Everglades Exploration Network

Another in my incessant questions to get the best fit, the first time.

 

I've looked at Pygmy Boats and Chesepeake Light Craft for several years, and have seen them used at a couple of the launches in ENP.

 

Anyone want to weigh in on kit boats, or these particular brands. Someone chastised me about going out in a recreational kayak (my vapor) and recommended that I get a better boat. As I said in that thread, the vapor is my test machine.

 

Being the enjoyer of building that I am, were I to upgrade, my first choice would be to go with a kit. These seem pretty nice, yet don't have the ridiculous price of a composite sea kayak.

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If your just doing day trips, your Vapor is a great boat for that. I test paddled one last year and I liked it alot.

As far as the kits go, If your wanting to build a boat for day trips and fishing, this is the design I was looking @ http://www.clcboats.com/shop/boats/stitch-and-glue-kayaks/sea-islan... If your wanting to build something that you can camp out of, I would look @ building a decked canoe. http://www.clcboats.com/shop/boats/canoes/micro-bootlegger-strip-pl...
I considered a kit kayak. I looked at both Pygmy and CLC. Both are stitch and glue construction. I also enjoy building. I decided to go with strip built construction. The first kayak I built was a Guillemot Great Auk. Built from a table of offsets from Nick Schade's book THE STRIP BUILT KAYAK. It is a great kayak with enough volume to camp. The second kayak I built was an Outer Island from plans by Jay Babina. It is a much lower volume kayak and is not well suited for carrying the load for extended touring. I have taken it on a couple of overnight trips out to Cape Sable.

I am probably going to build another Outer Island, scaled up in volume 10-12% which should give me enough load capacity for some longer trips. I have lost @ 25 pounds in the past 6 months so that helps too. Got to sell my Outer Island first - no room for 3 kayaks - Kayak for sale! When I build one, I usually start milling wood in August build in the fall, glassing by February so the kayak is complete by the time the hot weather returns.

If you are into woodworking, you will love the end result. It is also nice that you can build in some features that are important to you.


Good Luck.
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Here's my story. I'm not a woodworker and I don't have a workshop, but I successfully built a Pygmy kayak kit in my backyard that has lasted for five years and a thousand miles of Glades adventures, and I expect another decade from it. It's not too challenging, and there is lots of support from other builders online. Once you build one, you are not scared to do repairs and enhancements that you could never do with a store-bought boat. The kit costs about $900 and a few hundred more for simple tools and odds and ends. When complete, you'll have a high-performance boat that is lighter and handsomer than a fiberglass kayak --- at a third of the cost. It's a special relationship you have with a boat you made yourself, I think, although I have never owned another kayak and will probably never have another.

I've built 3 Pygmies. Arctic Tern 17', Arctic Tern 14', and the Osprey Triple 20'. People who build CLC's say they are the best. Those who build Pygmies say they are the best. So I would say both CLC and Pygmy make great kits though I've never built a CLC. Pygmy has great phone support for any building questions, though CLC's website is more informative. The only thing I don't like about CLC is cosmetic, and that is the jigsaw puzzle way they fit some of their panels together.

 

If you like to build things you will have a great time. With a kit they say you don't need experience. I would agree with one exception. If you have not wetted out fiberglass before you should get experienced help the first time you do this step.

 

If you are an experienced woodworker or more ambitious a cedar strip can be built from plans or a kit. Redfish has some very pretty boats.

 

My 17' Tern (44 pounds) is a great all around boat. It will carry enough gear for 10 days camping, though the most I've done is 7. I added a skeg which is a big help with crosswinds. Both Pygmy and CLC say their boats track well without a skeg or rudder but I would disagree - a skeg is a big help for a long paddle on a windy day. Personally don't like a rudder. The 14' Tern (32 pounds) is awesome in rough seas, surf, and holds its own on a long paddle.

 

I think the main thing would be to find a tried and true design that fits your needs, and then see if you can find one to paddle and see how it feels, keeping in mind that your seat, thigh braces, etc. will likely be different and customized. It took me a while to get my seat right but now I can sit comfortably all day.

 

I struggled to decide between the Pygmy Coho and Arctic Tern so I called Pygmy support for advice and they laughed. They had just had someone in the shop that had paddled both models and still couldn't decide - said it happens all the time. Probably any of the popular Pygmy or CLC boats designed for your style of paddling would be great fun to build and paddle. Of course my Arctic Tern 17' is the best though (smile).

 

my 2 cents

 

Good Luck

 

Bob

Hi Wayne,

 

I'm a big fan of pygmy boats and have built a coho and arctic tern.  The coho is 12 years old and the tern is 8.  I've paddled them in Florida, Seattle and California in just about every condition you'd expect to find and just recently finished a 13 day tour through ENP with them.  The tern rides much drier due to its higher volume bow and stern flares. Its more maneuverable and tends to surf down waves and standing hydraulics more than pitchpole.  The coho tracks straighter and is more efficient on long hauls.  Its also more nervous is hydraulics and will pitchpole more than the tern, but still handles seas well.  Both are great boats, they just have different characteristics.  I run both without rudders or skegs and have never felt that I needed them.  You do however have to brace and paddle asymmetrically in strong quartering seas and winds.  I enjoy this more more than ruddering, but its a personal preference.

 

I've heard good things about CLCs, though I don't have any personal experience with them.  I've paddled nice composite boats and prefer the pygmies but I'm also a little biased ;-0.  Both boats weigh around 45 pounds +/- and are easy to launch and carry alone.  Every couple of years I will wet-sand them and apply a fresh coat of varnish, but there's no real upkeep other than that.  They are every bit as durable as a composite. 

 

I didn't feel that building them is really difficult as long as you've got some patience and are generally handy. I'd speak with whichever vendor you end up going with and ask them what they recommend for epoxy hardeners (fast, medium or slow acting) given the average temperatures you expect to have while building.  Good luck with building a boat - you won't regret it no matter what you end up going with.

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