Chesapeake Light Craft

Fantastic little place! I needed some specialty materials (actually for a non-​boat project) and this was the only place locally (ish) to get it. The people here are phenomenal. They are friendly, helpful and extremely knowledgeable. This place has more of a feeling of a club house than a store. People come and bring their boats, chat and get tips.
They have a great selection of products, and the quality is great. I can’t say enough good things about this place! If I ever need these materials in the future, I will definitely be back!

What a great outfit! I am a small boats enthusiast, and I have a particular yen for wooden boats, because I think they’re classier than plastic. CLC is the nuts.
I own one CLC17 kayak which I bought from a guy in Rhode Island. It’s big and a little unwieldy, but light enough that I can get it up onto my Subaru alone. In the water, it does everything well except turn. I’ve taken it in Boston Harbor out past the light, and I’ve paddled it through 8″ deep streams in late summer. It handles both well, and is really very fast. It’s also enormous, and can hold lots of gear. The cockpit is roomy.
As a wedding gift to my wife, I also built an Oxford Shell sculling single from a kit I bought from CLC. This was my first ever boatbuilding project, and close to my first woodworking experience at all. I was intimidated, but the kits make a ton of sense. All the wood is precut to the right shape, so you don’t tend to screw up and waste expensive wood, but it still feels like you’re the one who built the boat. If you read the directions carefully and take your time, just about anyone can do it. They’re also very good with customer support, both business-​wise and with boatbuilding advice.
Now that it’s done, the boat it absolutely beautiful, and it rows like a dream. The whole thing was accomplished for less than half what a new fiberglass shell would have cost, and for about ¹⁄₁₀^th what a comparably beautiful wooden boat would have cost to buy. Can’t say enough for these guys!