Nick and I each built the predisessor to the great Auk as our first kayaks. It is a fun boat and fairly roomy. I would not think you would need more leg room unless you are extra tall or big or have limited mobility. If you think you need more space I suggest you mock-up the cockpit with cardboard forms at your knees and feet and a cockpit cutout at the correct hight.

If you are planning on lowering the deck, again do a mock-up for fit, also draw it to scale on a copy of the plans to see how it will look. also look to see that the new deck forms will be fair so that the strips lie smoothly. you certainly can make any alterations you want but be careful.

--eric