In this current build, I have departed from the usual strip building I have done in the past. The hull is stitch and glue. My biggest difficulty in starting out was finding a local source for the 4mm marine plywood called for in the plans. I eventually settled for 3mm and am compensating by using 6oz glass instead of the 4oz in the plans. I also laminated a 1" wide strip to the shear line to create a better land for the deck strips.
The major plus for the stitch and glue is that from plans to a fiberglassed hull took 8 - 10 hours.
I am doing a lot of experimenting on this project as you can see from the staining post. I intend to paint the hull instead of going with a clear coat. Since (unfortunately) my kayaks spend less time in the water than out, I am planning to use automotive paint on the hull. I am finding that this gives me a much wider choice of colors than sticking with marine paints. For the final coat on both hull and deck, I intend to use Epifanes clear varnish. Since my wife and kids bought me an Earlex HVLP sprayer for Father's Day last year, this will also be my first foray into sprayed finish coats.
My current plan is to have this kayak ready to go in the water by May 5 when my soldier daughter gets home on leave. The plan is to spend a day on Lake Tahoe

This is my current build. At this point it is almost ready for fiberglass on the deck. This is a hybrid Night Heron with the high deck option. My size 12 1/2 feet limit the designs I can comfortably fit into.
The deck is a combination of redwood and poplar. I stained the redwood with a water based stain to accent the color. The foredeck is poplar with a blue Minwax wiping stain. The stars are white vinyl made from sticky-back vinyl sheet and a star punch.
The staining of the stripes was a somewhat involved process. When I first tested the stain, the color spread from strip to strip. I did some research and found that epoxy bonds very well with laquer so I eventually masked the area to be stained and sprayed laquer on the unmasked area. After stripping the masking, I stained the red and cleaned up the minimal over-stain. I then put two coats of laquer on to allow light sanding without removing the stain.
We are having a rather cool spring here, so I am waiting for temperatures in the seventies to lay the glass on the deck.
I have decided to go with a stacked plywood coaming lip instead of the standing strip and laminated ash lip I have used on my other kayaks. I am hoping to speed up the process a little and to strengthen the cockpit area since with the smaller "keyhole" cockpit cut out on this design, I will have to sit on the deck to enter the boat.