I made seven little models before I got your kit. They were nice, but did not have the right bow in the bottom. On the seventh one I made, I just about had the end pieces figured out. It was challenging. The little ones I made are harder to make than yours. Funny, but true.

Enjoyed building this pirogue. It features one quarter inch marine plywood and everything else is cypress. I also used brass screws into the ribs and entire bottom, as well as everywhere else. I added the lower chines inside to give the bottom more gluing and screwing area. I will coat it with Polane, a waterproof hard polyurethane that should handle the job well.

Here it is finished. As you can see, I customized my boat a pretty good bit. I added inside pieces of cypress to the bottom for extra support. I did not use fiberglass, because the way I built my pirogue I found that it wasn't really necessary. Also, I added gunrails and a keel on the inside and bottom of the boat. It really makes the boat paddle straight and easy.

This is the first boat I have ever built. I found it was pretty simple and very well built. When I first got in the pirogue, it felt kind of shaky. After the initial scare, I found it was like riding a bike for the first time. In about four strokes of the paddle, I took off like a torpedo. My pirogue will fly. Even my wife said that once she got going in the pirogue, she didn't want to stop. She said "This is fun!"