I plan to build a kayak for similar environments soon (not much coastline in central Illinois). From comments on this BBS, I gather that Nick's Guillemot is very maneuverable for a sea kayak. I also remember a post about someone who built a 13' guillemot for their daughter by spacing the forms closer together. Maybe a 15' version would work if you are a smaller paddler. Or maybe a 15' version would work for anyone with additional modifications to the form widths. Guillemot builders/paddlers - what do you think???

> I know this is a "sea kayak" forumn but i dont go to the
> "sea" often. Most of my paddling is in class I to III rivers in
> my area. I'm ready to start building my second kayak, but am having
> difficulty in finding a design suitable for long trips on rivers. The
> rivers i run are full of rocks, and with the drought conditions this
> summer i had fun trying to miss them all. The biggest trouble i am having
> is understanding how different designs will work in these conditions, i.e.
> multichine vs. round bottom vs length. My first was a CLC yare which works
> well for day trips but not on overnighters(just did 9 days in a, please
> dont kill me, plastic boat on the New River from the headwaters in NC to
> the WVA line). Any suggestions or ideas would be much appreciated.