A smaller person can often start out paddling a narrower, high performance, kayak with out feeling unstable. Since these boats are often lighter and more maneuverable than large stable boats it can be a good choice for a smaller paddler.

The key thing here is investing the time in building a boat to an inexperienced paddler's specification. The best first step would be to have your wife try a lot of different boats. They don't have to be wooden. This way she can find out if a larger boat is managable for her or if the stability of a narrower boat is sufficient. Boat shop demo days (like the one at Small Boat in Norwalk, CT on Oct. 19) are ideal for this as is the kayak rendevous in New Hampshire the same weekend. Look on this web site for more Rendevous information.