We build boats here, so I'm going to make a pitch for you to try your hand at putting together something that will work well for you and cost you a lot less.

Now that you have found a commercial boat that looks like it might work for you, consider the possibility of constructing two boats of similar size.

If the length and the beam of whatever you construct are the same as these mesaurements on the Dagger boats, then the specs on the homebuilt boats will be in the ballpark with what you've read. That is, you should be able to find plans for a plywood boat with a length of 12 feet and a beam of 28.5 inches, and that plywood boat will probably have a maximum capapcity in the neighborhood of 350 pounds. A longer and wider boat will have increased capacity, so if you find plans for a kayak that is 30 inches wide and 13.5 fet long it should hold about 450 pounds.

Building your own boats gives yo a great deal of flexibility. If you look through some of the pictures you'll see that many of the boats are built over forms that are shaped like cross sections of the boat's hull at a given point.
Conventionally these forms are made at 1 foot intervals.

If you had a design for a 12 foot long boat and you wanted to make a similar boat that was longer, so that it would hold a heavier paddler, then you could take these very same forms and space them a bit further apart. This wworks fine within reasonable limits. If you got a 12 foot boat from forms spaced 12 inches apart, then spacing the forms 14 inches apart would give you a 14 foot long boat. Similarly, if you had forms for a 16 foot boat you could space them closer together and make a 12 or 14 foot boat.

Gil Gilpatrick's book on strip building canoes is just one resource that mentions this aspect of canoe design. it is similar with kayaks. See if you can find a copy to read.

Check out the websites of www.clarkcraft.com and www.glen-l.com.

For instance, Glen-L has a model called the "kayak" ( my what a strange name! ) which is available as plans alone, or you can get the plans and precut forms for under $65. follow the links from their homepage and they lead you to a bill of materials and a price liet. Basically you add on 4 sheets of 1/4 inch plywood (some of us like the inexpensive Lauan)and a few strips of hardwood and you can build one yourself. This design comes in a 13 and a 15 foot model. Both are 28 inches wide, so I think it would fall into your range.

But don't stop there. There are many other boat designers who have plans for boats in this range. Once you start to look you'll find a lot of them.

Building boats from plywood is relatively quick and simple. You get a very beautiful boat for relatively little cash. But that is not the value.

Your son is probably of the age where he can help you construct the boats. Let him. When he has a boat that he constructed all by himself, or with his dad, he'll have something that is more valuable than just a boat. He'll have an extra shot of self esteem. When he sees that he can be successful in building a boat he'll realize that he has the potential to accomplish more difficult tasks in his future.

OK, end of motivational speech. Good luck with your boating, whether you build or buy.

PGJ