rogav8or

This is my Shortshot from October 2016. Randy

Todd, since skin on frame boats do not have water tight compartments, float bags will provide floatation and more importantly, reduce the amount of water that fills the kayak after a capsize. Randy

Just an update. As of Friday, I have paddled the boat three times. Overall, I am very pleased with it's performance. The boat has more rocker than I am used to. My previous boat has no rocker/ negative rocker and tracks like it is on rails. However, this makes it very difficult to turn. The Short shot is easy to turn and still tracks well. I weigh 165 lbs and I found that packing a dry bag with about 10 lbs of gear, just forward of my feet, improves the balace. I usually carry 10- 15 lbs. of stuff (mostly water) on day trips. There should be plenty of space to carry enough gear for overnight trips. My next project will be carving a greenland paddle.

Thanks for the kind words. Over all, I am very happy with the boat. When I look at it, I see all the flaws, but I didn't build a fine piece of furniture. I built a boat to use and enjoy. I don't have enough experience with it to really evaluate the design, but so far I really like it.

I finally launched the kayak yesterday after almost a year of interruptions during the build. It was very good to be on the water again. I had nearly perfect conditions for Lake Mead- light winds, temperature in the low 80's, and the water temperature was 75 degrees. I made several short paddles to get the seat, back band, and foot rests adjusted, then paddled for close to 2 miles. I'm pleased with the performance of the boat and look forward to many more miles in the future. Thanks Jeff !!!

The new site works well on my 7 inch tablet. keep up the good work.