: 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.

I built a GA with intergrated knee/thigh braces. I would recommend making a sample cockpit to try out, like out of cardboard or something like that. The knee braces definitely cut down the size of the cockpit and you want to be careful about making it too small. I made mine to the fullsize GA drawings and it is none too big for this 50 year old body that doesn't bend like it used to.

: 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.

I have been fortunate in the fit of my cockpit in terms of CB so the standard placement normally works well for me. Just remember that the bigger you make the rear of the cockpit the more area you create that needs to be covered by a spray skirt relative to making the front longer because the front is much narrower than the rear. A couple inches makes a big difference in seat placement so you probably dont' need to add a few more inches, more like a couple inches. You can always add a little weight in the back storage too.