My son wants a touring/fla****er kayak and can't afford to buy one. I
have a woodworking shop and offered to help him build one over the
winter, but his budget is only around $300. Chesapeake Light Craft's
kits are +/- $600 for stitch 'n glue. I was hoping a strip boat would
be cheaper, but I bought two books with instructions, and they claim
costs of $500 - $1000.

Does anyone have thoughts on minimum costs to build a kayak, and whether
a strip boat or a stitch 'n glue would be cheaper?

Thanks!

Sue

There's lots of information on building your own kayaks and canoes
here as well: http://home.clara.net/gmatkin/design.htm

A very simple design you could try is this one:
http://www.alaska.net/~fritzf/Boats/...cky_Lassie.htm

Judging from the description it should be fairly cheap and easy to
build. In case you really like to have a closed boat you can always
add a deck etc.


HTH,

Michiel