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A woman paddling a Wood Duck 12 kayak
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Wood Duck 12
Sale
Wood Duck 12
Sale
Wood Duck 12
Sale
Wood Duck 12
Sale
Matt B. and a young friend out for a paddle in his Wood Duck 12 kayak
Sale
Wood Duck 12
A woman paddling a Wood Duck 12 kayak Thumbnail
Wood Duck 12 Thumbnail
Wood Duck 12 Thumbnail
Wood Duck 12 Thumbnail
Wood Duck 12 Thumbnail
Matt B. and a young friend out for a paddle in his Wood Duck 12 kayak Thumbnail
Wood Duck 12 Thumbnail

Wood Duck 12

Builder Testimonials

CLC's most popular recreational kayak. Great tracking, roomy cockpit for easy entry and exit, a real turn of speed for covering ground.

  • Skill Level Beginner
  • Estimated Build Time 80 Hours

This project was designed with the beginner in mind. Assembly manuals and documentation are calibrated for builders who are using epoxy and fiberglass for the first time. In kits, little or no trimming and fitting of parts is required.

This kit features computer-cut parts, puzzle joints, pre-drilled wire holes, and computer-indicated bulkhead locations, speeding and simplifying the construction process. The illustrated assembly manual makes the construction process accessible to first-time builders.

Build this boat if...

  • You need a stable, comfortable kayak for all conditions
  • You are seeking a kayak that fits kids or adults
  • You want speed AND stability in one kayak
  • Ease of construction is important

  • Easy to Build

    Your first boatbuilding project!

  • Superior Support

    Tech support is free and unlimited

  • Quality Materials

    Only the best professional-grade materials

If this is your first go at mixing epoxy and assembling pre-cut wooden parts, here's a good design for starting out!

Superior Support

Have a question about your project, large or small? You can speak to a boatbuilder at CLC, on the phone or by email. Send questions to info@clcboats.com!

Quality Materials

Our kits ship with the same first-class marine plywood, timber, epoxy, and fiberglass that we use in our own boatbuilding shop. It's not cheap, but these boats are meant to last forever!

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Shipping & Returns

Builders also looked at...

Take One of our Boatbuilding Classes

We offer classes for many of the boats we sell. Teaching sites stretch from Maryland to Washington State and from Maine to California. Click here to find out more.
A woman paddling a Wood Duck 12 kayak

A woman paddling a Wood Duck 12 kayak

Wood Duck 12
Wood Duck 12
Wood Duck 12
Wood Duck 12
Matt B. and a young friend out for a paddle in his Wood Duck 12 kayak

Matt B. and a young friend out for a paddle in his Wood Duck 12 kayak

Wood Duck 12
A woman paddling a Wood Duck 12 kayak Thumbnail
Wood Duck 12 Thumbnail
Wood Duck 12 Thumbnail
Wood Duck 12 Thumbnail
Wood Duck 12 Thumbnail
Matt B. and a young friend out for a paddle in his Wood Duck 12 kayak Thumbnail
Wood Duck 12 Thumbnail

Specifications

Length
12'0"
Beam
30"
Cockpit Size
38" x 20"
Hull Weight
40 lbs.
Paddler Weight
80 - 250 lbs.
Max Payload
350 lbs.
Knee Height
13"
Max. Men's Shoe Size
14

Performance

Stability

5 out of 5
Very Tippy
Very Stable

Speed

2 out of 5
Cruiser
Racer

Cockpit Room

5 out of 5
Close Fit
Huge Cockpit

Payload

4 out of 5
Day Tripper
Freight Hauler

Ease of Construction

5 out of 5
Requires Patience
Very Easy
Mike A. paddling the Hood Canal in Washington with his dog, Grace, on the bow.
Mike A. paddling the Hood Canal in Washington with his dog, Grace, on the bow.

Overview

Beautiful, easy to use recreational kayaks - The Wood Ducks are beautiful little kayaks designed for just about everyone to enjoy on the water.  With big cockpits and ample stability, the emphasis is on comfort.  But these boats really paddle well!  Speed is excellent:  you can really cover the miles in a day, while tracking is solid in stiff crosswinds.

Compact, easy-to-launch boats just seem to get used the most.  In a tenth of the time it takes to launch a heavy boat on a trailer or drag the big canoe down the lawn, you can slide one of these little kayaks into the water and be on your way.  Keep your Wood Duck on top of the car, ready to toss into all the interesting creeks in your county.

The Wood Ducks are among our easiest-to-build kits.  Panels are precision-cut on our computerized equipment, with puzzle-joints and pre-drilled stitching holes for fast and accurate assembly.  Sheathed in fiberglass inside and out, the Wood Duck will withstand real-world abuse on gravel or shell beaches, and will bounce over submerged stumps without harm.

Capacity is ample and meant to accommodate a broad range of paddlers.  Cockpits are 38 inches long, for easy in and out, and your legs and knees will not be confined.  The  Wood Duck 12 will easily handle a 275-pound person, plus gear.  A flush hatch for the rear compartment is standard in all kits; an airtight oval VCP hatch is an option.  In either case, both boats can carry a heavy payload in the fore and aft compartments, enough for picnicking, camping, or a whole lot of fishing gear.

