: I'm beginning construction of a skin on frame kayak following George Putz's
: book and I've got a few questions to those who might be able to answer.

: My back porch is layed out in such a way that getting an 18.5' kayak off it
: is going to be a *real* close call. 17' would be no problem. The volume of
: the 18.5 ft boat he gives is considerably greater than the 17. This is
: going to be used for a single paddler (myself), and possibly up to 50# of
: gear strategically stowed. I'm 6'6", 275 lbs. I'd like to build the
: 18.5' boat, even though the lines seem a little tubby, but space seems to
: be dictating 17'.

: Question is: will the 17' boat be adequate for my needs, capacity wise? I
: could shorten the 18.5' model, but that would result in an even tubbier
: kayak. Any suggestions? What about scaling up the 17' by 10% and
: shortening that to 17.5' or so?

: Comments? Suggestions? Advice?

: Thanks,
: Alex Wolfe

Hey Alex

I built the 18 1/2' Wally and my advise is to stick with the 17'er. Several of us have built the different Wally's and I'm close to your size ( 6'3" @ 255 lbs. ). I took it to R2K2 and put it in the water, and found that this is definitely a Two Man boat. With me in it, it sat so high in the water that the chines were barely wet and it was VERY tippy. Some of the others here built the 17' boat and can give you some better specs on that one. Be advised that none of them approaches your size or mine, but two of them are as tall, just tooth-picks (sorry guys ), but they also sat pretty high in the water in the Wally 17'er.
I ended up making a double open cockpit on mine and will be giving it away to some friends here very shortly.
Talk to Bill Price, Roger Nuffer and then Mike Hanks about their boats. Mike has also done some experimenting with several Wally's and has come up with some pretty good boats. Much more manuverable than the original and he built one out of plywood, off the Putz forms as described in Paul Jacobson's article he mentioned. You will probably also want to stay away from the canvas covering, althought it is very functional. Most of the guys are going to more modern and lighter weight materials. Polyester.... Dacron.... and better finishes. I believe all these fellas will see your post and answer up directly, but you can find their Web-Sites listed in the User Profiles and I think they all have their Wally construction pictures on there. You will get much information from them. I think they will all agree that the 18.5' boat will be too much for one man. Hope this helps.....

Rehd