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Actual Pygmy Solo Kayak Costs for Completed Kit

A friend of mine is considering building a Pygmy kayak, or having me build one for him, and he asked "how much does it cost to build a Pygmy kayak?" He was guessing about $2,000 for the completed kayak including all the consumables, and that turns out to be a great guess. I worked up an Excel workbook of the costs that I could think of. It is based off of all the consumables I've used on this and previous boats:

Pygmy kayak building costs


This assumes that you would want the hatch & bulkhead kit, and the custom deck perimeter lines with soft webbing padeyes similar to what I install on my boats.

It does not include any tool costs because you may or may not already have many of them.

I think that this amount is a realistic estimate of what a completed Pygmy solo kayak would cost. If you were to pay a professional to build it for you then you'd probably have to at least double it or more. This is based on the 2015 price of a Borealis kit; your kit may cost more or less.

In the end you get a gorgeous, high-performance, light-weight but extremely strong, wood composite kayak for a price of an entry level fiberglass kayak. Your kayak will look better and perform better than a $3,500 fiberglass kayak. It's a work of art that you can say you built yourself! Good luck on your build!


Aloha!


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