# Annapolis wherry as first boat **URL:** \ **Category:** Builder's Forum\ **Created:** [February 26, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://forum.clcboats.com/t/annapolis-wherry-as-first-boat/49940 "2023-02-26T23:05:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Brandon\_Pierson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Brandon\_Pierson](https://forum.clcboats.com/u/Brandon_Pierson)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://forum.clcboats.com/t/annapolis-wherry-as-first-boat/49940/1 "2023-02-26T23:05:44Z")
First Time poster here hoping to start my first boat build later this year. How would you rate the Annapolis Wherry as a first time build? From what I have seen, the Sassafras 12 or a wood duck seem like the easiest boats to build. I would love to build them at some point, but  I already have kayaks/canoes and would like a rowing exercise boat, something I don't have currently. The wherry is listed higher on the difficulty meter, so I wanted to get some opinions from builders before I bite off more than I can chew.  Some information about me that might help. I have no boatbuilding experience, this would be my first. I have my aircraft mechanics license, so I am decent with my hands, especially with a good set of instructions.  I also fly fiberglass sailplanes, so I have done a small amount of wood gluing, a little more experience with fiberglass work, sanding, laying plies, mixing resin, scarfing, but nothing intensive. I'd Appreciate any pointers, thanks!   ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Richards](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex007/user_avatar/forum.clcboats.com/jeff_richards/32/29_2.png) [@Jeff\_Richards](https://forum.clcboats.com/u/Jeff_Richards)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 8:55am UTC](https://forum.clcboats.com/t/annapolis-wherry-as-first-boat/49940/2 "2023-02-27T08:55:02Z")
   I think anyone that already has just a little bit of prior experience puttering about in the garage can build any one of the CLC regular (non-Pro) kits.  By that I mean anyone that can measure out and build a birdhouse or something similar without too many errors or too much difficulty should be OK. Just take your time, think things through, watch some videos, do a test piece if in doubt. It sounds like you have some tools - but if you don't have everything you need, again, just ask for suggestions and factor in the cost of a few tools as a part of the build.  Even building a standard kit from plans isn't really much more difficult, just much more time consuming.  **My opinion** , "Real men are confident enough to let CLC spend all the time sourcing materials and to let the CNC machine accurately cut the parts."  (Sourced from some old 1980's meme about buying a truck with an automatic transimssion, I think: **"Real men are confident enough to let a machine change the gears for them. Real men don't do everything. By virtue of their natural leadership they are judicious delegators and delegating gear shifting to a machine is natural."** So my vote is choose the (standard kit) boat you want to build and get started. And even with the Pro-kits, it really isn't about the level of difficulty of the build.  Some are more or less difficult than some of the regular kits. The thing about Pro-kits is that the build manual is not fully developed yet.  It is more of a guide, and you're much better off having experienced at least one prior standard kit build so you have a good feel for assembly order of parts, tricks for getting things right, etc., as none of those come in the building guide (it isn't a truly step-by-step manual). -Bubblehead