: Has anyone built a SOF king island kayak? How do they paddle
: compared to greenland or a baidarka? I am looking at using
: polyester. how does poly compare to nylon. Can water based paint
: or varnish be used on poly or nylon?

Do a search over at Qayaq USA. King Islands have been discussed many times.
http://www.qajaqusa.org/cgi-bin/GreenlandTechniqueForum_config.pl?md=index;page=1

Check out Harvey Golden's site. http://www.traditionalkayaks.com/

Also, Google "King Island Kayak". You'll get tons of hits.

~Bob