Sorry for the tardy reply. I've been under the weather and uninclined to get my brain organixed enough to write... Better now.

I'm ashamed to admit that I've only had Whimsy out once since I got her. That outing demonstrated that even though she is indeed light, she's awkward to load and unload using an unmodified Quick-N-Easy roof rack on the canopy of my 2006 Tacoma. The boat is 12' long and 4' wide, and manhandling her risks odd muscle strains and back kinks for an out of shape Ol' Coot. Alas, I've procrastinated about doing what's necessary to set up the roof rack, and to rig up a little dolly to make moving Whimsy around easier. Also making a good way to store her. Right now she's inside Pickle; not an ideal situation for either boat..

Whimsy is indeed a Good Boat once in the water. She rows easily even with the clubs I've got for oars. (When's Toledo Joe gonna show us how to make good oars? <g>). I've only had her out in flat water, but I suspect she'd do well in a chop. She tracks really, really well; perhaps even to a fault for an oarsman who likes a lively, maneuverable boat, but a great help to a poor rower like myself. <g>

We used the light Dacron. I haven't run into anything sharp yet, so I can't say if that was a wise choice. If you're gonna be grounding on sharp rocks and barnacles, sacrificing some lightness by uisng the 9 oz. cloth might be worth it. Dave Gentry has used PL Premium polyurethane construction adhesive as a filler coat on the Dacron for better durability. Gentry's boats are heavier than Platt Monfort's, but simpler to build. The Toledo Boathouse built a bunch of them when Andrew was in charge.

http://gentrycustomboats.com/

There's a little Yaquina canoe (Gentry style construction) that was built years ago at the Toledo Boathouse that's been knocked about --
though no barnacles -- in the boat livery and is still usable, though getting a bit worn. Dacron covered SoF boats hold up darn good.

https://flic.kr/p/fE6ZpA

The Retired Old Geezers did a Good Job building Whimsy, but there's some slack in some of the Kevlar reinforcement straps. That doesn't seem to be causing any problems. Yet. <g> If you build a Geodesic Airolite boat, be sure to leave tails on the Kevlar above the gunnels so you can tighten the straps after you've shrunk the fabric. Cut the excess off after you install the rubrails.

The frame is hard to paint by hand, because it's complex, with lots of little surfaces and corners. The ROGs finally had the shipyard spray paint Whimsy's. An oil finish that you can liberally slap on without worrying about drips and runs might be the best choice if you don't have a spray gun.

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