Erez,

My first Walrus was made according to the specs in Putz's book. It had a weathercocking problem. The kayak has a strong straight keel with very little rocker. The bow also plunged more than I like. I did two things to fix this on my second (the plywood one) Walrus. I raised the bow and moved the cockpit back. This solved the problems that I had with the first kayak. Again to figure out how much of a change to make to those two items, I ended up looking at other kayaks that had similar hull shapes. I moved the cockpit back a couple of inches and the result was fantastic. When I modified the design for the third kayak, I kept the cockpit positioned proportionally in the same place.

I thought about taking the kayak out without a deck, to try to find the best position. I didn't do it though. It has a very low sheer, and I did not want it to become a submarine its first time out.

Mike

: hi mike,

: I was thinking about the wonderful work you did on your walrus.

: ok. I know you altered all the specs by your feeling.

: did you also position the seat/cockpit by the feeling ?

: when you lengthened your boat, how did you decide how much to lengthen
: on the bow & how much on the stern ?

: thx for the info,

: Erez