Plywood Kayak Kits - How long will it take?

About one month. Expect it to take about 28 work days to complete most kayaks including varnish or paint and installing fittings. Most suppliers will tell you that their kit can be built in 60 to 80 hours. Frankly, we don't think these numbers give much useful information but they do encourage very unrealistic completion dates. The point to remember is that the speed anybody's kit can be completed depends on the number of pieces to be assembled and how smoothly they go together. How fast this can happen is regulated by the time it takes each application of epoxy to cure before starting the next step. To go faster than this means either combining steps which always means a great deal of repair work and sanding later or compromising you health by working ahead in uncured epoxy. When a low building time is advertised, we expect it means that the hull and deck could possibly be assembled in the given time but expect an equal number of hours to sand and finish the boat later.

We want building a Bear Mountain Kayak to be one of the most rewarding projects you have ever tackled. For this to happen, we must be honest with you about how long the project will take. For example, building a kayak will impact on your family in many ways; they will be more patient and supportive if there is a realistic plan for the beginning and the end. If a builder has been told that a project should take a specific number of hours, it adds a competitive pressure to perform. Should a novice builder take this number serious, much of the pleasure and satisfaction could be lost by either working to less than a comfortable quality standard or taking it personal when it takes longer. The whole point of building a plywood kayak is to do it on your terms, at your own speed and to be really proud of yourself and the boat when you are finished.

Our instruction book, Kayaks You Can Build breaks the project into a realistic timeline based on what can be accomplished each day up to something needing to cure overnight before safely moving to the next step. Some days are full which fits into working weekends while others will only take a few hours, good projects for stolen time.

Because the Bear Mountain building method is the 'shortest route to the best kayak', it is a fast way to build. While it was not a priority to develop a kit that is faster to complete than the competition, our method is fast if a carefully built and nicely finished kayak is expected. It is good to know that quality and pride do not have to be sacrificed to keep the project moving and launch your kayak in a reasonable length of time.