: Whoa, you just gave my curiosity the old one-two knockout:

: 1. I've been considering doing a deck chop on my old Squeedunk
: Cormorant 16. Might be easier to build new, but a deck chop
: accomplishes too many neato things to ignore, not the least of
: which I won't have to figure out what to do with the old Cormy.
: I mean, I hate to throw a great old boat away, and might really
: enjoy owning a 20-year-old homemade kayak some day (wonder who
: wins the oldest home built kayak contest right now??). Anyway,
: looks like your reasoning for chopping vs. new-build and my
: reasoning for same are in pretty decent alignment.

: 2. I've been thinking about a Black Pearl for a quite a while, and
: begin to believe this winter may be time to go for it (unless I
: decide to chop the Cormy instead). I'm especially curious as to
: its rough water handling.

: Sean, wonder if you could shoot me an email at ngc704 at aol.com ?

Hey Kurt: I just cut one of new sheer lines tonight. After you trim them and clean them up a bit, you are left with a perfectly good hull. AND you are miles ahead of starting anew!! My hull was in excellent shape. I just didn't like my deck so it was an obvious choice to replace it!! Easy peasy!!! When I am finished, I will, for all intents and purposes, have a new boat with a completely different look and a very different feel. AND a skeg, to boot!!

I have a skin on frame that I built back in 1979 as a 13 year old. I had no plans and no books but it turned out OK. It's in my basement now but it's not in any shape to use!!! Here's a link to a blog entry I did last year:

http://justyakkin2.blogspot.ca/2011/09/where-it-all-began.html

The Black Pearl is a fine beast to paddle and fun to build as well. It's very low volume - my back deck is about 1" above the water with just me in the boat. It's also pretty snug. You pretty much wear this boat and that really pays off. The boat responds to the slightest edge. In waves, it's a very wet ride as the bow tends to punch through the waves rather than ride over them. Even on flat water you have to keep shifting to balance. In rough water, while tippy, the water does not push it around as much. Good bracing is a must. Rolling, as to be expected, is a dream!!!

Check your email.

Cheers,

Sean