> Hey Shawn ! I checked out your site and boat construction. Real good. And
> yeah, I like them strippers well built too. Well, I would if I weren't a
> good Christian.

Heh, yeah, if you didn't have good faith in God, you'd really have to have faith in your building skills! Fortunately, I have both!

> I already wrote Nick and questioned him on the benefits or loss of same with
> the widened hull. I doubt I could get into either one, as is, but a couple
> of inches here and a couple there and I may just be able to do it. Oh, in
> case it makes a difference, I'm 50 and getting a little stiff in the
> joints, so, how easy is it to get out of one of them, and if difficult,
> could the cockpit be opened up just a tad to accommodate??

You'll be a tad (but just a tad) slower, because of the added wetted surface, but the boat will still look cool!! I don't think you'd have too much problem fitting into one--let me know Nick's response. Yes, you can definitely open up the cockpit to make entry and exit easier. You just need a bigger sprayskirt, but that's doable too. You'll want a cockpit big enough to sit in and then put your legs in, rather than legs-first-then-butt.

Yeah, I'm just talking about a swimming pool. It doesn't have to be Olympic-sized either!! That's great if you have access to a pool and kayak--it will make it that much easier to fit practice into yoru schedule. The "Rolling Fool" in the corner of my page was designed by Nick.

How to learn to roll: Find someone who knows how and have them teach you. It's like learning to ride a bike. If you read about it, it will be darn difficult. If you have someone who knows how to roll teach you (they don't have to be the local kayaking expert, just someone with a reliable roll), you can learn 3 or 4 times as fast. It took me 3.5 weeks of pool practice to learn to roll, and I didn't seek help until the last 2 sessions. I was WAY off when I tried to do it myself. Also make sure the cockpit fits your body with foam padding--a poorly fitting cockpit is tough to roll in.

Shawn