I am thinking of building a Chesapeake lt17. My only concern is the strength of the boat. I do paddle in the ocean regularly and sometimes it gets rough. I think these boats are very beautiful. any opinions would help, thanks in advance

Derek, I think you'll find that, pound for pound, plywood is one the strongest materials there is, and it may be that it is the strongest material that is generally be used as a boatbuilding material. Have no doubt in your mind about the strength of a stitch-and-glue (or any kind of) wooden kayak in rough water. My stitch-and-glue CLC survived being run over by a powerboat, with a big chunk taken out of the stern hull by the boat's prop (I survived too!), and I repaired it in a couple days. Not too many fiberglass boats, with or without carbon or Kevlar, would have fared nearly as well.

Magic, tell us more about this encounter. Maybe I've just been lucky, but most power boaters have been quite considerate in my experience. I did just recently hear some horror stories about power boaters vs kayakers in the Portland, Oregon area, but I am about 50 miles downstream from there.

So far, I've even been impressed with how the personal watercraft (jet ski, wave runner) crowd has behaved.

What kind do you have? i am leaning towards the chesapeake lt17. I regularly do over 10 mile trips. I was leaning towards a fiberglass and then checked out clc. Thanks for responding.

Derek, my kayak is homebuilt from plans. The hull is the CLC Patuxent 17, which then (1995) was CLC's fastest boat; they no longer offer it. The cockpit and deck are my own design. Again, if you have a wooden boat, be assured that it will be the strongest kayak on the water.

Magooch, here's the short version: A quiet weekday in June 2005. A friend and I are chatting while crossing from one side of a tidewater channel to another. A whisper-quiet powerboat suddenly appears right behind me (thankfully not up on plane) on a certain collision course. I roll to my left and powerfully eject myself from the cockpit at a 45 degree angle downward, to avoid impact at all costs. Powerboat runs over my kayak, tearing Great White-size hole in stern hull, shattering spare paddle, strewing stuff everywhere. Pilot is an 83-year-old man--he stops, dazed by incident, takes full responsibility--says he wasn't looking where he was going while intent on figuring out new GPS unit. My kayak, because it has built-in styrofoam flotation, doesn't sink. Boater takes me and kayak back to my launch site, and we settle on monetary damages on the spot--I am made whole. I fix kayak good as new and get new paddle. Boater says he will think seriously about giving up boating at his age. Moral: impact was dual responsibility--neither of us was paying proper attention--I have gotten much more observant at all times on the water--as kayakers, we are very vulnerable.

Yeah, something like that would definitley sharpen up your attention to boat traffic. I applaud your quick reactions and self preservation. Glad it turned out good for you.

We have a lot of ship traffic on the Columbia River and these things are silent monsters, so it pays to have a good swivel-neck when you're near the channel. I've learned to also be aware of the waves they leave behind. They could ruin your day if you get caught in shallow water when they arrive.

As far as plywood strength in a boat goes, don't forget that not only WW2 PT boats were made from plywood, but also the D-Day landing craft were plywood boats... and both surivived quite a bit of abuse.