: I'm going to build a kayak for touring Puget Sound. Seems like a double makes
: the most sense because want to include family members on day trips.
: Individual kayaks not the answer since progeny soon all to be gone off to
: school and wife not much for doing this on her own. Question is, can I use
: a double by myself without noticeable difficulties in operation? Double
: does seem to have the advantage of extra storage space, maybe a little
: more stability.

There are certainly enough models of kayak designs out there that can satisfy you, the problem is going to be in checking the specs and finding the right hull.

I think what you want is a small double, or a narrow double, which you will be able to paddle on your own at times.

You mention doubles with more stability and carrying room. That extra stability is probably only because the double you are looking at is wider than a single. Trye, a wider boat is going to be a bit more effort to paddle than a narrower boat. How much more effort? Probably not so much that you would groan about it.

If you are talking about the differences between a 21 inch wide single and a 25 inch wide double, put thesue in perspective. Both of these are considerably narrower than a 32 to 36 inch wide canoe -- and canoes of that size have been paddled solo with single blades for a long time. You'll probably have a double blade paddle, and most kayaks are lower to the water than canoes, so you'll have less wind resistance. From a canoeist's point of view, either of the kayaks is going to be a great improvement.

Why not look for a single that you can build longer, maybe stretch a 17 footer to 18 or 18.5 feet. You'll keep the narrower width, and add waterline length so speed should be good. The longer length should aid in tracking. If it is easier to go straight, consider adding a rudder to help with turns when paddling solo.

That gives you a wide choice of lots of hull designs, and building methods. Pick one you like

On to the deck:

Cockpit placement and size is a different problem. If you paddle solo you want to be closer to the center of the boat, not in a forward seat, or an aft one. In many cases this means you'll be looking right about now for a long, open, single cockpit. However.

The boats I've seen with these long open cockpits seem to have higher decks so that water does not get splashed into the boat. On the other hand, boats with oval or keyhole shaped individual cockpit coamings seem to go with spray skirts and lower deck heights. I think that you would want to look at something with a lower deckheight, so that leads to tight fitting coamings -- and those individual coamings may be spaced right for doubles paddling, but they are all wrong for solo paddling.

So lets look at a few options the designers probably didn't mention: One is to make the deck with three cockpit openings. When used as a double the center one is covered with a hatch. When used as a single the paddler sits in the center opening and the other two are covered with hatches. When used solo the boat will ride a bit higher as you don't have the weight of the second paddler, but if the lines of the deck are rather low, the boat won't be so high that it catches a lot of wind.

Instead of three cockpit openings you could make a convertible deck. This is little more than a pair of VERY LARGE hatches in your deck. Think of a hatch as big as the entire cockpit. These two "hatches" have identical outside dimensions and can be interchanged. One has two cockpit cut outs, and the other has a single cockpit cutout. Bulkheads in the boat provide fastening surfaces for securing either in place.

Imagine a complete deck with two individual cockpit openings. Behind the rear paddler there is a solid wood bulkhead separating the paddler from the aft storage area. In front of the bow paddler's feet is a bulkhead that seals off the forward cargo area (hatches on the deck allow access to these areas in the conventional manner) Now imagine taking a very sharp saw and cutting off the middle of the deck, cutting right along the middle line of those bulkheads, so the deck over the cockpit can come off, but the storage areas remain sealed. Now imagine that where the center part of the deck was removed a new center part is being installed. This one has a centered single cockpit cutout and coaming. It is exactly the same length as the deck portion that was removed, and the ends of this piece sit on the solid bulkheads. OK, add some foam gasketing to the tops of those bulkheads and bolt down this new deck center, adn go paddling as a single. To use as a double, pull out the half-deck center and replace it with the one with two cockpit cutouts.

You'll have a deck and a half, which will cost a few dollars more for wood and extra glass cloth, (and maybe some more resin, but that is not a certainty. You'll probably have some extra left over anyhow.)

So, look for a hull with characteristics you desire, and you can modify the deck to suit your paddling and partners.

hope this helps

PGJ