Pat,
Great to hear you want to build and paddle, but as others have said, three strip-built kayaks is a lot of work - about 1,000 hours, if you go for average fit and finish. An alternative would be to look at the numerous stitch&glue designs out there - much simpler and quicker to build, and good experience for working with the fiberglass and epoxy you'll need for strip building. We build and paddle the VOLKSKAYAK, a 17' Nova-Scotia designed sea kayak that's a fine performer. I allow about 80 hours per boat, starting from plans and raw ply panels. The work itself is really straightforward - no special wood-working skills or tools needed. One real advantage, if you cut your own panels, is that you can cut out two boats (or three, for that matter) at the same time; just screw the sheets of ply together, then cut to the marks on the top sheet and trim back to fair lines...

You're welcome to drop me an email re S&G construction.
Regards,
Rick