Make the seat about the width of your butt. You don't need a seat that is as wide as your boat or narrower than your butt! Sit against a wall. Hold a piece of thin plywood next to your other cheek. Make a tape mark on the floor. This is how wide you should make your seat. 18" or so in length is nice for giving you ample material to have under-thigh support.

: I thought about that, and it makes good sense, but

: 1. the boat isn't done yet, so measuring won't work, of course I could always
: wait. 8-)

Carve the top of the foam to fit your butt. When the boat is done, carve the bottom of the foam to fit your boat.

: 2. the difference in boat width is pretty minimal. Not enough to account for
: the seats being so different. Maybe the cheek plates have something to do
: with the narrowness of Nick's seat?.

Make sure the cheekplates are wide enough for your rear-end. You can always shim the surface in a bit with thin slabs of minicell, or commercial whitewater hip pads.

: A lot of my concern has to do with the length of the seat too. I was hoping
: to use the experience of others on this one

Definitely don't go too short--the more under-thigh support you can provide, the more time you will be able to bear (and enjoy) being in your boat.

Shawn

Check out this link: this article was published in Sea Kayaker mag. about 2 years ago.