: Bill, Thanks for the response- I have very limited experience, two trips out
: in a plastic sit on top. Robin has more experience but not enough to
: compare design traits either. We're rookies with a love of the water and
: wooden boats.
: I can say that our plans don't include long trips or rough waters, not
: looking for performance or extreme capabilities. One thing I failed to
: mention in my original post is there are a lot of narrow tidal creeks in
: our area so I'm thinking length may be a factor.(?) Hope that helps.
: Bob S.

Hi Bob,

Only you can actually pick the design you like, building is a time envolved process, you really need to like a design to keep at it.

I know tidal creeks, though I have to travel a ways to get to them. As long as the design has some rocker in the bottom it should turn well enough that an average size boat in the 16' - 17' range will turn well enough to get thru them. Beam (width) is generally the issue with new paddlers. Any boat less than say 23" wide will seem pretty tippy to start with, though I'm sure there will be some discussion about that. A 1/2" width change you can notice btw. Your wife may like a slightly shorter boat since she's considerably shorter and lighter. Personally I think spending the time to build a boat, specially a stripper, and making a too short boat is a mistake, as your experience grows you'll enjoy the extra length being able to go into bigger water.

Btw, paddling.net has a review section that has reviews of many home built designs.

Bill H.