Hey,

I am new here and after having looked at Nick Schades book, I am interested in building my own kayak. Since I can't afford to buy a fancy store bought one, I thought this would be a way to go. I am pretty good with my hands so the extra work is not an issue. I have never built a kayak (or any boat for that matter) and already have a couple of questions.

I have read some threads on large people and boat designs and really didn't feel a suitable answer came up from the discussions, at least not for me. All I have are my two hands and a pencil and paper for making the plans for the forms so I have to keep this stage as easy to deal with as possible.

Here goes. I am 6'2", 240 lb with (you've heard this already)size 12 feet. I have tested fit some boats at some outdoor shops and fit into some of the boats okay but am not completely sure they would be comfy on long paddling trips. I decided to build the Great Auk (I love the shape of this boat!)because it is supposed to be a little more roomy. However, when I looked at the plans for the forms, I just can't see how my feet will fit into the boat. I was playing around with the idea of taking the outermost deck offset and raising it 3/4 to 1 inch, essentially flattening the deck by raising the edges and redrawing the curve down to the hull. How far up can I go with the edges? Will this effect the handling/stability of the boat?

The second question deals with picking out the wood. In the book, Nick Schade says that western red cedar can be used and can be picked up at most lumber yards. I've been to Home Depot to look for 1" boards to chop down but they all seem to be very knotty. In the book he says that knots should be at a minimum but if there are any they should be 1/8" or less. I have looked and looked and just can't seem to find boards that are suitable. I have decided to work with 6' long strips so I at least thought that it wouldn't be that hard to find stretches of knot free wood. I don't want to waste a ton of wood. Is all western red cedar this knotty or does Home Depot just have crummy wood? What is the real story on the knot situation?

Thanks for the help

Dan M.