: I am 5-10 and have size 10 feet...I weigh 245 lbs. I assumed my camping
: equipment is roughly 70-100...but I am planning to weigh it all this
: weekend.

: I am looking for a boat that is fairly stable

Stable is relative, but assuming you've got a fairly big upper body, anything over 23-24" wide will be stable. Flatter bottoms are generally more stable than more rounded bottoms on flat water.

:....tracks (is that the right term?) straight.

Yes--that's the right word. This is a subjective thing, but most wood designs have pretty good tracking--the Guillemot has less than a lot of the others.

: I am not worried so much about speed.

It's also fairly over-rated. Anything over 15' long, and as long as it's not really wide (like 28" or something) will be fast enough to keep up with your buddies. If you build an average boat, you'll probably smoke all your friends in canoes.

: I also am not worried about boat weight. I just want something fairly durable.
: I only plan to use this boat for our canoe and kayak camping trips.

Well sorry, but you're going to get a relatively lightweight boat no matter what you do! I really overbuilt my Chesapeake 17 at 57 lbs, but it's still lighter than a lot of glass boats, all plastic boats, and is very durable.

: I though about just building a canoe, but to be honest I am tired of doing
: all the work for my buddy... so I think I am just going to build a nice
: kayak instead.

Sure, why not?!

: I have a fair amount of Kayak experiance with a Prijon (sp) Yukon Expidition
: I found this to be a great boat and liked its size.... unfortunatly I
: cannot find another to measure.

It's 24" beam x 16' long, if I remember correctly. If you fit in it, you'll fit in most every wood kayak design.

: By the way do you seal the storage compartments in these kayaks to be
: completely waterproof with some sort of bulkhead or something?

Yep! Most folks use either a glassed-in wood bulkhead or a glued in closed-cell foam bulkhead. With waterproof bulkheads, it makes the entire boat harder to sink, and very little water is able to be scooped up by the cockpit if you have to bail out. It's pretty neat, really!

: What should I use for the first kayak (wood wise) as for skills to build I am
: a carpenter by trade so I feel quite comfortable working with wood.

Well, anything you darn well please! I came to the boatbuilding hobby with a lot more woodworking experience than the average guy, but they all do amazing things. Plans available now are very detailed, so there's probably nothing you can't do. With your experience, you could easily tackle a cedarstrip kayak on your first try. It's more a matter of time than anything. Budget a little over 300 hours for a woodstrip boat, or 100 hours for a stitch & glue.

I wish you well!

Shawn