: 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.

: If you read this far, I already owe you for your time.
: Thanks,
: John

Hi John,

It sounds like you need a canoe. It makes more sense for the type of paddling that you want to do. They have great capacity for lots of gear, and with spray skirts and dry bags, your gear (and you!) can stay in good shape. Another option is a classic decked canoe design. These were extremely popular means of adventure in the late 1800's, and are very practicle designs for this type of tripping.
Have a look at www.stillwaterboats.com There are some boats there that might just do the trick for you. Generally speaking class I and II rapids are easy, so far as the water is concerned.......it is the driftwood and submerged logs/rocks that might give you a bit of a challenge. Whatever the design, if you need to maneuver some tight spots, make sure the rocker is ample to give easy turning. There are lots of well designed canoes for this type of water. Ted Moores' book CANOECRAFT, has several tables of offsets for some great canoes.
The decked canoes are a bit narrower than a typical tripping canoe and can be paddled with double paddles from a sitting position, like in a kayak.
Another source for decked canoes is www.clcboats.com There are some stunningly beautiful glued lap plywood decked canoes from Iain Oughtred. These can be rigged for some exciting sailing, if your so inclined. John Macgregor traveled many, many miles in his decked canoes, and was one of the predecessors of modern canoe sport.