Hello all, Yesterday I attended the NW Sea Kayaking Symposium in Port Townsend, WA and I am pretty stoked about started to build the Great Auk from Nick's book. But I have to say, most of the kayaks I saw looked a little on the light side for someone my size. Previously, I e-mailed Nick about the capacity of the Great Auk and he responded that it had plenty of capacity for me, but a diminished capacity for additional gear. I know eventually I'm going to want to explore the Cascadia Marine Trail, so I'm still considering building in some increased bouyancy. Being basically ignorant of things nautical, I have a couple of basic questions. Since I am 70 pounds on the wrong side of 200 (this seems like a reasonable target to me) I would have to displace an equivalent weight of water, right? Something like 32 liters. Does this have to be done below the shearline? Nick listed several options for altering design including increasing the length by duplicating the center form. I'm not clear on exactly how to change the forms and length to effect a 32 liter alteration on a complex shape like a kayak. Does increasing the size of the forms by 1/4" around the periphery and increasing the length by six inches seem like a reasonable approach or am I in the process of making a good design go bad? I really enjoy reading the posts of this group, and I have already benefited from your experience. Thanks. Larry