based on past experience....you are not far off.... if you aren't sitting on a bunch of scraps or spare stuff (e.g. left over epoxy or fibreglass) you can use.

the bill of material for a wood duck 14 is on the site https://www.clcboats.com/shop/kit_options/wood-duck-14-recreational-kayak-kit/930.html and you can check out CLC's sell prices for almost all the items bought seperately.  so, for example the epoxy kit #2  they recommend and will include in their 'all in' kit.... they will sell you for $366.62 if bought seperately.  the fibreglass is 12 yards of 50 inch 4 oz glass at ~ $8/yard of around $96 in total.

fwiw....the kit prices for stitch and glues kits are actually pretty economic when you do the comparison you are making....clc is very efficient and, in my view, passes that efficiency (they buy bulk and are very efficient in all the pieces they can get out of a large piece of okoume) into reasonable kit prices....so in the case of an okoume boat for example, its usually cheaper to buy the kit and get all the cutting 'done for free'

if you want to save cash compared to kit prices, it's in the strip builds where you can save money by buying your own cedar boards and cutting your own strips.     CLC's cutting strips is something that they have to charge for (even if they are efficient) but if you have the tools and set up and some patience, it is something you can do from raw materials signifcantly lower than what CLC would charge for the cut strip.

while CLC, again in my opinion, is not necessarily the cheapest price you can find for any individul item, they tend to be one of the lower cost providers for much of what they sell...even when selling as a one off and not in a kit....so just look at their bill of materials and pricing and you have a reasonable comparison to what it will take you if you don't go the kit option.

h

having built a 14 hybird ( that i love ) i believe you should double your 

your $1000 and than should you come in under you will be pleased.

good choice of boat large , stable and roomy. don't forget the paddle.  

I spent over $1200 on my WD12 11 years ago and, as geotex says, had to add in the paddle (+PFD+sprayskirt+cockpit cover+spraydeck+anchor).

On the other hand, I still have it and it's my most-used boat. So $1200 divided by 11 years is $109 per year or 30 cents per day. That's a lot cheaper than pretty much anything else I spend my money on in a day, so it's a great investment. Where else can you get so much fun and healthy exercise for 30 cents per day?

Hang in there, it's worth it,

Laszlo

I agree with all that Hspira and Lazlo have said above.  I especially like the recommendation to plan on $2000 and be happy if you end up less. 

Yet another way to look at the cost is to consider it the price of a boatbuilding hobby.  It will take you about 100 hours to build the boat, so you are doing your hobby for only $2 per hour, which is pretty cheap.  The advantage is that in the end you have a FREE boat. 

One of the areas that you have not really included in your estimate is that cost of consumables.  I am talking about tape, chip brushes, foam brushes, rollers, stirs, latex gloves, mixing cups, sand paper, face masks, thinner, denatured alcohol, etc.  I am a long time Quicken user and was absolutely floored when I totaled the consumable cost for my first build.  Now that my shop is fully stocked and I buy in bulk, it is cheaper but still something like $300 per kayak.

The last point to make is that it NEVER EVER makes financial sense to build a kayak or any other boat.  For less than you will spend on just epoxy, you can buy a new crapyak from one of the box stores.  For half the cost of supplies, you could buy a good quality boat from a knowledgeable outfitter.  There are also scores of used boats for sale, including a $600 Shearwater on the classifieds here.  This does not even consider the cost of your labor.  The bottom line is that if you build a boat, do it because you want to build a boat, not because you are trying to save money.    

Mark,

2 nits to pick. First, I think that you're off by a factor of 10 in your cost per hour.

Second, it can make financial sense to build your own boat when you want a unique boat that is built exactly the way you want it built and you want the building experience. Other than that very specific case, your analysis makes perfect sense.

Your point about consumables is spot on. That's what accounted for the $300 dollar difference in price between the CLC kit and my final cost.

Laszlo

I bought my first kayak from a friend for $250. Then I spent $1,000 on accessories, racks, kayak pfd and other gear.

.

I always figure a 10 to 20% contingency budget to any build. That;s for stuff I didn't know would happen. Lets say the cat jumps up and knocks over the hardener when the cap was off. Or you make a mistake that requires redoing. Or you have to feed the heater more than you thought.    

First off let me just state that I understand the heart of this thread is the financial side of building a kayak, but I always seem to see things from a sightly different angle.

