> Better get to work on hers pretty soon. She's still deciding 16.5 or 17 ft
> length.

Hi Pete, I paddled with a guy this weekend who demo'ed a carbonlite 2000 Eddyline Merlin XT. It is about 23" wide and 15.5' long. He had no problem keeping up with me in my Ches 17 at a normal cruising speed. Granted, he was at his max hull speed, and with some extra effort, I could have easily pulled away from him; but, at cruising speed, the shorter hull wasn't a liability.

> Just wanted to rub in the SO who dreams about kayak building to all the
> people who's SOs occassionally get a bit miffed about boat building vs.
> couples time together. I can see it now, rather than dinner and a movie,
> its stitching seams and ripping strips, and sanding, and epoxying.
> Yahoo!!!

Now that my wife is back in school, she actually likes the fact that I'm out in the garage gluing strips--that way I don't annoy and distract her from her studies!

Shawn