I remember Magnum PI but don't remember the boat you are referring to. I'm guessing it was a sit-on-top kayak, which is popular in tropical regions, but those are generally wider than most of our enclosed kayaks. Given that this was in Hawaii, it could have been a native-Hawaiian canoe. The were very narrow dugouts that had an outrigger on one side and was paddled with a single-bladed canoe paddle.

As to 1-2 person kayaks, Chesapeake Light Craft sells a kayak kit called the Mill creek which can be paddled by one or two people. With any of these type of boats, though, they become fairly slow and cumbersome with only one person.

Dean
: Okay first let me preface my question with a disclaimer that I have very
: little knowledge, as of yet, regarding kayaks or boatbuilding techniques.
: I'm not sure whats happened in the past few days but I've suddenly become
: obsessed with the idea of building a boat. I just relocated to SC from OH
: and I'm surrounded by water so that may have something to do with it.
: Anyway those of you old enough to remember Magnum PI, at the close of a
: show or when he was stressed he would frequently get his
: "kayak?" and take it out. Is that a kayak? It seemed much more
: narrow than a kayak and he was sitting on top of it instead of inside it.
: What is it designed for? What is the advantage/disadvantage of this type?

: A second question? If I venture into building a kayak is there a model that
: is both a single and double kayak. I thought it would be nice if my wife
: and I could go out togethor but I didn't want to be limited to having to
: have 2 persons to use it. I suppose I should also add that I would like to
: build something that I could use on the local waterways and the sea.

: Thanks for your input! Eric