6 oz. glass in and out? 5 layers of glass on the keel plus brass stem banding? The Wood Duck is a boat for casual flatwater paddling not a waterfall diver! All that stuff will run the cost way up and make it weigh a ton. If light weight was not a major concern and indestructablilty was it would be much cheaper to buy a poly Old Town "Otter" for $299.

: If you use 6-mm glass inside and out, you won't have any problems. For the
: keel, use multiple (4-5) layers of glass to protect the edge or do as I
: did and add a brass stem band. The brass band can be screwed and glued
: into the keel as long as there is a fillet of thickened epoxy on the
: inside of the keel. Another option is to use a strip of ash along the
: keel. Ash can be heated with a heat gun to make it very flexible and easy
: to screw or glue onto the keel. A 4-mm wrap of glass will give the ash an
: extra bit of protection when hitting logs, gravel, etc. The ash is easily
: sanded to shape once it has been installed on the keel.

: Robert N Pruden