I had the same issues.The manual is vague, inaccurate and is not kept up to date with the parts that are shipped. For the money these kits cost, you'd think they would create accurate documentation.

There's a YouTube video featuring a vlogger building the Eastport Take-Apart Pram. she gets half-way into the build and realizes they sent her the manual for the standard build and CLC helps her over the phone figure out a solution. Based on that video, the first thing I checked when receiving my Take-Apart Passage Maker kit was the manual. Yes, it was the right one, but, as I would discover during the project, just too damn vague for a first-time builder like me. When I called them out on a few issues, they said I had the old one from 2011 and sent me a newer one from 2017. I was so excited to get the new corected manual, but all that was changed: a copyright in the footer. I'm really disappointed, but with a few Gs invested and. alot of time, I'll make the most of it and finish what I started.

I hear you loud and clear, and no debate from me. It's an overarching priority here and we're committing the resources to get all ~55 of our manuals as near to perfection as we can.

Here's a taste of what the new generation of manuals look like.

The Tenderly manual is a work of art -- like the boat itself. I suspect that only John is bold enough to write something like the following!   

"Tenderly was engineered around the specific properties of marine plywood, which has strong, thick veneers and no voids. There are some pretty big spans where there’s no framing at all–just a sandwich of marine plywood and fiberglass. That sandwich has enormous strength properties, but you might as well build the boat with wheat thins and polyester resin if you’re going to use cheap plywood."

   How about this I think I got an old manual a new set of plans and an old kit. The manual shows scarf joints on the panels. It refers you to the plans to find a base line

The plans tells you all kits after 2014 have puzzle joints not scarfs. Guess what my kit has scarfs. I haven't called them on this but I'm sure they'll make it right somehow.

I'd much rather the puzzles. This is for a sailrig but yeah the manual for my kayak Mill creek 13 was somewhat challenging for a newbie. I get that you can't put everything in writing so it creates a challenge and that's part of the fun. Think think think! PP

I'm working on a Skerry, and have also had issues with the manual, of three kinds:

1) The manuals skipped information essential to a complete newbie like me. Example: if you mix more than about two ounces of epoxy in a small container, there is an exothermic reaction, and you will end up with a very hot hockey puck. Yes, this information is on the website, but there is a *lot* of information on the website, and I didn't see it before I was wondering what the hell was going on.

2) I had a kit that was newer than the manual. CLC sent me an updated manual.

3) Low quality B&W images. Often, the thing I'm trying to see is simply not visible because of image quality.

In all cases, CLC support has been excellent, and this forum has been very useful. But the manuals do need improving.

   geophile, you're lucky you only created a hockey puck. I made a nice, fat softball! 

The smoking hockey puck is a key rite of passage among epoxysmiths. Put yours in a place of honor to amaze and amuse your descendants through the ages. Mine had a brush stuck in it so I put it on my desk at work like a pen holder.

At the risk of sounding curmudgeonly, I need to say something positive about the older CLC manuals and plans. Thousands of boats have been successfully built and launched and admired by spectators using that documentation. They are absolutely not fatally flawed and they absolutely have all the data needed to build quality boats. Fixating on a few typos, typos that will be totally forgotten once the boat is completed, seems really pointless. If someone really can't work it out on their own, CLC has a massive library of shop tips as well as people who will answer the phone and builders' questions. Don't let a few typos take control of the project.

Laszlo