On 6 Jul 2004 06:46:52 -0700, Jake Janovetz wrote:

Does anyone have experience building a few different models? What
are the preferred aspects of each?

I have only built one, a Pygmy Coho. I was a raw novice in woodworking and
boatbuilding, and it took me about 135 hours over 6 months to complete on
available evenings and weekends. The result was excellent:
http://www.tsca.net/puget/coho1.htm.

I think you'll find that either of the major kit makers -- Pygmy or CLC --
will be equivalent in the building experience. The choice will come down to
the individual boat, regardless of source. As far as I can tell, the gross
visible difference between the 2 companies' boats is the arched deck (CLC)
vs segmented deck (Pygmy). Otherwise, they each have a range of hull types
(hard chine to multi-chine). If you have the opportunity to test paddle one
or more boats from one or both sources, that will help you decide. I chose
Pygmy solely because they are close to me and I could visit them. I chose
the Coho after test-paddling it and the Arctic Tern; the Coho just felt
better to me.

If you're going to build from plans rather than a kit, you have a wider
choice. Again, it is difficult to determine the "feel" of a particular
kayak from literature, so paddling a friend's boat will help a decision.