Larry,
eYe yup! Ya caught me tinkering again.

I built this boat with one place in mind Owls Head light crossing on Penobscott Bay. I tried to tweak design for the performance characteristics I wanted on that long crossing. I wanted speed maueverability and staying power.

I lengthened out the bow and stern sections. It wasn't really about adding any performance. Mostly, I was just sort of exentuating the up swept double ender look.

At the same time; As you know LOA = speed. So I added a few inches in the middle by setting my mid stations a bit longer. I do a bit of guiding and being the fastest boat helps me catch up to the occasional way ward one or the 20 something that can out power me. The extra foot has given me the speed I was looking for. Additionally, I like playing in rock gardens so I build the boat extra heavy, and thus the extra foot of bouyancy has compansated for the extra heft. The extra length would work slightly against the turning ability and I wanted more of that for rock gardens, so I added the sanded chines and carved back my own over generous additions to the skeg. In the end, I think all us builders are tweaking on designs a bit.

One of the things I like about Nick's designs is they are easily tinkered with and he is very willing to talk the engineering trade offs/pro and cons on modifications. He was also really helpful in the how toos of building in the changes. For me that made for a very dialed-in to my tastes boat. For all of that bit-o tinkering, the genius of the design is all Nick's I didn't alter the curves at all, and that is where this boat really excells. All I did was take his design and put it on a rack and stretch it.

What is cool about sea kayaks is that with just a few learned skills they are the perfect design for just riding it out. There are stories of the occasional Inuit who made land falls in Scotland in the original Quajaks after storms blew them out to sea and across oceans. They had all the survival skills to just endlessly ride it out until they made land fall.

Paddling is fun at any level, but the way that storm came up is a good reminder that anyone can be real close to shore and still get trapped in the water in conditions that make getting out impossible. Put very a very hot land mass next to very cold water and you have a recipe for a very dynamic atmosphere. Skirting the rock gardens, makes the area I was paddling in, a very entry level paddle. The only thing that bumped up the expereince a few notches was the instant weather. It could have just as easily been anyone else at any other skill level.

Given that, even if you don't choose to go deep into the boomer fields, Its wise to have a bomb proof roll, and a few other survival paddling aces up your sleeves. An emergency kit radio etc. I think that on even the easist routes, its essential to have your back out routes preplanened and your alternatives in mind.

As every mariner knows, The sea is a lady and she can turn her mood nearly on a whim. Love her dearly but respect both her grace and her power.

!RUSS