: Weight is not the first concern. With a small car, I cannot carry anything
: longer than 10 to 12 feet. Water sources are not any where near, so
: driving 50 to 100 KMs with a long boat on top, at slow speeds would be a
: killing!

: This is the only reason I want to build a small Kayak.
: I sure do understand that moving was a problem with a 9' SOT Kayak that I
: tried in some place near. It certainly made me feel like beating some one
: when on shore! It was slow, and the heeling was massive, when winds are
: strong, heeling was upsetting us.

: Nick, Tom and others what do you think?
: What is the best option for me from here?
: How long, how much to compromise?

Hi Ram,
The kayak doesn't have to be limited in length by the length of your car. As long as the kayak doesn't exceed any legal over-hang limits.
I have seen a picture on either this forum or the Qajaq USA forum of a 17 foot kayak on a Smart car. About the shortest car I know of.

Anything as short as 10 foot will be slow on the water, for general paddling on canals and the like, just make the kayak shorter than the width of the canal. That would give you a long kayak, knowing some canals.

14-15 foot would be a reasonable length to go for, long enough to give a fairly easy paddling speed, short enough so not to over-hang too much of your car.
And the weight should end up less than 16kg.
I have three kayaks, two about 17 foot and one is 10 foot. The 10 foot weighs about 12kg using pine for the frame and 500g/M2 canvas. The other two weigh 16kg and 18kg, one has a western red cedar frame, the other pine.

Hope this helps,
Mike Savage
South West cork