: 1.) I'm 6'4" and weigh 175lbs. Size 11 1/2 feet.

I like the Night Heron. The Outer Island is nice too. Does track well- don't know how the wind is there but here it can be a benefit. You turn it by leaning, and in that regard it turns about as well as any other kayak (at least this is true for the commercial version, I've never paddled a strip version.) Sitting dead flat and using sweep strokes it definitely doesn't turn as well as a lot of kayaks. The hull is pretty flat in the Night Heron. You may consider a hybrid night heron to save a lot of time sanding with a long board to get the hull flat. The plywood is supposed to track a little firmer than the strip.

I would also suggest you look at some of Bjorn Thomasson's designs (www.thomassondesign.com). Specifically, the Hunter and Njord.

I would avoid the Night Heron high deck version. Shoe size really doesn't have much to do with deck height unless you're paddling with your feet at 90* to your shins, and that's not all that efficient because you're extended all the way in one direction, so you are limiting by at least 50% the amount you can move your feet for things like leaned turns and balance corrections. You'll find that if you lay your leg off the end of the bed, or if you cross your leg and let your lifted foot go free, that "neutral" for your ankle is with your toes pointed forward. It's relaxed, and neither your shins nor your calf muscles are working to hold your foot in position. This is what you want- muscles making tension is wasted energy you could be putting into paddle strokes. You'll find in this case that the amount of deck height you need is a lot smaller than you think.

All of this may sound odd now, but the more you paddle, the more sense this will make. It's quite easy to sit frog-legged in a rec or whitewater kayak and have your feet at nearly 90* to your shins, but in both cases the kayak is much wider than any of the designs you mentioned. I'm guessing your rec boat is around 6" wider than a Night Heron, maybe even wider. You won't be able to use that frog-legged position, you'll have to have your legs straighter. That's o.k., because it's more stable. When you reach the point of learning to roll, it really truly will make things easier if your foredeck is not so high. Unless you are extremely flexible and/or have very long arms it's hard to reach your arms over a high foredeck all the way to the water line to be set up for a roll. If you can't get the paddle out of the water because your deck is too high and you can't reach that far, it will be hard to learn to roll.

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