: Take a good look at Nick's designs... the Great Auk is a good one for this
: purpose.. Although the Standard G.A. might be a bit large... he has the
: shortened ( medium ) Great Auk which is 14'. Or, as he has recommended in
: the past, you can shorten the standard by moving each of the forms
: together about 1/2" to 1", making it near 16' and keeping the
: beam wider for stability ( fishing ). Or stretch the forms on the 14'er
: and make it 15', although this will be a narrower boat. Just a thought..

: Nick can help you much more than I on this..

: Rehd
: Fresno, Calif.

There are probably several designs that will suit your needs, but I will comment on one because I have built it and used it, the Great Auk 14. It is a very stable little kayak because of its waterline beam that carries fore and aft more than most designs. I fish from mine and have taken water into cockpit on a number of ocassions when a little careless and it had very solid secondary stability. If you have never paddled a sea kayak, the primary stability is a little wiggly compared to many canoe designs, but you will get used to that quickly. It also tracks very well which suits it so lake travel. On quiet small rivers it manuevers well enough to use it, but I find that it does track too solidly for stronger current. It takes a lot of effort to manuever in that current. For my use, that is it's only weakness, for others who never use it in boiling current, they wouldn't care about that. One way to deal with it would be a rudder. The best way, however, for the addicted builder to deal with it is to just build another boat! Ask any "expert builder" and they will tell you that the minimum number of boats you need, depending on your area, is at least 4. It may be higher, especially if you like canoes too.