: I just addicted a whole family with kayaking! Now they need yaks.
: Unfortunately cash is a concern. I was thinking of starting them with
: sof's. The largest paddler is about 270lb how will a Greenland kayak
: handle with someone of this size? What is the best book to start them on?
: I have Morris and Zimmerlys books, is there a better book they should use?

: Sage

Your friend is pretty big. Despite this, the Greenland SOF is usually built according to the body measurements and the specific needs (skills) of the given paddler. Any of the books by Morris, Cunningham and Star will give the necessary information to build a SOF provided the inclination (or economic necessity). There is great flexibility in the building process. For example, I am about 2/3 or the way through using mostly Morris and Cunningham for references. Using Morris' method for measuring the dimensions of my physique to arrive at the kayak's dimensions, I should be building a kayak around 15.5'x20.5". But I am already paddling a Greenland kayak that's 17.5'x20" and feel quite comfortable in it. I wanted something more challenging and lower volume. So I scrapped the Morris' suggestion and went ahead with a kayak that will be 17'x18". I kept the recommended depth of 5.5".

Again, there is flexibility to adjust the dimensions. Morris' recommendation for measuring will produced a kayak that may be "middle road" -- perhaps challenging for an absolute beginner but pretty sedate for someone who has been paddling awhile (unless the latter is planning higher volume for more gear storage).

The building process is quite fun and definitely accessible for someone will some tools. I am right now 75 hours in and only 2/3 finished. I made different mistakes along the way but none were irreparable though time consuming. Nevertheless, I started in late January and had planned to have the boat out sometime in March. I know I am not going to have problems meeting that projected timeline.

sing