: OK guys, thanks to all the awesome information i got about boat designs, i've
: decided to go with the chesapeake 18 to haul me and my heap-o-gear. now,
: heather is looking at the arctic tern for her 5'6", 130# self (plus
: 120#'s of gear, or so),,, what's the word? by the way, y'all are great for
: giving up so much free advice. oh, and one last question... after building
: the chesapeake from a kit, would building the tern from plans be the way
: to go? how much time will i save by buying the whole kit? time is kind of
: an issue, i must say. thx...

I have to admit that I think it will be tough for her to get all that weight up to cruising speed and still have it be easy to paddle for her 130 lb self. 120# of gear may be pushing it for her to move I think.

On another note, you can't get the Tern as a plans only. Its only available as a kit. The CLC however can be made via plans or kit. You might want to build hers first and then get the plans to do yours if you feel some kit building experience may be desirable before attacking a plans-only yak.

Happy building and chosing, Pete czerpak

PS. If you want a hardchine greenlander style, check out Shearwater kayaks (this is Eric schades company- yes, nicks brother) Merganser 16 or 17 for her. My SO is your girlfriends size almost exactly, 5-7 and 135ish, and ended up going with the 16.5 ft version and its available as plans. the 17 may be a better choice given you want a true large expedition boat.

Interestingly enough, I built a CLC 18 from a kit about a year ago (Im 6-2 and about 200).

In terms of kit vs. plans, I think using a kit probably saves about 6-10 hrs in cutting and panel layout time. It is cheaper if you find the right places to get all the materials but ordering everything takes time also plus the wait to get things from the 1000 different companies you ordered from.

How much time are you truely looking at to build? Also, how much time daily is available to build?