: THanks for your response and this helps me feel like I am not going to make a
: fatal mistake in selecting a company. Any advice on what type of kayak is
: best for a beginner like me. I was thinking about the CLC 16. What would
: be the advantage of the lower sheer 16? and what does that specifically
: mean? I plan to use it mostly on back bays on the New Jersey Shore, with
: some ocean paddling too. I also hope that I could use if for fishing a bit
: too. thanks again, Jed

Hi jed, just so you know I work at CLC but have been paddling and making s&g kayaks before being with those fun folks. I'm 185 at 5'9" and find the CH16 is just right for my size. If you are less than 150lbs and size 10 feet then the LT16 is worth considering simply because there is less boat for wind to move around. Lower sheer means the side panels are lower, so there is less footroom and less windage. On the LT16 the aft deck is flatter, but you could do that with the regular 16 if you wanted. Although I haven't seen one I'm guessing that an Arctic Tern 14 would be less volume that the 16LT and more than a Ch14. So not knowing your size recommending boats is kind of a shot in the dark. My bias is getting a boat according to the weight (you and gear) that you normally paddle with and not you plus "75lbs of camping gear" which most folks rarely do.