I should have put in a special shout out to Laszlo for his help on several steps of the building process. his website "Building a Wood Duck 12" became a guiding light.

Thank you sir, I hope you are a happy paddler today and everyday.

Coach C.

Clay, your duck looks really nice.  I'm definitely considering a duck as my second project.  I have marked your build blog for future reference along with Laszlo's.

Thanks for your kind words.  What is your first project?  I will be looking  for another one in the winter. 

Have a great day! 

Coach C.

Clay,

My first project is a Mill Creek 16.5 (primed the hull this morning)  I wanted a boat I could row.  I was originally going to build an Oxford Shell, then decided to build the Annoplis Wherry but then started looking at various Mill Creek builds and I went with that.  With the MC, my wife and or daughters could paddle as a tandem or a single.  It can be rowed and even sailed.  As a matter of several people have seen it since moving it into my garage for fnishing and one guy thought it was a sculling boat. 

I like the duck because it is shorter and light and probably easier to store.  Although I like the Shearwater and the Chesapeake, I will run out of room to store 16 or 17 ft boats.  

Jeff,

Sounds like your logic in selecting the MC 16.5 was very close to mine.  The primary goal was a boat to row that fit in my garage and I could get on and off the car alone.  Have been rowing her for about 2 1/2 years now and still really enjoy it.  Have paddled the boat once alone and twice with my wife.  that's definitely a secondary function.  Actually have built a Shearwater 17H since which I do my paddling in.

You will enjoy the MC.  It's a quite nice boat to row.  Good luck finishing up your build.

Paul

Clay,

Just got back into town and see that you're finished and gotten into the water. Well done! It came out really nice. Looks like it's your turn to be giving advice to the newbies.

Welcome to the fleet.

Laszlo