After only one trip in a plasic kayak last summer, I built my Pygmy Arctic Tern this past winter. It's a great boat, and I'm really enjoying paddling it, but it's already starting to feel too big for me. And I'm 5'10" and 180#! I feel that an inch or two needs to be cut off the side panels -- the rear of the cockpit coaming is too high up my back. To be a good roller, I think a kayak needs to have the cocpit coaming no higher than the small of your back so you can lean back to roll. Assuming you are smaller than me (a good bet) I would recommend looking for a lower-volume boat. I think some of the comments posted by other people here is true -- due to the high freeboard, you will probably be fighting the wind in this boat.

I went to the Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium this weekend, and test-paddled two manufactured stitch-n-glue boats (no kits or plans) that had 17' lengths, 21" beams, and smaller cockpits. I loved them both; I felt comfortable and secure, and neither felt too tippy. Too bad you can't find plans for boats like these. With the major kit manufacturers, you have a choice of very narrow, fast day boats (like the CLC Pautuxent) or large cargo boats -- not much in the middle. I test-paddled the 20" X 17' North Bay and found it to be VERY tippy, but the cockpit fit me better -- I felt snugger.

If you and/or your husband feel up to the challenge, you could modify one of the kits by taking an inch or two off of the hull side panels at the shear. This wouldn't change the handling of the boat since the submerged part remains intact, but it will lower the deck resulting in less windage and less of a feeling of being engulfed by the cockpit coaming. The Pygmy cockpit is huge, too. You may want to see if you can order your kit with a smaller cockpit. The deck height changes would be easier on a CLC boat. All you would have to do is cut about 1-2" off of the hull side panels at the shear, then install the shear clamps and deck just as you normally would. With a Pygmy, though, the deck and hull are designed to match exactly. If you cut material off of the hull, the deck would have to be modified to match, which could be tricky.

Hope my ramblings helped! Dean