After 10 weeks I'm finally finished stripping my Great Auk and now need to determine what size cockpit I'd like. The problem is, I have very limited kayaking experience, making it even more difficult. I like the recessed look so I went ahead and drew up Nick's plans for the Guillemot cockpit. I also like the integrated knee braces you can build into the recess. I believe these are more benefical to a higher pitched deck as in the Great Auk. My size is 6' 0" and 155 lbs so I think the Guillemot cockpit will do fine for me. But I need to determine if I want to do a butt first entry or not. Either way is fine I guess, this just seems a little more comfortable. From what I've read this may not be possible with a 29" long cockpit, however I understand the higher the deck the more easier it will be. So I'm thinking about extending it to 31" and maybe widening it just slightly. Even these dimensions are still smaller than Nick's original Great Auk cockpit plans. I also realize this makes finding a spray skirt that fits more difficult, so maybe custom made one will have to do.

One question I do have is, for the extension in length it seems the correct way is to add any more length you want forward of the Center of Boyancy (CB). This way your seated position remains the same in the boat. However, considering I may make small errors in locating the correct CB, is it not more beneficial to have the cockpit slightly aft of where you want it (to aid in tracking) instead of forward? I've read about a few people that have wished they located their cockpit a few more inches aft once they paddled it.