: Take a look at Tom Yost's site: www.yostwerks.com. you could
: probably fit any of his 15' to 17' boats . . .
: If you look at the "expedition" versions of some of
: Yost's designs you'll see that he has already done the
: alterations for carrying more weight. (higher deck, etc.)

: If your situation leaves you with fewer days, but about $250 more
: in the budget. You should consider building an aluminum-framed
: version of whatever Yost design you pick. You'll spend about
: $300 for aluminum tubes from Texas Towers, as opposed to about
: $50 for lumber for the frame. You can make the frames from solid
: HDPE (High Density PolyEthylene) as Yost shows, and spend about
: $100 on the plastic, or you can make the frames from plywood,
: and cut up pieces of HDPE cutting boards (Under $5 at Walmart)
: for the attachment points. (screw or bolt them to the plywood).

: The aluminum frame can be left together at all times, or taken
: apart for storage or travel. It takes about 30 minutes to
: assemble each time. Less once you are used to it. That makes it
: a wonderful 3rd boat. Put two boats on the roof racks and throw
: the third in the trunk. While the rest of the family is
: unloading the roof racks you'll be 10 minutes into assembling
: the folding boat.

I agree that Todd should look at the Sea Tour exp boats, which look very nice for a larger paddler.

But, having built an aluminum framed folding Sea Tour, I can't say that I particularly favor them over Tom's other boats. I found the whole assembly process to be tediously long, and the boat to be overly flexible, and a bit too heavy. If I wanted a folding kayak, I would definitely be building one of Tom's Sonnet inflatables, instead. They weigh considerably less, perform well, have vastly fewer parts and go together in less than 10 minutes.
In any case, I prefer the lightweight, stiffness and the quick and inexpensive build of the wooden frames, and a taut fabric skin to one of wrinkled PVC.
But those are just my own preferences - there is certainly nothing wrong with the aluminum framed folders! I just think that, for a folding kayak, Tom's inflatables are a better option.