Chris,

Like Shawn said, I also think the Grebe would be worth looking at. Andrew loved the Grebe. Even though it is a little big for him(he is kind of a scrawny 10 year old), he liked it lots better than his other boat (which is an Eddyline Skimmer, which is about 26" wide versus the 22" (20" on the waterline) for the Grebe). I'm planning on making a Grebe, but will drop the deck a bit to fit the kids a little better. (Also, for our crew, the growing out of the boat is not a real issue, because we've got a stack of kids queued up behind him that will be ready for a hand-me-down boat -- then I'll just have to build some new ones).
But, in the interest of time, and as the kids all have an increased interest in skin boats after SSTIKS a couple of weekends ago, I'm thinking now of putting together a similiarly sized SOF before I get started on the Grebe.

-John D.

: Well I've got my cypress cut now, I hope enough for two kayaks. I wonder what
: kayak I should build for my 10 year old boy? I thought maybe the little
: Auk but I read it might be a little wide for short arms. Also I thought I
: would build the Great Auk for myself. I am heavy 230 pounds, and
: short(5'7") bad combo I know. Will the Great Auk have enough beaf to
: hold me up and out of the water? Thanks Chris
: I've never been in a kayak before but I have paddled a canoe alot. So I want
: something fairly stable.