tiagosantos
Paddler
Howdy!
Despite a long time fascination with kayaks, I only recently actually tried getting on a boat.. And surprise, I loved it!
I plan to rent a couple more times and do a couple more lessons, but after that I find it a bit hard to justify paying the rental fees.
Looking at kayak prices, a new kayak isn't gonna happen. So I started looking into used boats. However, I'm really into doing things myself and building my own kayak is very alluring mostly because I can't seem to justify spending +++$1000 on the kind of kayak I'd like to have, while I have access to tools that could make a simple build go fairly fast. My thought would be to either start with a fuselage style SOF (leaning towards adapting Brian Schultz's F1 to a plywood fuselage build..) or a stitch and glue (also thought about trying to adapt the F1). I have the opportunity to use a large CNC router which could save a bit of time cutting the forms or the panels for a S&G build..
Am I being silly? Should I just spend the money on a plastic boat from Craigslist?
To add a bit more - I don't see myself going on trips longer than a day trip or a very sporadic overnight trip. I have a dog that is a bit problematic so going away for more than a day or, rarely, two isn't really an easy possibility. So I don't necessarily need a ton of cargo room. I'm also attracted to the concept of a fairly light weight boat - I haven't found a hobby where extra weight was an advantage I'm 5'11, 150lbs, so I'd rather not have to load a 65lb kayak onto my car all the time.. I'm mostly interested in flat water paddling and just.. You know, being out there. I love the simplicity of the skin on frame boats and how great they look. I don't think they'll be a hindrance to the kind of paddling I'm hoping to do, but I'd love to hear your feedback. Should I buy something decent first and wait for a chance to build a kayak purely for the novelty of building it, or can a first time build actually be usable and satisfying for a novice paddler?
Thanks!
Despite a long time fascination with kayaks, I only recently actually tried getting on a boat.. And surprise, I loved it!
I plan to rent a couple more times and do a couple more lessons, but after that I find it a bit hard to justify paying the rental fees.
Looking at kayak prices, a new kayak isn't gonna happen. So I started looking into used boats. However, I'm really into doing things myself and building my own kayak is very alluring mostly because I can't seem to justify spending +++$1000 on the kind of kayak I'd like to have, while I have access to tools that could make a simple build go fairly fast. My thought would be to either start with a fuselage style SOF (leaning towards adapting Brian Schultz's F1 to a plywood fuselage build..) or a stitch and glue (also thought about trying to adapt the F1). I have the opportunity to use a large CNC router which could save a bit of time cutting the forms or the panels for a S&G build..
Am I being silly? Should I just spend the money on a plastic boat from Craigslist?
To add a bit more - I don't see myself going on trips longer than a day trip or a very sporadic overnight trip. I have a dog that is a bit problematic so going away for more than a day or, rarely, two isn't really an easy possibility. So I don't necessarily need a ton of cargo room. I'm also attracted to the concept of a fairly light weight boat - I haven't found a hobby where extra weight was an advantage I'm 5'11, 150lbs, so I'd rather not have to load a 65lb kayak onto my car all the time.. I'm mostly interested in flat water paddling and just.. You know, being out there. I love the simplicity of the skin on frame boats and how great they look. I don't think they'll be a hindrance to the kind of paddling I'm hoping to do, but I'd love to hear your feedback. Should I buy something decent first and wait for a chance to build a kayak purely for the novelty of building it, or can a first time build actually be usable and satisfying for a novice paddler?
Thanks!