Bob,

Nick Schade in his first strip building Kayak book (the white one) describes doing exactly as you suggest, spacing out the forms. Probably need to do it evenly - the same %increase for each spacing. Have you ever tipped over a kayak? My wife wanted to do that before she tried paddling since she didn't really like the skirt. It is so easy getting out that she was back head up in the water before she realized.

: As a father preparing to do this with two girls this entry did get
: my attention. One thing I noticed is that many folks who tackled
: a kid friendly SOF were already accomplished sea kayakers. They
: can train and supervise their kids in the skills and techniques
: and more importantly can handle the dunkings and tricky
: situations. I value their knowledge and experience and admire
: the free sharing. In the end I can't shake the intuitive feeling
: that any kayak under 24 maybe 22 inches is too narrow for my
: mission. Some of these boats have waterlines around 17".
: Also if the boat tips I want my girls falling out with no need
: to deal with a small round cockpit opening. Falling out of a
: canoe is a wonderful lesson in keeping the big hole up.

: May I ask for a link to or a quick tutorial on stretching a design.
: There seems to be a hole in available designs, call it kids rec
: kayaks. One thing I have come to appreciate is that the height
: of the deck is an important consideration. One guy, I think Dave
: Gentry, described it as paddling with the coaming in one's
: armpit.

: If I took a design and multiplied or subtracted the offsets for the
: frames, frame spacing and such by 10 to 15% will this work for a
: fun knock about boat?