I have two builds under my belt at this point the first being a Shearwater Sport and the second my wife's WD 12 hybrid.  I still consider myself a rookie at all this, but I have to admit they turned out far better than expected.  Both were built from plans, and to be honest I would have to make a wild guess to come up with a dollar value of what I spent on either.  That isn't to say I have money burning a hole in my pocket by any means!  The fact of the matter is I wanted two kayaks, I wanted to build them, and I wanted to learn things while enjoying the experience.

I don't think I could put a value on the the things I learned like: using planes and spokeshaves; sharpening the blades of those tools, how does epoxy and fiberglass work; how to cut a scarf joint; how to lay down a smooth varnish finish: how to carve a greenland paddle, and the list goes on.  The self confidence I gained from these projects is just amazing!  One of my favorite things though is the look on peoples faces when I tell them I built them myself.  Priceless!

No, not one time while paddling the beautiful Finger Lakes of NYS or the St. Lawrence River have I wondered what I spent on my boats.  The one thing that does consistantly go through my mind, "This is so freakin' awesome!"  That and, "Which one will I build next?"

That's this builder/paddler's two cents anyway.

Dave

i think its great that you are doing a little financial planning/budgeting. 

when i built my first boat things were a bit tight and the cost of my first kit exceeded what i was allowed to spend without consulting with my wife  in advance.  we had three little kids and dad wanted to spend about a grand on himself....so i had a bit of explaining to do.... so its reasonable to ask, what's this going to cost me?

that said, and i think the other folks commenting above make this point, it depends what you are comparing it to?   so as a previous commenter said, and it was always the way i looked at it.....is that this was a hobby and a skills/learning thing for me and becuase i am kind of slow, i could easily spend several hundred hours planning, studying and working on a boat....so i just thought about it from that perspective and it has worked out to be one of the least expensive hobbies around in absolute dollars and certainly in dollars per hour.   

for me over the years, i have probably averaged about $1,500 out of pocket per boat and each one has gotten me through a year or two of build time and lots and lots of hours of enjoyment.  and as mentioned, you get a boat out the backend of the process....and i certainly have used them a lot over the years.

if you are just trying to get on the water, you can probably find a less expensive approach...a good used kayak can be gotten for less than a thousand dollars with a little patience.,,,and that's ok too.   

btw....my number 2 build was a boat for my wife.  and she really likes her boat:)

HOLY CRAP, Lazlo is correct that my math is off!  Please don't tell my wife that I have been lying to her all these years.  The good news is that have been doing mostly strip builds which take twice as long so they are half the price per hour.

I also agree with the statement that sometimes the only way to get that unique boat that you NEED is by building it.

For me, the part of this discussion that you can't put a dollar value on is the joy of paddling a beautiful boat that I built.

Please don't forget that all of these costs aren't up front.  When I built my Eastport Pram, I bought a couple sheets of plywood at a time and cut out those parts, along with various bench projects.  I did this over the course of several months, so my monthly expenditure was only $200-$300 per month.  I bought epoxy one gallon at a time, I only bought the hardware when I was starting to wrap up the build, and I saved up for a couple of months to buy the sail kit from Sailrite.  Yes, it took about a year and a half to get the boat complete, but I was able to self-finance it without breaking the bank on any given month/pay period.

I did a three-boat build with friends of some Wood Duck Doubles. A few line items reflect multi-build bulk savings, but most apply pretty much to any build. Here's what I charged them in materials:

Note I got a great deal on a bunch of 4mm okoume from a plywood warehouse that was discontinuing that line (not Noah's, and I still have many sheets, for anybody in the NE MO area!), and I'd probably bump my consummables and shipping allowance up each another 30 or so. These are 2015 prices and I haven't looked to see what's changed, but it's possible to build these boats a lot cheaper than expressed so far.

-Chad

(oh, and I threw in the materials to build paddles too - about $50/ea)

   Thanks for all the feedback.  The few times that I have posted here always returns great information.  I see how the kit can be an economical option.  I like the thought of spreading the cost out over time.  With my current work schedule it could take some time to get one built.  My local outdoor shop will be demoing some kayaks next week.  Maybe my next step should be to try them out before committing to a build.  Those fishing kayaks that allow you to stand up easily look pretty sweet.  

Absolutely try before buying. Regardless of how you finance it, that's a significant amount of money and, as other threads have discussed, it's hard to get back by selling the boat. There's things about boats that show up only when you're in them, so try for a demo of the actual boat. If you can't do that, try for one that's as close to the one you're considering as possible.

Have fun,

Laszlo