: Are we talking 2-300 hours using a book and plans? Getting my mind around it
: and happy I have two glass kayaks to tide me over.

I took seven months to build my first boat - a stripper (Great Auk scaled
down 5/6, for my daughter). That included a long period in the middle when
the boat was in a place too cold to start glassing, and a certain amount
of time to repair the deck whcih was split moving it to my new heatable
workshop ... I didn't count the hours, but at one time came up with an
estimate of 700 hours. I now believe that estimate is way too high.

Second boat was a hybrid Cormorant and took from Christmas to Easter. I
logged the hours carefully and got 280. But that was quite a complex
deck design using a mix of woods, one of which (purpleheart) was NOT easy
to work. It would also have been quicker if I had a workspace a foot longer,
as the boat only just barely fit in my space. The boat included a retractable
skeg, and a lot of recessed deck fittings which were both quite time-consuming.

For hybrid boat with Kajaksport or Valley hatches, single-piece bulkheads
and the deck all made of cedar, I'd be disgruntled to take over 200 hours
on a third build...

Andy