: Edging is pretty important if you want to get most sea kayaks to
: turn promptly, in my limited experience.
: I don't know how a baidarka responds to edging; my guess is that
: some of them will track 'like a train'.
: And edging a very 'rounded' hull will often not feel as 'solid' as
: something with a flatter/flared chine, so it is hard to 'be
: brave' and set the boat on edge.
: You need to find some feedback from owners.

Good point. I didn't consider or understand the technigue (edging) as I spent time in the chessie. In hindsight I was using sweep strokes (not really knowing what they were) to turn while being a bit frustrated. It was the opposite experience from a day fishing with a friend in his 9' plastic tubs. The bow would turn away from every paddle stroke I made!

: A day or two with a good teacher can really make a big difference,
: and a good school will have a selection of boats to put you in.
: It's a sizable amount of money, but can save you some expensive
: mistakes.

I will look for opportunities for quality instruction. If finances change I would love to find a school or week long instruction situation. I assume instructors can be found along the gulf coast here...

: If you can travel light (backpacking style) and don't have to carry
: water, you don't need a great deal of extra weight-carrying
: capacity.
: As a 'big guy' you have an advantage there - your gear and food for
: a few days (or even a week) won't be a huge percentage increase
: over that for a day trip.
: ;-)

Normally I would only need a gallon for daytrips but if participating in the everglades challenge I would probaby need three gallons or so. I don't want to always be near the max capacity of my hull either.

: I hate to mention this in a building forum, but
: One thing to consider is just buying a used factory boat - there
: are some good deals around, and often you can get a
: boat/paddle/sprayskirt/flotation bags/etc in the deal.
: Building your own is often not very cheap, though it is fun to
: paddle something you build.
: I've got a bit of a homebuilt kayak fleet for myself here. The
: possibility of doing some touring/kayak camping came up
: recently; I didn't have a suitable home-built boat.
: I found a like-new Mariner Max (which would probably fit you)
: completely equipped with skirt/flotation bags/paddlefloat/spare
: paddle and a very good (Lightning) carbon paddle - the total
: price was quite a bit less than I would have spent on materials
: to build a boat and equip it with the same gear. And I can use
: my shop time to build something else, and paddle in the
: meantime....

I will begin to scour Craigslist and other outlets for used deals. I'm sure they surface from time to time. There are a lot of recreational boats for sale here but I do want something with some performance potential, and my size and need for a large kayak is something of a limiting factor. I will begin looking though. Having a used starter boat would get me on the water now while I strip build my dream boat...

: Building times are all over the place - depends on builder
: skill/experience/perfectionism, etc etc.
: The pros can work faster, but they have to have much higher
: standards of finish and detail than we need.
: It's when beginner builders demand those very high standards that
: the times go up, up, up.

: But, you are correct :S&G, cutting your own panels is probably a
: bit faster than strip.

: A S&G kit is certainly a fast way to build- I've built a couple
: now. But with a kit price I'm getting up into the 'buy a used
: boat' category.

: For strip, if you have a cheap source of lumber for strips, and the
: tools to mill them, and scrap plywood for forms, it can be as
: cheap as S&G- especially if you are using good plywood.

: Strip boats also have a lot more 'wow' factor ('real' wood) from
: uninformed onlookers, where S&G (plywood) is not so flashy.

: I wouldn't let 10-20-30 hours difference in building time be a
: deciding factor.

: If time is important ('time is money' idea), it might be smarter
: IMO to grab some overtime or extra work hours if possible and
: just buy a boat and get on the water.

: Fun, huh?
: ;-)

I really would like to just get on the water. I'm paddling a tandem canoe from a repro shaw and tenney seat I build after removing the center thwart. I enjoy kayaking more though due to being even closer to the water, slightly more secure and with much less windage. The canoe is great for area rivers and heavy gear loads. I'll look for a used kayak but if I don't find one I'll get three sheets of good ply and make a Merganser or 19' Baidarka. I just love the looks of the Baidarka...