: This boat will be flat water boat.

Keyhole cockpits are safer if you have to wet exit in high energy water -
that's why whitewater boats have them. For flat water, even if you can't
roll, a wet exit is a pretty relaxed affair - I've never found the slightest
difficulty wet exitting my Ocean Cockpit.

: Typically getting in and out is done in shallow water with the bow on
: solid ground.

Unless the bottom of your bow is somehow flat, this is probably the least
stable position to enter/exit, as the narrow contact with the ground,
combined with the boat being partly lifted out of the water, makes
the boat very wobbly. That might militate against an OC. Getting in or out
in shallow water, with midships supported on sand or mud is usually most
stable, or even enter on the side and seal launch.

: I like the idea of having the deck closer for maps ...

I normally wear contacts for paddling, so my distance vision is fine, and my
close-up vision somewhat impaired. But I simply can't read the small print or
fine detail on maps as far away as beyond the front of a keyhole cockpit. So
your choice is either a big keyhole with a mapcase attached to the spraydeck
(which becomes a pain when you get out to walk around for lunch...) or a nice
tight OC with the map/slate/GPS/etc. much closer.

Ocean cockpits can be a bit more of a pain with a knee tube - you can't
slide face down on the aft deck and turn over once your legs are inside as
the knee tube doesn't leave enough room. That means wet reentries may be
harder, although for a typical reenter-and-roll the knee tube is hardly in
the way. Getting stuff out of the knee tube may be a problem if it is too
near your gut !

I would never contemplate paddling without a spraydeck - if it's hot I'm
going to want to roll to cool off ! It's a lot easier to get a deck on an OC
as you are not exerting a load of force at maximum stretch. That means you
can get a much tighter deck and a better seal. A more rounded cockpit rim
will also give a better seal - the very shallow curve on the sides of a
keyhole don't make anywhere near as tight a seal as the smaller radius
curves at fore and aft, so when you dip the deck in a leaned turn, water
gets in. With the OC, the sides have a tighter seal for any given amount
of tension yu put on the deck, so, although it becomes possible to use a
tighter deck, even a less tight deck will leak less.

And the boats just fit better with an OC. And there's more room to kill
your fish without it slipping out of your hands. But if your fishing gear
is stashed under the bungies for a while, you are more likely to get a
pogie or a sleeve caught in it when it's closer with an Ocean Cockpit,
which can be embarassing if you urgently need to paddle out of trouble ...
OTOH, if you do that with a keyhole, it's much further to reach to get
yourself unhooked !

Jay Babina: > People who paddle ocean cockpit kayaks are really cool
which is the main reason to do it.

Well, I'm glad someone thinks I'm really cool, but that sort of reason had
never crossed my mind. I guess most paddlers don't even notice what shape
your cockpit is ...

Andy