: Steve,

: I agree that Clark Craft is a good place to get plans from (my wife bought me
: the plans for the BK22 for my birthday). See the URL below, I created a
: Yahoo group for sharing kayak/canoe plans (note: public domain plans
: only). Two may be of interest to you, the Canvasback and the King
: Canvasback, check in the Files section along the right hand portion of the
: screen. My dad and I built two kayaks, back in '86, based on the
: Canvasback plans that we were able to find and modified them to 14' with a
: proportional widening of all the plywood frames (despite my dad having, at
: the time, almost every issue of MI from the '70's and '60's we missed
: finding the KC plans or that was one of the few issues he did not have).
: Then we messed up and skinned them with fiberglass cloth/matting/cloth and
: turned them from nice light frames into heavy kayaks requiring two people
: to lift each one. Excellent project, though we did not get much use out of
: those kayaks because of the weight. The BK22 that I will be working on
: during the winter/spring will be my first boatbuilding experience since
: those two kayaks.

: One point you brought up about the beam width being in the 30" range, I
: would not let that be a concern except when it comes to ease of paddling.
: Depending on the height of these scouts, 30" wide beam may interfere
: with paddling. For safety's sake (I take it most of these scouts have
: never kayaked before?), however, I would want the beam to be as wide as
: practical without being wide enough to interfere with paddling. Also, the
: initial stability helps those who may be a bit afraid of getting into a
: kayak feel more comfortable. My wife and I rented a sit-on-top kayak when
: we were on our first honeymoon and the lack of initial stability scared
: her enough that she would not get on it, after trying to (I ended up not
: liking the sit-on-top because of lack of back support caused me to get a
: backache very quickly).

: Good luck with your project,
: Paul

Thaks for the info Paul. I am considering getting the Fast Touring 15 plans and building one as a prototype for the scouts to check out. The size is right and the beam is narrower. I think my concern over the 31" beam is a little exaggerated since I am used to 22" kayaks. Those who have used these kayaks have no complaints (other than they like a longer paddle).

Thanks again

Steve