Well after several months, I am nearly there with my CH 18.
Today I put the front deck on, so it looks like only a few more weeks and it will hit the water.
I did a few customizations along the way, some of which won't be really obvious until I finish it.
Of note, I added a 2nd rear bulkhead, as I wanted a couple of "Day hatches" to store things I want to get to - such as food and water.
The other thing I did was to set up a Strong solution for my footbraces. I did not like the idea of drilling holes thru the hull and those "blind" bolts epoxied to the side just don't look strong enough for me - so a novel solution was needed, and I found one that I am very happy with - a lot of strength. I am adding a rudder, so I planned for the mounting of it early in the build process - and made sure that It would be secure.
Take a look at all my build pictures at
http://gallery.shrinkpictures.com/v/CH18Build/
All pictures have a few comments so it should be pretty easy to follow the whole build process.
Which AUS? Australia, Austria, Austin, etc.... Thanks for your comment on my C17 and good luck with your C18 launch. I have really come to appreciate the C17's performance and hope you enjoy your boat.
Yeah, Just at the painting stage now - started painting yesterday.
finally after nearly 6 months, there is an end in sight, a couple of weeks painting, a week or so fitting out, then launch, final adjustments and then do the finishing touches - thigh braces, knee braces etc after I get my position "tuned" by takeing her out a few times.
Well done. I took a look at the pics, which seemed to run from end to start, not the other way around.
I know exactly how you feel, it took me 185 hours to build a CH 16 (from plans), but I enjoyed every minute (except, perhaps the glassing of the hull).
She now hangs from my garage ceiling and is used extensively by my sons (university age). A good-looking, fast, stable, seaworthy little kayak.