I'm 5'11" and around 200 lbs with size 11 feet. My Night Heron S&G is my main kayak, and it is simple to enter, and all day comfortable. All my other kayaks have ocean style cockpits, with very little padding, so the NH is easy chair kayak. I have a Redfish seat blank in it and made a solid foam backrest, and find it very comfortable.

: I am on the Heron River here in Ann Arbor, MI and am looking to
: build either the Night Heron or the Petrel so that I can paddle
: against a 3 to 4 mph current up river and generally do some rec
: kayaking. I will probably use it in Lake St. Clair also and some
: lakes that will be several miles across. I think the
: characteristics of the Petrel are more what I want, but being
: 190 lbs, 5 ft, 9 in. with size 10 shoe, I want to make sure I
: will have a comfortable cockpit.

: I am using a Perception Corsica S river runner and the cockpit is
: comfortable, but probably slightly small for a long trip. I felt
: the same was about the P&H Scorpio LV. I have used the
: Tsunami 140 and felt that it was "too roomy".

: With that description, can anyone give me a feeling about the Night
: Heron and the Petrel? How about a comparison of cockpit room
: between the Night Heron and the Petrel?