Been a while, but I finished the Osprey last night. Had lots of time to think on this build. Was going to minimize the gunwales, but I do a lot of roof racking on rough roads, so went beefy. Ended up using the pre-scarfed birch gunwales I had made years ago, time will tell how they hold up. If they don't, I'll just unscrew them, lol. Made a really rough removable yoke, tried it out today works real good.
Shown below is my yoke set up, have to finish sanding, glueing and varnishing, but works good. I found these little rubber deally boppers on amazon that are the cat's rectum for holding the paddles on. I'm intending to do one carry over the ports for a couple of solo trips this summer. Weight came in at 47 pounds with the yoke on, I was hoping for somewhere just over 40, but it is still manageable if I leave the beer home.
Took it out for a test paddle just a few minutes ago, wind was gusting to 31 Kph, and it handled like a champ. Really looking forward to resuming solo travel again this summer, but will have to get my paddling muscles back into shape. I've been in regular contact with my student who is building the Raven, he is almost done as well, hopefully be able to get some pics of us on the water together.