: If anyone out there has built the Outer Island kayak designed by Jason
: Babina, I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts on this boats
: performance charcteristics.

: I'm not sure if I will fit in this kayak (I'm 6'6", weigh 190Lbs/95kg
: and have shoe size 12,5).

: I would also like to know your opinion on any changes you might recommend
: making if you were to build it again.

: I'm also considering the Guillemot Expedition Single and the Razor Billed
: Auk. Opinions are welcome. What are the main differences ?

I'm almost done building it. I should be launching it on Jan. 31 (cross yuor fingers). Others on the board have built and paddled it, I'm sure they'll have better answers than I have, regarding how well it performs.

Regarding the other stuff.... I wear a size 9-1/2 shoe and am 5'9" tall (or short, depending on your perspective) and 180 pounds. If I'm in stocking feet or wearing water shoes, I have enough foot room. It would be tight for me wearing bulkier shoes, or if my feet were bigger. In the shoes I typically wear paddling, I'm fine.

However, you can adjust the forms to create a little larger fore deck. Some of this also depends on leg length. Since you are 6'6", I'll assume that your feet would be further towards the bow than mine. That being the case, you'd have even less room. Again, to a degree, you can increase the volume of the fore deck.

Yes - I'd do some things different if I were building it for the first time. But, none of them would have anything to do with Jay's design. They would all have to do with my "artistic" choices and my skills.

One thing I'm concerned about is the size of the ocean cockpit. I'm accustomed to larger, keyhole cockpits. I've been told by others that once I get used to the ocean size, I'll love it. I'm hoping that that proves to be true, because right now, I'm still nervous about it. On the bright side, you can modify that before you build, or even afterwards. I think it would be fairly simple and not very time consuming to cut the current cockpit opening out, enlarge it, and finsh it up.

At 6'6" you may want to consider going with a little larger opening right from the "git go". But again, that's an easy modification and has no bearing on the boats performance characteristics.

Good luck. It's a sweet looking boat with great Greenland lines IMHO.

Rick