The standard kit includes BS-1088 grade okoume plywood throughout.  This is a beautiful tropical wood, prized for its grain, light weight, and workability, and it’s the standard for stitch-and-glue kayak construction at Chesapeake Light Craft.  One option is a sapele deck, which CLC followers will recall is standard in the Shearwater performance kayak line. Sapele is a dense, strong west African species with an attractive reddish grain figure.  

Construction begins by joining the plywood hull panels with “puzzle joints” to reach the 12-foot overall length.  Then the panels are brought together along their edges with stitches of copper wire, with four bulkheads helping to give the hull shape.  The seams are reinforced with thickened epoxy, then fiberglass fabric.  The deck is assembled separately from the hull, then stitched and epoxied in place.  All of the copper wire stitches are removed prior to the final sheathing of fiberglass fabric.  Finally, the cockpit is laminated in place and the rear hatch assembled.  A comfortable seat and footbraces, included in the kit, are mounted after the hull has been varnished.

CLC commissioned designer Eric Schade to draw and prototype the Wood Duck  12 to our specifications.  Eric had a huge hit with his Shearwater kayak designs, also designed for CLC as fast sea kayaks.  We think he has another huge hit on his hands with these fun, good-looking recreational kayaks that anyone from age 8 to age 80 can enjoy on the water.

Do you fit in this kayak?  Study our kayak fit chart.

Buying Options

Choose Your Boatbuilding Experience

Start your kit-building experience by choosing the option that best suits your experience and itinerary. Don’t have the confidence to build on your own? No worries! Join a boatbuilding class or hire us to build a custom boat for you.

  1. Select Your Configuration

    Build From a Kit:
    Most builders start with the Base Kit. It’s all there.
    Build From Scratch:
    Build from scratch using full-sized plans.
    Build From a Wood Parts Only Kit:
    For those who have their own supply of epoxy, fiberglass, and hardware.
    Order Study Plans or Manuals:
    Like to study up a bit first? Download study plans or a copy of the assembly manual. 

  2. Choose Options and Add-ons

    Additional Components:
    Add rudders, skegs, hatch options, spray skirts, and more.

  3. Get Building!

    Computer-cut kits feature all of the latest tweaks for easy assembly, including slot-together frames, pre-drilled holes for stitching-and-gluing, puzzle joints, and precision in the fitting of parts.

Standard Configuration

Sale
$1,329.00 $1,169.00

The Wood Duck 12 kit ships with computer-cut and -drilled oko...

The Wood Duck 12 kit ships with computer-cut and -drilled okoume and sapele marine plywood hull and deck parts, hatches and bulkheads, full deck rigging, adjustable footbraces, epoxy kit, fiberglass for hull and deck, tractor seat, and backband, plus extensively illustrated 70-page step-by-step instruction manual. 
Sale
$1,298.00 $1,038.40

The Wood Duck 12 kit ships with computer-cut and -drilled oko...

The Wood Duck 12 kit ships with computer-cut and -drilled okoume marine plywood hull and deck parts, hatches and bulkheads, full deck rigging, adjustable footbraces, epoxy kit, fiberglass for hull and deck, tractor seat, and backband, plus extensively illustrated 70-page step-by-step instruction manual. 

Alternative Configurations

$898.00

This Wood Duck kit includes instructions, pre-cut Okoume and ...

This Wood Duck kit includes instructions, pre-cut Okoume and Sapele parts, rear flush hatch, bulkheads, hull and deck forms, and instruction manual.

Wood Duck 12 Wood Parts Kit
$869.00

This Wood Duck kit includes instructions, pre-cut Okoume part...

This Wood Duck kit includes instructions, pre-cut Okoume parts, rear flush hatch, bulkheads, hull and deck forms, and instruction manual.

Wood Duck 12 Wood Parts Kit
$119.00

This Wood Duck kit includes plans & instructions.

This Wood Duck kit includes plans & instructions.
$25.00

NOTE: CLC instruction manuals walk you through construction ...

NOTE: CLC instruction manuals walk you through construction step by step with photos and drawings, and are a good way to get acquainted with the process in advance of a kit purchase. (Manual purchase refundable with kit purchase.) There is not enough information in the manual to build a boat from scratch---you will need the complete Plans & Manual Only package for that.
$2.99

You can get printable study plans for most of your favorite ...

Downloadable PDF Boat Plans

You can get printable study plans for most of your favorite kits and plans by return email --- for just a few dollars! 

When you order a set, you'll receive the study plans emailed in the form of PDFs at 8.5" x 11" (216x280mm).  

These printable drawings (most are two pages) help give a sense of the construction process and a feel for what the full-size plans or kit contain. Please note that a boat can not be built from Study Plans; they are to preview a project in print media; the Study Plans are an excellent broad-strokes look at the process. The subsequent escalation for more information is to order the boat's print instruction manual (where available), which will walk you through the project step-by-step.   

