So after yet another weekend getting out and paddling the Nikumi, now dubbed Nang Myon, I've noticed a couple of things.

1) Let your wood season a bit before building your boat. I was in a hurry to build mine and bought new wood. As a result I now have a noticeable bow to the right in my boat. This affects performance.

2) I finally measured and weighed her. My modified version is 16 feet 4 inches long and weighs in at 25 pounds, much lighter than I thought she was. That is, until I picked up my buddy's plastic Cabella(???). That thing weighs a ton. I could shave another half pound or so with slight mods to the bow stem but I'm pretty satisfied with things as they are.

3) Whether because of my slightly modified build or by design, this boat flexes a lot. I believe this is intentional based on what I know about baidarkas, but I hadn't realized it would be quite so dramatic. This can be seen in the linked picture (poor quality-- sorry about that) below. When I'm in the boat, the stems are literally several inches above cockpit. I believe this is the significant factor in the weathercocking I've noticed. I'm planning on putting some extra weight in the aft to see if this helps a bit.

4) She handles "rough" water quite well, and can even surf a little. While paddling this weekend I deliberately chased some power boats to see how she handles in waves, and she didn't disappoint. She remained very stable even with waves abeam and when facing or leading the waves she tracked well and flexed over/through them well. Surfing was a bit difficult but the waves were really not large enough to get a good feel for surfing so I was pretty satisfied with how she performed.

5)I still really like the boat. With the bowed wood she definitely doesn't track as straight as she should, but I can't blame that on anything but poor planning. She's light, fast, and pretty.

So, the name. Nang Myon (sounds like Dang Mee Yon) is a Korean cold noodle dish. Spicey, eaten in the summer time. The noodles are what most of us call "celaphane noodles" and are nearly clear. The second paddle I had in the boat was a cool day and the water was quite cold but I cut through it without any effort, even when the chop got significant. Because of the cold day, and "slipping through the water" in my clear PVC boat, I was struck by the idea of Nang Myon noodles slurping out of a bowl. Thus, I had a new name for my new boat.

The link is to the project page I started on woodworkingtalk.com for my deck change on my NorthBay, but there is a low quality picture of me in Nang Myon. You can't see the whole boat, but you an see the dramatic flex.

FrankP