Pappy,

Building any kayak or canoue alone is no problem. Sure once in a while you might want an extra hand, but dry running any operation you can figure out how to get it done.

Also, since you can lift and turn over the finished product alone, lifting and turning any of the sub assemblies is easy. 

Have fun with your build!

Joel

   oops, you said paddling. New answer. Should not be much different than a 16' canoe. That being said I own a 16' (double)canoe, a 12' Skin-on-frame single canoe, and a 17' shearwater CLC kayak, and pick the appropriate boat for the task. Or maybe I should say they own me... Not to mention the sailboats...

Soo, start biulding!

Joel

I find even the MC 13 requires extra work to track in a cross breeze (compared with the WD 12, for example).  I'd imagine the 16.5 would be considerably crankier.  If you're in very protected waters, maybe that's not an issue, but if you plan to get out in the open you may find it hard to control in a breeze.