: Somewhere along the way, my wife's attitude changed from 'you crazy idiot,
: why would you want to BUILD a kayak' to 'when are you starting on mine?'
: Think it was about the time that I first sealed the bare wood. Ya gotta
: hate when that happens. So, time to choose a design. I'm not finding much
: suitable for her in S&G, so this one will probably be strip. Anyone care
: to help winnow the choices? Here are the parameters: For practical
: considerations of building and storage, 16' is max. length.
: Use is day paddling inland lakes, little to no cargo requirements.
: Paddler is 5' tall, so relatively low deck and cockpit sides are in order.

: She's not terribly athletic or committed to kayaking as some are, so
: something qualifying as a 'beginners' boat is probably about right.
: Specifically, she wants a fair amount of initial stability. Examples: her
: Dagger Cypress (13' by 26.5") is fine, but she's starting to realize
: the benefits of something sleeker. My old Edisto (14'6" by
: 24.5") is okay, tho the deck's a little tall for her. The Osprey
: (15'8" by 24")- she can paddle it, but it's at the edge of her
: comfort zone. But she loves the way it moves and tracks, so she wants to
: keep trying to see if she can get used to it.

: So far, I've found the Caspian Sea by John Winters, and toyed with shrinking
: a Great Auk 11/12ths(length only, maybe drop the deck a little). Any
: thoughts on these or other choices?

I am just stripping the deck on one of Nick's 14" Great Auk, so I can't tell you how well it paddles yet, but I love the hull lines. I think it is going to be a very stable ride. The sheer isn't real high but the fore deck is peaked fairly high. The aft deck is much lower. Since the slope on the fore deck is pretty much straight from the sheer to the peak, it might not be too hard lowering it.