I've also paddled some poorly designed ones that were squirrely as all get out
Agreed. One of the blessings and curses of stripper canoe construction is that it begs to be undertaken by complete novices. Unfortunatly, few novices , once immersed in the process, can resist the urge to personalize their boat by modifying the plans/design they signed up too. Consequently allot of these canoe projects get seat of the pants, "going to make it better" design intervention that can't be corrected once it's built. Still, IMHO, if you start with a middle of the road/ non-specialized , mid sized, multi purpose published canoe design/ plan package, AND STICK to the plans, your going to be OK.

Besides, I jsut can't think of a better way to spend a winter than in the garage wading through cedar shavings.