: First of all, Thanks everyone for the responses. Pretty blown away here.
.....
Tom,
you've received tons of good advice. I would like to add my bit, since it seems to be in line with your reactions to all the mails in your thread:

You seem to lean towards a Stitch&Glue kayak.
The first kayak I built all on my own was S&G design called SEGUIN, designer is Rob Bryan.
Since I finished my Seguin I've tried my hand at designing a kayak myself, and I've tried friends' kayaks.

The SEGUIN is still my favourite. It would suit you in size, it's fast, it looks great, and it's a challenge to paddle; will feel "tippy" the first weeks. It's very responsive.
It's not at all difficult to built, and the building manual that comes with the plans (I bought them from Wooden Boat Store), is good.

If you'd like to see pictures and comments from building and paddling the SEGUIN, you might like to visit my homepage: http://home.online.no/~oborrese
Go to "In English"

And: for what my opinion is worth, don't spend the extra money on a kit. The only work saved is drawing and cutting the panels. This is simple! You don't have to work from a table of offsets, as somebody said.
I've explained this (hopefully in understandable English) on my homepage.

If you don't go for this boat, listen to the Skin-on-frame people in this thread..

Anyway, build a kayak!

Øivind Børresen, Norway