I'd stay away from luan doorskins for the kayak hull. I built my Chesapeake 17's hull from okuome marine ply and used luan doorskins for my deck. The doorskins look great, and maybe save me a little weight, but they are _not_ very strong. I had problems cracking my deck above my knees when rolling, so I would strongly advise against using doorskins for the hull, especially when it is your "life preserver"! I 'glassed over the knee brace areas and solved my cracking problem, but if I were to use doorskins for the hull, I'd 'glass both inside and outside, and the cost savings wouldn't be so significant.

I probably sound a lot like the guys at CLC with this advice; I used to feel alot the same way you feel about the price of marine okuome. I'm really glad I used the okuome for my hull. It is very strong--you can take a 1" wide strip of the 4mm stuff and bend it back on itself and it won't break. You can bend the same strip of doorskin less than 45 or 50 degrees and it will crack.

You can shop around for glass and epoxy, maybe use luan for your (less critical) deck, and buy paint brushes on sale and keep your costs pretty low. All told, I only had $450 into my entire boat, which is still a lot cheaper than the $650 for a CLC kit, and WAY cheaper than buying a commercial boat.

email me if I can help you further

Good Luck!

Shawn