: Hello Everyone,

: My name is John and i'm new. New to kayaking (only been twice in rentals).
: New to the idea of building my kayak. I've been saving up my money to get
: into kayaking for a while now. Just when i was getting ready to go pick
: one out, i stumbled across Ray Jardines pages about building kayaks. Now
: i've been scouring the web for the last week, including reading all the
: messages here. I'm a big guy, 275 lbs, I like to go camping, and my son is
: 140lb (age 12). To me this seems to add up to almost 600 lbs capacity (he
: isn't done growing). The simple answer would sem to be to start with a
: boat like the Osprey 2 seater, or the Guillemot "Double". or
: some similar double/tripple.
: Pardon all the background, my question is roughly this. How sever are class I
: and class II rapids. Will we alway have to portage this boat around them?
: We live between Nashville and Knoxville and while there are lakes we can
: use the kayak on, this area of tennessee has some marvelous rivers Like
: the Big South Fork with camping opportunities. I don't understand if these
: seakayaks can even make the bends where there aren't rapids. Any
: information would be greatly appreciated, including alternatives.

simplest, safest, easiest, lightest solution that will cover the most bases is to build 2 regular size ones. maybe one larger than other. If he's handicapped or some other reason to keep him close ok, but you're both so different, don't fight it. there are things he'll want to do maybe while you're kicking back. with a big big 2 holer, he'll not be abel to do anything unless you're there.

-mick