: Hello Group: I want to build the 18 1/2 ft walrus per George Putz plans. I
: have access to 20ft clear redwood 2x6's so I wouldn't have to scarf any
: boards. What I would like to know it I am looking for a yak that would
: handle 400lbs me+gear. Would the redwood be ok? I am planning on
: oversizing the strips and increasing the side depth by 2 inches. Am I
: nuts? Also how do these handle? I have alot of time in a Old town Loon
: 16.5 and am looking for a better yak.

: Thanks alot
: John C. (ca)

Hey John

I seem to remember someone ( maybe you ) asking about it a while back.??

I am 6'3" and 250 lbs and this boat was entirely too big for me alone. It would take two people for sure to get the chines in the water and get you down low enough to be able to affectively paddle it.
I had mine up at R2K1 and a couple of people paddled it and it sits up on top of the water and is not very stable with one paddler. Didn't use any gear, but I would say 400 lbs would still be a bit low.

Bill price also paddled it and it tips just to get the chines in the water with one person...

It's great for two good sized people though... And a good looking boat. I think that one person and gear would still be at the lower limit of boat capacity and would have a ton of freeboard. I would take the 17' boat forms and stretch them out to 17 1/2 and maybe add an inch or two to the beam if you feel you need some more volumne.

Rehd

Somewhere here I have a picture of myself and one of Bill in the boat and you can see that it just sits on top of the water.... Also, I believe that Ted Henry has a picture of my paddling by in front of the pack when we attempted the group photo. It's in his R2K1 photos on his site... I made mine and open double.

: P.s. Remove "spam" for e-mail

: Thanks Nick for the B.B.