The full answer sems to be running afoul of the spam filter, so I'll post it in sections -- while I try to see what awful word I've used.

: Has anyone seen or paddled one of these boats?

Mike Hanks has built a few Walrus designs, (three, last I heard) including one which comes closer to the original Skeene lines. He got his info for that change directly from the Rudder article in the book. Hanks also built one version which was skinned in thin plywood instead of fabric. You can search the archives for articles by him and include the words "plywood Wally" or "plywood walrus" in your search to focus in what you want.

: It appealed to me because the
: shape of the hull is determined by some forms which are included in the
: plans. The two other books on SOF leave me a bit confused on what shape
: hull I will end up with.

The building forms will determine the shape of the boat. Determining the shapes of the building forms is another matter. Putz wants you to make building forms which will sit on the floor, and bring the work up to a reasonable height. That means big forms, and with the price of plywood, that means expensive forms. Unfortunately the measurements he gives in his book are based on you constructing forms using a beam compass to sdraw large arcs on your plywood. This is a simple concept, but wastes a lot of materials. I wanted shorter forms I oculd use on a workbench, so a few years ago I put a large sheet of virtual paper into my computer and used a drawing program to create images of each of the forms. From these I could measure the actual locations of the corners, and convert that information into simple coordinate points I could graph. I could also knock of as much as I wanted from the bottoms of the forms. For simplicity I shortened them by 20 inches, and posted those numbers online. The current URLs for the 17 and 18 1/2 foot boats respectively are:

http://www.buildakayak.com/boat%20plans/17walrus.htm

and

http://www.buildakayak.com/boat%20plans/18walrus.htm

Since you build off of the pointy ends of these forms, you cna trim the flat bottoms and squeeze some of these forms quite close. It is possible to get all of them out of 1/2 shhet of plywood. Otherwise, I just saw 1/2-inch-thick Oriented Strand Board (OSB --used for floor and roof underlayment) at the local lumberyard for about $8 a sheet. A ruler and a square are all you need to plot the points for the building frames right on the wood. All the lines are straight, so you can cut them quickly with a circular saw, or use a saber saw if you wish.

: But now that I look at the pictures, the boat looks really flat bottomed,
: wondering what I will end up with if I follow this plan. Thoughts or
: experience?

The bottom would be described as a shallow "V". You might get a better perspective on the amount of "v" from the photo on page 57. The photo on page 52 does make it appear flatter, and, of course photos from above showing the flat inner floor merely confuse things. Don't sweat it. The hull is functionally and typically shaped for a kayak, and works well.

The deck, on the other hand, has been opened up by Putz, and he lowered the bow end a bit. The Skeene and Chappelle drawings show a round cockpit opening sized for a tight fit around a single paddler. Putz's large, open, cockpit seems to reflect a more casual paddling style in more protected waters. The 18 1/2 foot version would be a nice double kayak, and he shows how a rowing seat can be mounted in that large cockpit opening.

If you want to paddle this, instead of row it, it is fairly simple to place a couple more deck beams closer to the paddler's position, and bring the deck fabric in closer to the paddler, in order to install a cockpit opening of any desired shape. Take a look at the variety of cockpit openings on Yost's site (www.yostwerks.com) for examples. Alternately, you could buy an off-the-shelf sprayskirt designed for some common brand of 'glass kayak, and make your cockpit opening to fit that skirt. You have a lot of flexibility here.

: Thanks again.

: Anyone in the Los Angeles area willing to bring a newbie into this addiction
: with some hands on guidance?

There is (was?) an active South California builders group, but the links I keep finding for the Kayak Builders of Southern California, are not working.

The Qajaq forum will have lots of people who are interested in skin-on-frame boats, and I see you have already posted on it--so obviously you know the URL--but for anyone else who may read this in the future, it is:

For the =home page: http://www.qajaqusa.org/

and for the builders forum:
http://www.qajaqusa.org/cgi-bin/GreenlandTechniqueForum_config.pl

Don't miss their delightful online publication, The Masik, at:
http://www.qajaqusa.org/QUSA/newsletter.html

Try this link to Los Angeles area info: http://www.at-la.com/@la-boat.htm#kayak

or California Kayak Friends, which has a lot of links. http://www.ckf.org/

Or the San Diego kayak Club http://www.sdkc.org/

Take some pictures as you get started, and send them along for us to see. Should you run into problems, a picture can usually describe the situation and help get some good advice your way in a hurry.

Hope this helps

PGJ