Forgot to mention, the Kayak Surfing thread I was reading is on the Kayaking Techniques board.

PJR

: Hi all again. Thanks to many comments a couple of weeks ago (mostly on the
: Design BBS), I finally decided to build the S&G Guillemot as my first ever
: kayak.

: I weighed up the merits of a number of the free plans (want to keep the cost
: as low as possible for my first kayak - maybe then I can justify a
: stripper later if I have fun). I also intend to build something for my
: wife and a kid's something-or-other for my 11yo daughter after I have made
: mine so want to keep it to a minimum for now.

: I finally decided on the S&G Guillemot, scaled up about 6% for long legs, big
: feet, etc but now after reading the Guillemot Surfing related thread, some
: of the comments have me thinking I may be going down the wrong track.
: Things like having a tough time keeping it in a straight line for 20
: miles, meant for surfing (which I don't intend to do).

: I guess I will be using my first kayak for paddling mostly in a broad, slow
: river (about 5 min walk from my door), some large dams that admittedly can
: get a little choppy in wind but far from surf-like, and a bit of
: estuary/bay paddling once I get some confidence & paddling skills.

: I don't really see myself going anywhere near surf - at least not for a very
: long time, and by then, maybe I could build a stripper that was suited to
: it - love the look of them - magnificent.

: Given all that, any comments on whether the guillemot will suit my purposes
: would be very welcome. I'm started having second thoughts about whether it
: will be suited to what *I* want. The comments I have read over the couple
: of days lead me to think that it is an excellent kayak, but more designed
: for a purpose other than what I intend.

: Thanks for a great board. I've learned so much during this prepraration phase
: that it should all go much smoother later when I actually build something.

: pjr