Melissa wrote in
:

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

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?

Hi Jake,

This is rather embarrassing to admit, but I'm finally just about
finished with a boat I started building in August, 2002! :-) My only
excuse for taking so long is that life sometimes gets in the way of
boaty building.

It's about time Melissa :-). Got pictures yet?

This boat I'm building is an Arctic Hawk from CLC/Superior Kayaks
(Mark Rogers design). It's a great kit, and comes with a very
detailed 450 page building manual. I did use a completely internal
system to mount the foot braces, so I didn't have to drill holes
through the hull.

This is the first boat I've built, so I can't directly compare the
building process with other S&G boats, but from what other builders
have said, the building process for this AH is a bit more involved
than many other S&G boats (multiple strips of wood laminated together
to create the sheer clamps

That's not unusual for a S&G boat that uses sheer clamps. Finding stock
long enough to make sheer clamps for a 17-18' boat can be difficult.

, several areas with multiple overlapping
layers of glass reinforcement,

Again, not uncommon for those that choose to build a boat with a heavier
layup. For a cedar strip boat it's pretty much standard.

a "keel strip" of wood glued into the
cockpit keel fillet,

Now, that *is* different. Did the manual call for that? I'd be interested
to hear how much the Hawk ends up weighing.

thickened epoxy wear strips on the keel at bow
and stern,

For may cedar strip boat I put on mahogany wear strips on the keel at the
bow and stern for a bit more protection. They wrap around onto the deck to
become part of the deck pattern.