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Wanted to thank you all for a lot of very good information.
Mark, I may just take you up on your offer to show me your Arctic Tern in Santa Cruz - wouldn't think of asking you to let me take it out but would really appreciate seeing it and talking to you about your experience building and paddling it.
The suggestion to visit San Javier, which is right in my backyard here in Berkeley, CA is a good one. Unfortunately, their single kayak is 18'x22" and is a little long for the person who's actually going to be using the boat (my wife, who's 5'2" 118lbs.) and my work space, which is only about 18'6" long. I think I'll still probably pay them a visit just for the heck of it.
It's too bad that it's difficult to find shorter boats (around 16 ft) that aren't also very wide (24" +). Is there some technical reason one can't build a 16 foot boat that's sleek and narrow? The intended use is for day paddling on Bays and open ocean, not camping expeditions, and I know she wants something that maximizes the performance to energy-expended ratio.
I sent an email to both Pygmy and CLC and got a very quick response from Pygmy listing 4 people in my geographical area who've built the Arctic Tern and would be willing to meet with me. Expect CLC will be able to provide me with a similar list.
A couple of people also emailed me directly with offers to see their boats.
So again, thanks for all the help. Any further comments would certainly be welcome too. This BBS is a great resource.
Peter
PS: remove the NS from the beginning to my email address (nsw6dei@arrl.net) to send me mail.
This is an archived message from The Kayak Building Bulletin Board.
Guillemot Kayak - High
Performance Wooden Sea Kayak Designs