Upon placing the order, you'll receive an email with a link to the PDF.  Be sure to use the correct email address! If you have filters in place, ensure emails from "admin@clcboats.com" are not blocked.
Bruce B. and Gary O. built this pair of Wood Duck 12s photographed in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
Bruce B. and Gary O. built this pair of Wood Duck 12s photographed in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

What builders are saying

After attending a CLC event in Sacramento last Labor Day, we decided to build a pair of  12' Wood Ducks for fishing. We started in late October, and working part time through the winter, we completed the boats in late April. They went in the water in the Sierra Nevada foot hills for the first time April 30th.

Our woodworking skills weren't too great in the beginning, so we had to use a little exterior filler, so we painted the hulls. In spite of our initial lack of skill, the kayaks were easy and fun to build. We are both eager to join you once again in Sacramento to test drive other models so we can start another project for the winter.

Bruce B. and Gary O. | CA
Verified Builder

Trap Pond Delaware State Park is probably one of the best America`s kept secrets. The beauty of the forest of water cypress, which you can only truly be reached by kayak, is beyond imagination. My husband and I both built boats from CLC. While his boat is stable for photography my Wood Duck 12 is great for speed and beauty. We have enjoyed both boats greatly. 

Zulima P. | VA
Verified Builder

I had the opportunity to take my niece, Janissa, out for her first paddle this weekend.  She was visiting from California and had a great time despite the fact that it was a bit cloudy (we live in Seattle so clouds are pretty much a given on any holiday weekend).  We went in the Wood Duck 12 that I made from plans and it worked wonderfully for both of us, plenty of room in the cockpit. If we had taken my Shearwater 14, the cockpit would have been a bit snug. Janissa is such a special little girl; she was adopted from Ethiopia; I got to go with her Mom to Ethiopia to pick her up, and it is amazing to see her grow and develop and have new experiences. Thanks for designing great boats that the whole family can enjoy!

Kathy D. | WA
Verified Builder

I took the Build-Your-Own Kayak class at the WoodenBoat School in Maine with Eric Schade and built this Wood Duck 12.  I just finished the varnish and outfitting the end of September and splashed it a week later at Sleeter Lake in Round Hill, Virginia.  It paddles fantastic through the water!

Richard U. | VA
Verified Builder

Thanks for offering such an amazingly good, hard-to-screw-up kit that produces such a beautiful heirloom. We're already tickled by the attention our Wood Duck 12 gets, whether on the roof of the car or in the water.

Rich S. | MD
Verified Builder

My son uses our Wood Duck 12 as a big-time-serious fishing expedition platform while I prefer to just relax and enjoy my paddling excursions. As a first time boat builder, your kit was exactly what I needed--just enough instruction to stay out of trouble and just enough challenge to make me want to try a strip planked boat next! This kayak is fast, tracks straight, cuts through the wind and broadly exceeds all my expectations.I can never go back to the plastic barges I used to paddle.

Jim K. | NJ
Verified Builder

I went fishing this morning with my plastic bottle kayak friends and they loved the duck.  My Wood Duck 12 handles beautifully, straight and true and cuts through the water with minimal effort.  I out-fished them to boot.  This duck came in at 39.5 lbs and is a dream to paddle.  

Peter D. | IN
Verified Builder

Videos

Work Begins on a Wood Duck 12 Kayak, S4-E2

Building a Wood Duck Kayak in 5.5 Days

Paddling the Wood Duck 12 - Chesapeake Light Craft

WindPaddle

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I order this kit?

Click on the Buying Options tab the top left of this page and follow the directions.

If I buy one of your boat kits, what else will I need?

Chesapeake Light Craft kits contain all the parts and materials you need to build the boat. The kit includes pre-cut parts, hardware, epoxy, fiberglass, plans and instructions. Our standard kayak kits also have the seats, hatches, bulkheads, footbraces, and the deck-rigging. About the only thing kits don't include is the final finish: paint or varnish. Your boat's color scheme is entirely up to you.

You'll need a few ordinary tools, like a cordless drill, a decent 5-inch sander, and for most boats a wood plane. You'll need disposables such as sandpaper and paint brushes and mixing cups.

You need a workspace a couple of feet bigger all the way around than the boat you want to build, and you'll need to be able to maintain temperatures between about 55 degrees F and 95 degrees F during steps when epoxy is being applied or curing. Since a lot of boatbuilding gets done during winter, we've written up some tips on how to heat a cold space cheaply, easily, and safely.

How much does this boat weigh and how much can it carry?

The weight and payload of this boat, along with other statistics such length and beam, can be found under Specs in the Specifications section, which is just below the lead image seen at the top of this page.

Can you send me the plans digitally?

Sorry, but until digital rights management technology for marine architectural work catches up to that used for books and music, we are unable to transmit digital plans. Currently, only study plans and manuals can be sent digitally.

Classes

Take One of our Boatbuilding Classes

We offer classes for many of the boats we sell. Teaching sites stretch from Maryland to Washington State and from Maine to California. Click here to find out more.

View Classes

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