bkr wrote:

My latest big question is how sturdy will these boats be in shallow
water where there might be small rocks and such. Lately I've read a lot
about newbies (like me) being able to bang up boats on rocks and it got
me to thinking how tough these boats will be compared to a plastic boat.

It depends on how you build it. Double up the fiberglass on the "football"
area of the hull and it'll be plenty rugged.

I'm looking at the Chesapeakes 17, 18 or
tandem, or the Arctic Hawk. If anyone has any solid recommendations
please feel free to throw those in as well.

Well, judging by the diverse list of boats, it seems that you need to define
what you want from a boat first. Why are you considering and tandem OR a
single? Are you paddling alone or will you ALWAYS have a partner to paddle
with? You cannot paddle a CLC tandem alone.

Assuming you want a single, there's a huge difference between the Chesepeake
series boats and the Arctic turn. The former are very high volume boats; the
17 is huge and the 18 is positively cavernous! They're very stable and can
haul a lot of gear, if that's your intent, but they don't offer much in the
way of performance. The 'Hawk is a low volume, high performance design that
CLC has licenced (smart move). It's nothing at all like the Chesepeakes.

You're smart to demo these boats first. That's the only way you'll be able
to determine the differences.

--
Regards

Brian