Hello all!
Well, I've been looking forward to using the "Launching:" heading from the post new message pull down menu and I finally made it!

Actually this post is a little behind the times. Hurricane Isabel visited and caused a two week postponement in launching. The first launch was on October 4th. I have been a little under the weather and bogged down at work since then and was unable to get my pics posted until now.

Many, many thanks to Nick Schade for maintaining and sponsoring this great forum. Thanks also to the many forum participants and their own kayak building websites. I did a mammoth amount of research and lurking on these informational sites. Special thanks to everyone who took the time to chime in on my questions and helped me through this process. Thanks to John Doornink for measuring the cockpit size of his Cunningham S&G so I could compare it to my intended cockpit size.

So I have made the journey from a kayak curious person to a first time kayak builder, new wood kayak owner and learning paddler. Thanks for helping make that possible.

The link below has a few pictures of my first launch and my kayak truck rack. Also I have some blurb written about my experience. I also have a small page with some building pics at http://www.accuratedrafting.com/tw_kayak_build1.htm

I do still have some work to do on the kayak but didn't want to wait until it was finished for a first launch. The weather would have been too cold for a newbie such as myself. I can't wait till Spring '04. I plan to do a lot of paddling.

I don't have plans for a new building project....yet. I figure I have plenty of paddling experience to gain and a nice wobbly boat to grow into. However, I have sparked my woodworking neighbor's interest in building a strip canoe. I guess maybe he could twist my arm to lend a hand here or there.

--Tony