I'm your customer (except I'm too cheap to buy a kit). I started this project afraid that I wasn't handy enough to try and build a boat. I e-mailed Tom asking him if a (mechanical) idiot could build one of his boats. I'm a computer guy - anything mechanical eludes me.

Truth be told - screw & glue scared me and so did lashing.

Screw & glue - my fear was in splitting or even missing the plywood when putting the screws in. I did manage to split some of the plys. I then backed out the screws and put in pegs. This made things a bit worse, I actually poked through the plywood one or two places. To correct all of it, I liberally applied extra epoxy when I'd mix a batch. I know it makes for a heavier boat, but... hopefully it's waterproof.

Lashing scared me from the knotting it perspective. I'm embarrased to say, I know one, maybe two variations on knots. I've been scared off that I wouldn't be able to get the lashings tight and properly knotted.

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As for cable/zip/wire ties - I tried that originally. I wasn't able to get enough tension on the wood to keep it's shape until I got the screws in place. Once I did that, everything firms up and it really felt like a boat.

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Anyway, that's my 2 cents.