system that
>builds fast. Plywood kayaks build fast. The last one I built took about
>40 hours.

I know.  I built a Stitch-n-Glue boat before I built my cedar strip 
kayak.  Building an S&G kayak, at least when building from a kit, is much 
like putting together a large model.


>The point of building a boat is as much the building as the having of
>the
>boat when you are done. Unless you *enjoy* the building method and
>materials
>then you are far better off buying a boat instead.

I'm going to play devils advocate and disagree.  There are many reason to 
build it yourself, only one of which is the enjoyment of the building 
process itself.

Building your own provides a means to build a kayak that is lighter (in 
general) than a hull of a similar design, though I think some boat building 
advocates are a bit generous in their claims in weight comparisons.

Building your own provides a means to build a kayak for less money than 
what it would cost to purchase a new boat.  Again, there are many factors 
which will determine final cost and once you add everything up, the savings 
might not be that significant.

Building your own arguably produces a kayak more aesthetically pleasing 
than what one can buy.  However, how much time and effort one puts into 
building a beautiful boat might be a trade-off with building a boat 
inexpensively.

Building your own allows you to customize the design, appearance, and 
outfitting to your liking.  If you want a 20" wide, 17'10" kayak that will 
accommodate size 14 feet building your own may be your only option.

Building your own allows you to paddle a kayak that may be more 
historically authentic than what one can buy.  Plans which provide replicas 
of traditional designs are available and one can even build using 
traditional materials and methods.

Anyone that chooses to build their own kayak does so for their own reasons.  
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