: Does anyone have an opinion as to the the minimun length for an open water,
: worthy kayak? Specifically, is 14' too short of a kayak for the wife?

The length alone is not really a determining factor for seaworthiness. Remember that when the big ships sink, people crowd into the shorter, but more seaworthy, lifeboats. I saw a 1 man inflatable lifeboat (WWII issue) designed to keep an aviator afloat and alive after he might ditch his plane. It was only 4 feet long, and the pilot had to sit up -- no room to lie down. Not technically a boat, but the inflatable ring that they used to hitch around the Mercury and Apollo space capsules was barely bigger than the 7-8 foot diameter of the capsule. Except for the time when an astronaut popped the hatch too soon, and sank the capsule before they could rig the collar, these things workded fine to keep the capsules afloat.

Eskimo (Inuit) kayaks are typically about the length you suggest, if not shorter -- and they have been the benchmark for our guidelines on seaworthiness for about a century.

Greater length (generally) gives more displacement, better tracking, and better speed. The first means you'll float above some of the splashing, the last two mean you'll have an easier time paddling in a straightline. Unlike rivers, you tend to navigate open water in a series of straight lines, so length is desireable for open water. If the 14 foot boat tracks well, though, then additional length is irrelevant (my opinion).

I've seen plans for very seaworthy kayaks that are 11 1/2 feet long. (in fact I'm building one) By comparison, 14 feet IS long. If the boat is a suitable fit in other ways, go for it.

A good fitting sprayskirt will keep out water. That is probably more important than the length of the boat.

Just a few thoughts

PGJ

The picture below is Clark Craft's Sea Scout, a 13' x 27" kayak designed for a lighter paddler. It has a displacement of 350 pounds, so it can hold the paddler and some gear for a trip. Their plan #BK 27. They have kayaks in their online catalog (www.clarkcraft.com) as small as 8 feet long. Anyone who has read many of my posts knows that I refer to Clark Craft a lot. I like their site as it gives a lot of information, for free, that amateur boat builders can glean.