Here's my story. My first build was a Severn. There was no option for a kit at the time. I am an ameturer woodworker (mostly furniture) and found the woodworking part to be a breeze. My next boat was a Chesapeake from kit. I can honestly say that the cost of DIY -vs- kit comes out to be the DIY costing just a little bit less. But for me, not enough less to make the DIY my first choice. After that my Wherry was from kit. And you would think I would learn my lesson, but no. I started out with a strip built from plans only to find out that I couldn't get the supplies for the forms for much less than what I could get them already cut out from CLC. Now don't get me wrong. I am very glad that I did that original Severn from plans only. It really gave me the feeling that I "Built a Boat" -vs- "Assembling a Boat" (I now know that there really is no difference by skipping those initial cut-out steps). But after all these different projects, from a cost perspective, you really can't beat the kit cost. If you live right by the CLC shop you might be able to better the price by getting rough parts, but if you don't have a local supplier for all the "stuff", you will probably be getting all of it shipped from CLC anyway. Only one part at at time. It was nice when everything that I needed was right there and I didn't need to waste time waiting on getting supplies for the next step in the project.

I just completed my Wherry (kit) last October. Took me about 2 months. Unless you want to be able to tell your friends you built it as opposed to assemble it I can't see an advantage to plans. I'm no pro but i can't see being able to duplicate the accuracy of the CNC cut parts. Not to mention the time it would take to cut them. I get A LOT of compliments and questions about my boat. Everyone wants to know about the build. I always tell people I built it from a kit. If that bothers you, build from plans. And always budget an extra hour into your rowing plans for boat ramp chat. There will be very few days when you will not have to answer a few questions. I had to pose for pictures yesterday. Either way you go, it's a pretty boat and rows like a dream.

From my perspective, I am more interested in "using" the boat as opposed to building it. It's not that I am not enjoying building the wherry, I am. It's great seeing it all come together, you get a great sense of accomplishment when another step has been completed. Anyway, it would seem that a kit would be much faster to get into the water than building from plans, a lot of the work has been done for you.

Thanks to all of you who replied to my query about plans vs. kit for the Wherry.  I have no issue with assembling as opposed to building a boat; the construction is somewhat incidental to my main aim, which is to get on the water.  It's a stunning boat and, as Ricks mentioned, buying a kit that contains all parts, hardware, etc. without having to chase suppliers is tremendously appealing (and valuable).  I'm grateful to all of you for your advice.

You'll have to go with a kit on this one as there aren't plans available for scratch builders. Last time I asked, anyway.

George K

Did one boat from plans and one from a kit.  Glad for the experience (i guess) but the cost difference isn't enough on the laser cut peices simply go together better and produce superior results.

 As for pride of ownership - nobody even asks did you build it from scratch or from a kit.  They simply ask if you built it!

 Have fun