I think it's all in good fun. As for trip reports, my opinion is that there is no form to follow. Trip reports are voluntary, and many choose not to write them, and those who do have many different styles of writing. Some include pictures and some don't. Some are detail oriented and some not.

It's up to you whether you want to share or not. My encouragement is to try it. I would enjoy reading it.

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Whatever you want to contribute is great.  I read just about everything here.

Thanks ST.
I spend extra time at the beginning and end of portages unpacking and re-packing but I make up lost time on the water because the kayak will move out pretty fast.  The answer for loading/unlading more quickly is to bring less stuff. 

It has a large hatch behind the cockpit where I loose pack most of the smaller or re-shapeable items. I also pack a mil style double strap duffle to repack and carry on portages.  Up front I push in my tent, sleeping bag and pad, all tied to a piece of para-cord so I can pull them out easily. In the cockpit , behind the seat,  I have a water bottle, spray skirt and a few miscellaneous small items I forgot to pack in the hatch. The design of this kayak is for larger paddlers, I’m smallish, and I increased the height slightly at the front of the cockpit when I built it. It will carry a surprising amount of gear. But because I always seem to bring too much, I end up strapping some gear on top along with a deck back for fishing tackle and such. The fishing rods get held on by a cord on the deck. I look like Jed Clampett on water, just ask PJ, I met him in June in Quetico Lake.

It’s a bit difficult to fish from so I don’t intentionally try to catch those larger NP when I’m using it. It’s pretty stable, and takes the wind and waves better than a canoe.

Portaging the boat can sometimes also be tough. I used to bring a clamp on portage yoke but on the last trip I found it wasn’t too much more difficult to just carry it over head with the cockpit combing resting on my shoulders. Also, I’m not a limber as I once was, so entry and exit is sometime awkward.   I think my next solo will be with a canoe.

Thanks Jimmar.

That wood hatch is so seamless you can't even see it unless you have a bird’s eye view of it.
I know you build these yourself, so I was curious IF you could build a wood strip version of
this and get both the benefits of a decked boat and the ease of loading/unloading of a canoe?

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Thanks Jimmar,

I figured it was possible, I just was curious if the work to do it would be worth the effort to have the benefits of a kayak?

I know a few of the guys here have and use solo canoe covers. Offhand I think Jimbo is one of them.

From what I can gather reading about them being used, they work real well, but I seem to remember reading that they can be a pain on portages to secure while portaging or something like that .