Sea Tour 15 R

This is the first Kayak I built and the first Kayak I have paddle. I live in Kansas City Kansas, most of the paddling I have done is at lakes and down the KAW and MO River. I have had the kayak for the past 6 months now. I have been paddling the Sea Tour 15r almost every week in a 5K Hump day Throw down. You can follow my progress, speed and times at
http://www.rivermiles.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1372045629
http://www.rivermiles.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1372045629/80
I start paddling in March. Page 5.

I made the boat from ½ inch regular plywood encapsulated with Epoxy for the cross sections and cedar stringers. First I used 10oz cotton canvas cloth from Joann fabrics. The final weight was about 35lbs. I paddle the kayak for about 20 miles in 4 months. Doing 5k, 7 mile runs, 4 mile run. And a couple 15 river runs. The cross section in front of the coming cracked because I may have cut some spots too thin and strapping it to the top of my car too tightly. I decided to do a permanganate repair by removing the skin and replacing the 3rd cross section instead of just trying to repair with the skin on.

I glued the cross sections with wood glue and pegged at different angles. Using a Japanese pull saw I was able to cut out the cross section with out damaging the stringers. The new cross section I made was out of 2x4 red cedar glued with gorilla wood glue, to about the same size as the cross section. And made some improvements like decreasing the distance where the calves would hit. It's lashed to the stringers with artificial sinew. The Boat is now skinned with 9oz nylon coated with Corey's goop. The kayak now weights 29.5 lbs with a seat made from a lawn chair and Para cord. It's Very comfortable.
I use a Greenland paddle that I have carved. 82" long and 3" wide at the blade. And Loom is 16" X 1"

Here is my experience of the kayak so far. As a beginner kayaker I found the kayak very tippy at first. It kicked me out a few times (4 to be exact. I remember all 4 times because the water was cold!!!) I paddle mostly lakes and rivers in the state of Kansas and MO. Not knowing anything else I let an experienced kayaker take the kayak out for a spin, he told me the secondary stability was rock solid. That gave me confidence in the boat. Now I know it's all me and not the kayak that has been kicking me out.

Hull speeds. I am pushing the limits of the hull speed with the Greenland paddle. As soon as I try to go at a rate of 5mph I poop out. The boat likes to crust at around 4.5 -4.6 MPH you can see my times I have been finishing. I race with bunch of epic surf skis they are all about 5.5 mph. and above.

This is a great boat to learn on and I am very happy with the performance. I'll like to know if my guess was right about the hull speeds.

This is a nice general-purpose kayak. Mine is framed with cedar stringers and 1/2 inch marine plywood. It has a 12 oz. nylon skin with 2-part polyurethane coating. With my laminated fir coaming, plus Keepers foot braces, commercial flotation bags, and plenty of rigging, it weighs 30 pounds. I built mine with an extra 6 inches of length, part of which went into extra, nicely curved bow taper. This 22 in. wide boat is quite stable, decently efficient, and will heel over on edge for manuevering.

I also added a 2 cm. of height to the front coaming, to add a little more foot room. At 5 ft. 9 in. with size 9 1/2 feet, I get by with snug shoes and the foot braces. Without foot braces, somewhat larger feet will fit.

A Yost boat is not hard to build, and there are a lot of experienced builders willing to discuss the details at kayakforum.com (as well as a searchable archive, where answers to common questions are ready and waiting). If you just stumbled into this review with no previous knowledge of Yost skin-on-frame kayaks, check out yostwerks.com.

This was my 3rd Yost boat. I'm not going to submit reviews on the others, but will add brief comments here:

The Sea Rider (multichined variant) -- 17 ft. x 19 1/2 in. -- is a very efficient Greenland-ish hull, fairly stable for its width. The cockpit is small, and there's not much extra foot room. Forget about installing foot braces unless you have short legs and small feet. You have to be willing to sit with straight legs; some people love it, but I could not take it.

The Sea Otter R -- 15 ft. x 20 in. Very tender, at least with a 135 lb. paddler. Similar in design to the Sea Tour 15 R. Skip the Sea Otter and go directly to the Sea Tour.