Raise the bow by moving the form down a couple of inches, or change the design of the form?

This yak is intended to be for my 15 yr old or as a loaner when my non-yak-owning-freeloader friends come along. I've got lots of those ....So I don't want to mess with the stability too much, I'll probably keep the standard width.

May lower the sheer though as you suggest, though can't really visualize yet how much and how.

Someone suggested stainless deck screws as being a cheap alternative, are brass screws less? my budget is pretty low for this project.

I wish I had the patience to wait till after R2K1 so I could see everyones modifications.

: Ben,

: I have used Western Red Cedar for both of my skin versions. I have had a
: chine crack, but I think that was due to my extremely lowered floor
: design. I have since come up with a better design for that.

: Lowering the floor helps a lot. The low floor on the 20" beam one make
: even that kayak stable enough. Keep the sheer as low as possible. Raise
: the bow a couple of inches to help with plunging. Moving the seat/cockpit
: back 1-1/2" balances the kayak better in winds, but it makes it track
: stronger and reduces turning ease. I haven't tried adding more rocker yet,
: but the skinny version could use more. I highly recommend a synthetic
: skin. DON'T use the standard cockpit. I've switched to a keyhole design
: that I am quite happy with.

: Get your brass screws from someplace like Tacoma Screw where they cost 1/10
: of what they do at someplace like Home Despot or LOW(quality)es Hardware.
: I really like the polyester that I used for the skin on my last one, it is
: much nicer to work with (same weight, tighter weave) than the Dyson
: polyester.

: I also have the offsets for the Skinny Walrus forms. The skinny version is
: substancially quicker and easier to roll than the standard.

: Mike