> I bought Nick's book as soon as I could get my hands on it. Presently I'm
> building a wee lassie II...and someday I'll finish it! But I've been
> "plotting" my next endevour. I started plotting out the Great
> Auk lines from Nick's offsets (manually, using grid paper), 'cause I've
> never kayaked before, it's supposed to be stable and the design can be
> shortened a little (17' is about the max for my building space). I didn't
> like the harsh angles of the deck from the sheer to peak, so I plotted
> some of the guillemot's lines "just to compare". I've not seen a
> real good picture of the Great Auk, but I've seen many pictures of the
> guillemot and I already like the design very much....but after comparing
> the two drawings of the offsets....well, what a contrast! The guillemot is
> truly beautiful; much preferred in those terms! Problem is, I'm a complete
> beginner, and I weigh 180#. Question is, would the guillemot be suitable
> for me, or should I go ahead and plan on building the Great Auk. The boat
> would pimarily be used at our local resovoir and other surrounding lakes,
> and the Great Auk looks as though it would cover the water straight and
> fast, the gullemot looks more maneuverable (and more "tippy")
> and would probably be more fun down the road. I was planning to build the
> Auk at about 15.5' long. Any advice is appreciated, but don't send me any
> fancy stuff to my email address....it is just plain old email (I found
> this site on the web from work, so I can occssionally look in). Thanks, G
> Reese

I haven't paddled a Great Auk but I have paddled Nick's Guillemot. I'm not a complete beginner but I've only been paddling sea kayaks about two years and I didn't find the Guillemot to be too tippy *at all*. Considering that either boat is going to last you a long, long time I wouldn't place too much emphasis on initial stability for your selection. You should be able to get used to the stability very quickly.