> Thank you all for advising on Arctic Tern - hard decision because I have
> not had the opportunity to paddle a hard chined boat before. Has anybody
> seen a professional review of this boat? I know it is a relatively new
> design so maybe none of the major reviewer's have had a chance to look at
> it. Also - has anybody tried both Arctic Tern vs Coho? Any feelings about
> the two? I am especially worried about spending so much time and money and
> finding that the will feel too large for me (5 foot 7inches, 150 lbs).
> Opinions?

You can add padding to the cockpit for a custom fit. Just use some closed cell foam and rubber cement. I'm 5'11" and 170 lbs. and my wife is only 5'2", we both feel comfortable in this boat, but I have added padding.

I chose not to use the pygmy deck rigging and have created my own. I couldn't put plastic on the deck of a wood boat. I made rails out of mahogany to attach my deck bungies to, they look nice. I'll scan a picture soon and post it. I plan on building my own hatches too, I don't like the looks of the straps. I also did not drill through the hull to mount foot braces, but glued blocks to the inside and attached to them.

Mike