: At a minimum I would want a 17'+ lightweight sea kayak with strong tracking
: (no rudder) that I can afford ( $1000 max but if it cost 1/2 of that it
: would be great). Skin on Frame is not out of question either.

Get Putz's book and build a walrus or two. Once you cut the forms you can make two frames (or more) on them for nearly nothing. After that you can decide how to cover them: Canvas, dacron, or thin plywood. I think Mike Hanks' costs for his first Walrus were under $200 and he had enough left over to build the second one for (as I recall) under $160. Two boats for under $360. That is well under your budget.

Before you cut the forms, check my webpage for the translation from Putz's way of describing them into simple graphing points which you can layout in minutes. It will save you about $20 worth of plywood, too.

PGJ