Yes, it seems my idea is not particularlly popular. I'm not sure how hard it would be to maneuver the catamaran'd kayaks - I guess there may be only one way to find out.

As for other options. I'm already going to make my wife a single kayak. I gave her the double or triple option but she feels that most of our kayaking will be as 2 seperate singles. I thought that the additional flexability of linking the kayaks might kill 2 boats with one build.

I guess I'll start with building the kayak, followed by duct taping the 2 boats together with broom sticks? This may answer some of the questions raised in this thread. Thats what I love about this list, I never really considered the questions brought up - I was more concerned about what I'd build and how. I'll consider a double/triple if this does not work - only one boat per winter.

> Mark--You got some negative responses so far and I have to agree with
> them. I think 2 kayaks linked side--by-side would be incrediably difficult
> to maneuver, even with two expert paddlers. If you want to paddle with
> your wife, go with a double or even a triple. If you want a stable boat,
> look into a rowboat. There are some rowboat kits out there that are no
> more difficult to build than a kayak. One that comes to mind is Pygmy's
> kit. Platt Manforte at Geodesic Aerolite has a number of interesting
> ultralight rowboat kits.

> The eskimos built doubles and triples, but it's a matter of some dispute
> why they did. One commonly held theory is the Aluets built them to
> transport Russian fur traders. In any case, when they need to move two or
> more people by kayak, they didn't go the catamaran route.