: As a newbie, have been trying to find out as much as possible about the Great
: Auk design before committing the garage to building one. Lots of sites
: with boats built, lots of pictures & construction advice. But not much
: other than the promotional description on the Guillemot site as to how it
: is supposed to perform under way. No reviews in Sea Kayaker or on
: Paddling.net or many comments here that I can find. A couple of people
: post, as asides in paragraphs about their launchings, that it goes pretty
: straight. Someone else says his doesn't. (operator error? warped
: strongback??) Am I looking in the wrong places or not using the right
: search terms? Anybody have one who can tell us about how theirs handles in
: various conditons, possibly compared to some other boats they've tried?
: I'm 6'1" and 210 lbs., so the Great Auk might work well for me on
: coastwise day-trips and island hopping. Nick's video with him submarining
: off Fisher's Island makes me think the GA's ample flare forward would be a
: good thing, too. Thanks for your input.

I'm not sure how much I can help you.

I have a Great Auk but no other kayaking experience to compare it to. I've had the boat out about 6 times, paddling up to two hours at a time. That's the sum total of my sea kayaking time on the water.

If you still want to hear my opinion, here it is -

I built the boat because it was the most "beginner friendly" in Nick Schade's book. I took the offsets from the book and did my own lofting to avoid paying for plans or a kit. That's all of the logic involved in my choice of boats.

The boat was built with the "rounded" shear option with fore and aft hatches and a day hatch behind the cockpit. It ended up weighing 46#. Part of that is a layup of two layers of 4 oz glass inside the cockpit - I'm 6'1" and 240# myself, and I didn't want to put my foot through the bottom.

I like the lines of the boat. I think the vertical line of the bow is cool, and the triangular section of the deck looks good to me. It's not as sexy as the Guillemot and the other "curvy" boats - it's kind of like the pickup truck compared to the sports cars.

With the limited time I've had on the water it's hard to know how "good" or "bad" the boat is compared to others. I've had it out in smooth as glass water, 1' chop, and 3' rollers. No big water yet, I'm not experienced enough for that, and I'm mostly paddling solo.

Keeping a steady bearing is not too bad. The boat seems to want to turn into the wind a little. It might take two or three strokes on the windward side of the boat in a 10 mph crosswind to keep the bow pointed, but you are definitely not fighting to maintain a heading.

I'm not a racer. I managed a 1.3 mile run in about 20 minutes through a mild crosswind - that's a little under 4 mph. Not straining, just steady paddling. This boat moves better than any canoe or rowboat I've ever paddled.

I like the boat, and it seems like it has plenty of room for gear for a three day trip.