Its amazing how different people can have such different experiences and opinions on the same topic! That's what this bulletin board is for.

I built a Coho two years ago and have just recently built a CLC Chesapeake LT16 for my wife. I love the Coho - it's a fantastic camping boat and can carry a lot of gear a long ways. A friend of mine built a West River 180 two years ago and likes it as well, although I haven't paddled it. Regarding the differences between the kits, I personally like the built up deck on the Coho better than the cambered decks on the CLC boats. Despite CLC website comments, it's pretty easy to get a very fine line connecting the deck to the hull, and taping the inside seam through the hatches isn't very hard - just wait to do it until after you have the hatches cut. Also, it seems much more elegant (and just as strong) the Pygmy way to not be using the heavy deck beams used on the CLC boats or the heavy shear clamps. That said, having those shear clamps to hold the screws for the deck fittings on the CLC boats is great!

The butt joints on my Pygmy were easy to make, not that hard to keep from showing some shading through the glass, and are incredibly strong - as I'm sure the scarf joints on my wife's new Chesapeake are. So you know how strong an epoxy joint can be, I had a wave drop my filled up Coho on a rock last spring (after dumping me out) and put a cross shaped crack in the plywood - between all the epoxy joints. None of the joints failed, only the plywood did. Easy to cut out and glue in a new piece. I did find it easier to get the but joints to line up than to get the scarf joints "just right", but maybe that was just me.

I personally found my Pygmy kit to be cut more precisely than the CLC kit and required lots less trimming, sanding, etc., to get everything to line up. Again, that said both were good - and the CLC boat is overall substantially easier to build since the deck is so much less work.

Roger