Thanks all for the advice you've offered so far. I've only just figured out how to post replies on the forum, so I hope a blanket response is acceptable!

Several people have mentioned that tandems help when two paddlers have quite disparate skills and psychology-- I suspect this has something to do with our choice as well, although to be fair neither of us has much in the way of paddling skills yet. My original inclination was to build two singles, but my partner Kathy asked that we consider a tandem instead, and I suspect that's at least partly because she is riding the coattails of my interest in the sport and isn't confident yet that she even wants more than a passing involvement. If that turns out to be the case, then our tandem will likely be up for sale eventually. I'm also going to build a single, so we might find out that we prefer our own boats, in which case I'll build another single. Or one or the other of us might eventually end up a solo paddler.

Kathy and I work well together most of the time, travel well together, and so on-- we've known one another since high school. I think we'll likely be very supportive of one another in a tandem boat. We like and respect one another.

Others have suggested we take some formal instruction and join local paddlers. We're fortunate to live on Humboldt Bay, and we have access to a formal sea kayaking program at Humboldt State University that includes beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes in paddling skills and seamanship, rescue, surfing, camping/touring, and so on. We'll be enrolling next fall semester-- I'm hoping to build the boats over summer-- and we also have at least one local paddling club, Explore North Coast, the North Coast Sea Kayakers' Association.

I'll maintain a build journal when work gets underway. We've just finished construction of a custom teardrop trailer that needs a few additional touches after a recent cross country shake down trip, so my little hillbilly shop is still a mess from that-- but I have 10 ft x 40 ft to work with, so a 20 ft boat will fit just fine once I pull the trailer back out. Several folks have mentioned difficulties car-topping, carrying, and storing a boat that size-- these are all issues for us, too.

Best,
--Mike C.