Hello all. I've been following along on the forums for some time now... I'm very much in love with the idea of building my own wooden kayak and have a couple of questions I'd like to hear others weigh in on.
First off is boat selection.. I'm primarily interested in some paddling on inland lakes (Adriondacks), possibly some shorter camping expeditions, and an occassional jaunt out on a few of the great lakes (Huron and Erie).
I'm a larger build (6' 1" - 185-195 lbs), shoe size 12.
With that information, I'm looking at the Chesapeake 17s and am leaning towards the LT. Any comments on that boat for my size and the needs described above?
Second line of questions relate to the actual build process. How hard is it to get a decent quality boat out of the project? I have zero boat building experience but have done framing and rough carpentry work (yes, I realize... they aren't the same). I've seen some posts mentioning problems with twist in some builds that sounds pretty alarming. What are the common pitfalls first time builders encounter? Is it reasonable to expect a boat that will look and perform ok out of a first time build?
Thanks in advance for your input. Look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Brian