Brian,

I haven't built a Greenland paddle but I have built our host's (Nick Schade) paddle in his original book. If the blade seems too big I suggest taking some off the edge until you are happy. It was cheap but seems like it took longer than a Greenland. The splicing to get the twist in the blades seems more cumbersome than necessary. It would be necessary to have access to a band saw, I think.

: I seem to remember Tom removed the single chine version because he
: found that when the beam of the single chines became more than
: 17 inches the performance suffered.

: Your right, way too much boat, as is the Sea Bee. Consider Tom's
: Kidarka: http://yostwerks.com/Kidarka.html
: Assuming your son, 110#; gear, 15/20#; and a little more weight in
: the build you are still under the design displacement. And the
: lines are stylin'; the kid will love it. The 19" beam may
: sound a but narrow for a first kayak, but your son's center of
: balance will be low so he should have no problem if he is the
: slightest bit adventurous.

: This sounds doable, especially if you make him a Greenland paddle
: from a 2x4. http://yostwerks.com/Kidarka.html ,
: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmfD5MEZW6o The kid will
: probably think it looks lame, but it will work much better for
: him because you will custom fit it to him. Any paddle that will
: fit in your budget will be too large and cumbersome.

: You may wish to check out the SOF forum at Qajaq USA:
: http://www.qajaqusa.org/cgi-bin/GreenlandTechniqueForum_config.pl?md=index;page=1

: Some more Kidarka photos from Tom's site:
: http://yostwerks.com/DaveKidB.html
: http://yostwerks.com/DaveKidB.html
: Note the two different styles of bow.

: Whichever kayak you decide to build you're a good dad.

: ~Bob