My 7 year old son and I just built a Glen-L Kidyak, and have had many very enjoyable hours this summer on local lakes. It was very easy to make (especially after I built a CLC Mill Creek last year). He's 65 lbs. now, and I don't know if the Kidyak will last another two years - we'll see.

http://www.glen-l.com/designs/canu-row/kidyak.html

There have been discussions about design software on this and the design bulletin board. I chickened out and bought plans rather than spend the time to get up to speed on one of those.

> I'm interested in designing and building a simple kayak that would suit a
> young (5-7 year) child. Has anyone built or seen designs for something
> similar? I'm keen to design it myself, but would be interested in
> discussing appropriate dimensions, proportions and construction
> alternatives.

> While small children can paddle around in adult size kayaks it is often
> frustrating for them because the kayaks are too high and wide for the
> child. Something more in proportion to a child's size should be more
> satisying for them. Of course stability is important. In my case I'm
> primarily interested in something for lake and calm sea use.

> What would be particularly interesting would be to come up with an easily
> scalable design that could be modified to suit different age groups:
> children grow very quickly!

> Any input welcomed.

> Thanks,

> Mark Battley, Auckland, New Zealand