: I have a similar problem with leg length and feet size (6'2"- 13 shoe).
: I haven't found a kayak that fits comfortably, my feet and legs feel like
: their crammed into a sardine can. I'm planning on building the Great Auk
: but I think I need to modify the shape to accommodate my legs and feet.
: P.S. I have posted similar questions in the Design form.

: How do you like the legroom in the Chesapeake 17?

It's more than adequate. I can stretch my feet and legs past the footpegs, when I want to get into a "lounge lizard" position (?), and don't touch the bulkhead. I have my back all the way to the back of the cockpit and I seem balanced there.

: Did you have to make any modifications?

No. I didn't know enough going in to feel comfortable changing a design by someone who knows much more than I. Now that I am getting more experienced, I still don't know if I would change anything. It's a good design. I'm planning on building another boat sometime, and instead of modifying the Chesapeake design I'm going to try something different - a stripper, probably the Guillemot out of the book. I want to see if I can build it all from that book, and for as little as possible. However, if I could only build one boat in my life, the Chesapeake 17 would be a good choice. It's fast enough, handles well enough, is big enough, and holds a ton of stuff - enough for any tour I can imagine taking. I love it!

: What about getting in and out?

I have no trouble. However, I have to mention that I saw my buddy, in a Pygmy (I can't remember which model), launch with his feet straddling the boat, like I sometimes do in my sit-on-top (a Scrambler) and, when he was ready, he eased them into the cockpit and into position. There's no way I could do that. Once I'm sitting in the cockpit, even sitting all the way back, there's no way I can get my 36-inch-inseamed legs into the boat. However, I've practiced self-rescues with a paddle float and had no trouble getting in. (I've also practiced falling out, and I fell out once accidentally. There was no trouble getting out!)