: Kurt / Bill,

: Thanks for the feedback and especially the pic of the PAX 20 with
: the fabric covers as I would also think it a good idea to have
: them available should water conditions get rough.

: This morning before leaving for work, I stood for about 30 minutes
: staring at my completed Spring Run trying to assess if the hull
: is long enough for an open cockpit at 16'9" and if the
: shear line would be high enough above the waterline to allow for
: leaned turns without taking on water. I thought of building the
: deck in from the shear towards the centerline so that I would
: end up with about a 17" wide cockpit opening extending to
: about 3' of both the stern and bow. Then, build a cockpit
: coaming from carbon fiber (ala Vaclav) the full length raising
: it's height to about 2" near the bow to deflect any water
: coming over the bow... This approach should add some ridgidity
: especially if I add a couple of supports like "hip
: plates" in the open area in the bow and stern.

: Hmmmmm. Sure is tempting to build it like this and if it doesn't
: work out, cut off the deck, scrap it and build a traditional
: one...

: Any additional thoughts on the topic??

After getting the canoe this year, I can certainly appreciate the idea of having a big cockpit (how 'bout a 14' cockpit?). Specially after looking at the pix of the PAX I think I'd want to add depth to the hull first, it wouldn't take much of a wave to swamp that thing. Not all that uncommon for decked kayaks to take a wave over the bow, doesn't matter much with a tight fitting cockpit and a skirt, much different with a longer cockpit and no skirt.

Bill H.