I have built a four Glen L RobRoy boats - one person canoes, where the
paddler sits on the bottom and uses a double kayak paddle. This boat is a
tortured plywood, stitch and glue design. They were all cheap and easy to
construct, and the final boats weigh about 29 lbs. Each boat is made from
two sheets of thin plywood, cut into four complex shapes which are then
joined with butt blocks to form two halves of the boat and stitched
together. I would be very careful about changing the boat's lines. The
plywood could easily become too difficult to bend and hold in its final
form. Plywood is not very forgiving of curves that deviate from simple
conical sections. It would be a simple matter to add a deck. I spent about
ten to twelve hours building each boat and I am a relatively skilled
woodworker with a pretty complete shop. I have a friend who has built a
Chesapeake Bay Light Craft kayak. He said that he has about a hundred hours
in it, but he has built fewer boats and he doesn't have a comparable set of
tools. So, the basic answer to your question is certainly this is doable
and there are some simple plans available. There are also some much more
complicated plans that will produce spectacularly beautiful boats.

My kids used two of them as kid boats; dragging them around, banging them on
rocks, jumping in and out of them, and generally using them as you would
expect. Those boats have proved to be quite durable; they are ten years old
and are still as useable as when they were new. Another one went to my
brother for use by his kids and it was broken in really gross abuse by some
teenage boys. One went to a co-worker for use by her step son, and I don't
know what happened to it. This type of construction may produce "instant
boats" but the materials are more than durable enough for normal use.


"Reynaud" wrote in message
...
Hello boaters, has anyone here built an kayak using an combination of his
own design and one of the proven ones from recognized builders ?I,m
interested in the stitch and glue type. I would like to construct it from
as
few pieces as possible . 2 pieces for bottom, 1 or 2 pieces for the sides
and then the deck. Does this sound do-able? Thanks for any help.

Jim. J






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