Mike,

Thanks for all your help. The photos and web pages you've referred me to have been great, just what I was looking for. My goal for the boat is to be able to do some long distance paddling on the Great Lakes. A little personal note here: I became interested in kayaking because of backpacking. I wanted to backpack on Isle Royale, but thought the ferry to the island was a bit out of touch with what I wanted. However, if I were to kayak to the island then do a bit of backpacking, that would be a bit more of what I was looking for. Sort of a wilderness biathalon if you will. The goal is still a long ways off, I don't have near the experience necessary (and when I do I may decide that it wasn't such a great idea to begin with, 20+ miles is quite a ways on open water), but it's still in the back of my mind. Realistically I'll probably be doing more river and small lake paddling (the midwest is really canoe country) so, in all honesty a Greenland style kayak would probably suit me better, but hey as you said, "when in doubt, build the kayak that looks best to you." Just thought I'd give you an idea of what I plan to do with the finished product.

Matt