The smallest Shearwater is 40% longer than the WD10. Does that have any effect of the planned paddlers?

Laszlo

   "effect of the planned paddlers?"

I am sure. I just do not kayak enough to know what that effects will be. The increase in weight will make it more dififcult for them lift/carry. Increase in wetted surface may(??) give them more glide? More difficult to turn?

jh

"That should have been "effect ON the paddlers". Silly auto-corrector.

My point was that you are comparing 2 kayaks that have pretty different sizes. Will the target paddlers fit into and be comfortable in both? And, as you point out, there are other size-based differences.

Laszlo

I haven't duilt the WD10. I have built the WD12, SWS, CH17LT, WD14, WD double, and "Cheap Canoe". If I could only built one boat, it would be the Shearwater Sport. In my opinion, it is about as close to a perfect boat as you can get. The WD12 was harder to build for several reasons. The WD panels have to curve in a shorter distance at the bow and stern. The beam is also wider, making more of a mis-match when trying to get the hull and deck back together. The SWS is slightly more involved with 2 bulkheads and hatchs. As I posted just yesterday, I have only paddled my SWS twice. Everyone else jumps in it first. My wife and Dad prefer it to their WD12s. My 12 year old daughter has paddled it on an overnighter. And my cousin has paddled it loaded for an unsupported week long trip(including 8 gallons of water). Mine has seen everything from tiny creeks to open water. I can't think of any complaints. Good luck. JRC

   Lazlo & JRC,

Thanks. Very helpful. So your 12 year old did not have much of a problem with the 14'? Prefers it over the WD 12's your folks have?

john

Yes. The SWS will seem a little tippy at first, but once you learn when the secondary stability kicks in, you will quickly gain confidence. A while back my same daughter spent the first 20 minutes of a canoe trip screaming half to death that we were about to tip over. So, I pulled over on a sand bank and told all three of my older kids to tip the canoe over. My son was 11 at the time and with three of them trying, they couldn't do it. The rest of the trip was alot more peaceful. A little while later after we built the Ducks, we did the same thing, swamp them on purpose in shallow water, get the water out and then get back in. So, by the time that I built the SWS my kids already had a pretty good exposure to small boats. The Wood Ducks are really good boats. Far better than almost all of the plastic boats. (maybe a $2000 plastic one could compete?) Their limitation is also one of their strenghts, 30 inches of beam. If you paddle a few miles, do something that requires alot of stability, and paddle back, the WDs are great boats. If you eventually plan on doing things like paddling 10-12 miles to a camp site, camping, and paddling back,  The Wood Ducks will certainly be able to do it, the SWS will do it a little bit better.