: About a 2 - 2.5" drop seems right. Probably
: want to make most of the change amidships and put a sweep into the
: deck/sheer, right? That could be an interesting exercise.

I don't know that I'd lower the sheer much more than an inch. You don't want to take away too much freeboard. You could modify the deck height. I think I'd just email John Winter and ask him what he recommends doing to the Caspian Sea to make it fit a smaller person. I'd tell him your wife's weight, too since I know he factors in paddler size into his designs. I wonder if he'd recommend scaling the whole design down by some percentage.

: BTW, I used the fanny pack as backband we'd discussed. Comfy, convenient, and cheap. Sacrificed the stock Pygmy band and some minicel to insert a stronger stiffener into the pack. Makes a nice rig - thanks for the idea:

Thanks! Glad it worked out well for you.

Jim