Kudzu

I am letting other answer but I will answer a couple of things. Size 9 feet with some thin water shoes are no problem. That is what I wear. I have a pair of Teva water shoes with thick soles and big heals and they are a bit big so I won't wear them paddling. As for tracking it is hard to answer because what I call good tracking might be loose or a train to you. One good thing is that if the tracking isn't strong enough you can easily add a small skeg made from the scrap plywood. I don't have a 'how-to' up but it is pretty simple to make and you can trim it make the boat suit you. Skirt is not problem Seals has a pattern on file. I can special order one of your local dealer can too.

Effective today we are no longer making Float Bags. I still highly recommend them. As far as safety goes they are second only to a PFD. Short version is I have invest a lot of money in a roll of fabric and it takes me over 2 years to use that roll fabric. It is just a very poor return on investment. Buying fabric in small quantities is almost double the price. That would mean I would have raise prices to well over $100 a set. While I think it well worth it for the safety they provide obviously the majority of builders see no value in them at the current price. I could offer then as a Special Order item? I would have to order fabric as needed. It would take longer to turn the order around. That is about the only option to keep them available but questionable if it is worth the effort and time.

I am not worried about the deck beams. They are just cosmetic and the curve is fair. The curve in the chine isn't right though. No one has mentioned this before so not sure if that is mistake in the plans or not.

Without seeing it I can't say for sure, but wood isn't always straight. It bends, warps, etc. Most likely there is nothing wrong. Pull them down in place and sight down the kakay from different angles and see if everything makes smooth bends. There should be no humps of dips anywhere in the stringers.

No experience with borax, but I have been know to rinse a boat with a little diluted bleach. I have heard for the borax treatment before just never felt the need but it probably doesn't hurt anything either. Salt water is from what I read a good preventative too. I have reskinned a few an there is usually black stains at the bottom of the bow, maybe at the stern, but I have never found rot.

260 is no problem for a Curlew.

Just sold the last piece of 8 oz fabric. Supplier said it will be a while before he gets another shipment so I won't get any for a while. I may have found a couple of nylon fabrics though. Waiting on some samples but I have been looking for nylon for a long time and maybe this time it will work out.

Looks great!!

Now I see but I do not offer support for modifications from the plans. I have no experience and I am not going to say it will or won't work.

Just got back in town. 1 foot extra for most boats. If your building something really wide you might need 2 feet. Simplest way to know is measure the gunwale length from bow to stern and be sure to allow extra to sew the ends.

Been out of town. But as it says in the manual, these are just so that coaming rests on these, they are not attached to the coaming. Over time and depending on the plywood used they can start to bend to much and this is just so when you put you weight on it, they hit these stops and prevent the coaming from bending too much.

There is always a good bit of scap fabric left, especially from the narrow ends. Best thing to do it measure the girth at the widest point of the boat to determine how wide a fabric you need.

I was taught and stand by this, you want uncoated fabric. Sailcloth will have a coating of some sort on it. The issue is how do you waterproof it? Can you apply something over the coating and will it adhere to it? If it does stick will it start to turn loose latter on? That is why I advise buying from someone that sells fabrics specifically for this purpose. As Hirlonde implied, it is very hard to find something I consider suitable. I have talked to mills and distributors and only found three fabrics I will sell. I am sure there are others out there but I haven't found them. You can buy it from me or one of the other supplies and have it mailed. It will cost $30-$40 US dollars to ship (guessing) and you might face some import fee's to.

They were originally plywood but we went with the laminated beam because of the extra room and it is more comfortable.

Interesting, first I have heard of this. Only time I have this happen was with a little women that might have been 105 lbs wet in my Curlew. She just didn't sink the boat enough for it track at all. If you don't mind my asking, how much do you weigh? Have your tried moving the backband reward? I suggest 4" from the coaming but I usually put mine further back. If you haven't try that and see if it helps If not adding a permanent skeg is pretty easy. I add one one to one of the prototypes that didn't trac well. Might be something you would want to consider. Nice thing about it is you can adjust the boat to suit you. Don't think I have wrote up how to do it?