Last year, when my nephew was six years old, I built a Glen-L Kidyak for him. To be honest, I was surprised at how well the boat performs in the water. He paddles it in a shallow sheltered area of lake with no problems at all. I figure that he has at least two or three more years before he outgrows it. When he turns ten or eleven years old, I will start thinking seriously about building him a CLC Chesapeake 14 or something similar to that size.

I built the Kidyak out to two sheets of luan plywood. The boat was easy to build and went together very quickly. Since I've become sold on the boat, and if I were to build another, I would use a marine grade plywood, and I would consider putting in a glass bottom towards the front of the open cockpit like CLC has suggested with Mill Creek.

: My 8 year old daughter is having a great deal of fun "helping" me
: finish a Spring Run. And, being a good Dad, I'm contemplating whether to
: try my hand at building a smaller kayak for her once the Spring Run is
: finished.

: Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much out there as far as plans for
: cedar strip kayaks for smaller paddlers -- so far I've found: * Nick has
: plans for a Little Auk on this website - but at 28" beam I'm
: wondering if this would be too wide for a younger kid.
: * Pygmy has stich and glue kayaks in smaller sizes
: * Glen-L has a Kidiyak, but it almost seems as if it is meant for a very
: small child.
: * [gasp] get a cheap plastic rotomolded kayak at Costco or the like.

: Can anyone share what they might have done for kayaks for their kids?

: At this point, my thinking is running more toward getting a Pygmy kit -- I'm
: a bit hesitant to spend the hundred + hours doing a stripper, only to have
: her outgrow it in a few years (or have to cringe if she drags it over
: barnacle beds). While I hesitate to blaspheme and mention a cheap plastic
: boat on this forum, it would have the benefits of being relatively
: inexpensive, and likely able to take the abuse that kids tend to dish out
: on their stuff. The boat would be used in a protected bay in the South
: Puget Sound area with very flat water.

: And, my thanks to all of you for letting me lurk and read your posts -- I've
: learned quite a bit, and am truly enjoying building my Spring Run.

: Dave McCone