Boat Building Forum

Find advice on all aspects of building your own kayak, canoe or any lightweight boats

Member of the KBB back to about the year 2000 (+/- a year). I built a guillemot for my wife and have always meant to build another kayak for myself, but haven't managed to do that yet as of 2012. Several years ago I built a Yost Sea Flea 11' for my daughters. The older one (now 10) has outgrown it and the 7 year old paddles it. I am considering building a Sea Pup for the younger girl and passing the Sea Flea on to my niece and nephew. (I have a long list of boats to build.)

In the winter of 2012/2013 I would like to build a kayak for myself. It's intended use is for when I teach lessons at the local pool so seaworthiness is not my primary concern. My main criteria are short length (making it easier to carry in and out of the pool facility), light weight (again, for ease of moving in and out of the facility), ability to maneuver within the confines of the pool, must be able to perform rolling, bracing & rescues reasonably well, and finally, it must fit me (6'2", size 11.5 feet, not as flexible as I would like).

I teach sea kayak lessons in the middle of the Canadian prairies through my small company, Coldspring Paddling Instruction (http://www.coldspringpaddling.com). I write a blog (started to document the guillemot build) at http://pawistik.blogspot.ca . I am the Saskatchewan Regional Director for Paddle Canada.