: Roger,

: Looks good. You'll have to come up and join us on one of our South Sound
: Wooden Sea Kayaker outings. I look forward to seeing it in person.

Thanks Mike, I look forward to outings with the South Sound Wooden Sea Kayakers. I’ll try to work it in with my horrendous work schedule. In the meantime, I see some protected water trips to get used to the feel of this yak.

: I can't remember what wood you used for the frame. How flexible is it? My
: first one has a lot more flex than the last one. The first turns much
: easier, but it is also shorter and wider than the last one. Flexibility
: will increase rocker in the water. Get used to it and I think you will
: find that it turns nicely when up on edge. It won't turn like a whitewater
: kayak, but you usually won't want a sea kayak to do that, most of the time
: you will want to be going straight.

I used western Red cedar for the frame. Its overbuilt and pretty stiff, so I’m thinking not a whole lot of flex. When we put the kayak on the roof of the car and strapped it down it flexed very little. I won’t really know till I get some quality water time.

: I lowered the sole (floor) on both of mine, and am very glad I did on the one
: with the 20" beam That one would be awful with the center of gravity
: up any more than it is. Try a partially deflated thermarest seat for a
: little bit of comfort without raising your center of gravity too much.

On my next Walrus (whenever that happens) I’ll install a dropped floor. I consider the raised floor to be the biggest design flaw in the walrus. It’s amazing what a couple inches added to the center of gravity can do to the feel of a boat.

: What kind of a paddle are you wanting to build? I like the native styles
: quite a bit, I'm still trying to decide whether I like Greenland or Aluet
: style better.

I downloaded “Making a West Greenland Paddle” by Chuck Holst. This looks like a good starting point. Since I’m taller than the average bear, I’ll need a customized paddle. I’ll probably build 2; one for the rest of the world and one for me.

: Mike