Have you found the Southern California Boat Builder's Registry? It's at:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/btreecs/

and they have some nice pictures and information about a wide range of S&G, strip built and baidarka boats. I realize that you're in N. California, but if you're down south for some reason, I'll bet almost any one of the people in the registry would be willing to talk/paddle with you.