JEM Watercraft

I posted a question a while ago about which design - Laker or Freedom - was the best fit for my son, and Matt recommended the Laker. I was pretty much settled on the Laker 14 (put it into my shopping cart and was about to complete the order) when I thought I'd take one more look at the Okwata. Now I'm not sure which of the two to buy

SO now i'd like to know which of the two kayak designs Laker 14 or Okwata would be best suited for building with and use by my 12( soon to be 13) year old son. To recap: He will be using it on a large lake that has a fair amount of power boat traffic and also on some sheltered salt water harbors and bays. He's had some experience in plastic kayaks including a longer, narrower touring type which he enjoyed more than the shorter wider recreational type. He's interested in reasonable stability so that he doesn't have to constantly be concerned about keeping upright but also wants good paddling performance so that he can cover decent amounts of distance. I don't foresee him doing any fishing from the boat or overnight touring, but he probably will want to stop and look at birds and other critters he encounters. He's not going to be doing any eskimo rolls or white water. He's a pretty big kid - 147 lbs or so and 5' 5"tall.

I have built a S&G pirogue-type canoe, am fairly handy with tools and have some experience using epoxy

Thanks.

Okwata will handle choppy water a bit better and will be a little faster due to it's length. But either would do fine for what you describe.

I'd probably lean toward Okwata since it has a little more capacity and it seems like he'll be a big guy. So if he ever decides to do camping with gear, plenty of capacity.

I agree 100 per cent with Matt.I have built both and loved both, I have kept the okwata for the very reasons Matt has already stated .at this stage i have no intention of replacing my okky
if you like to send me a pm and include your email address i will send a couple of pics of my primped up
okwata 15
regards "cridgie down under"