I just got done helping out with the peace march in Seattle. Did some peace keeping and crowd control.
I plan on hitting the rivers hard this week. Probabaly heading out to the west end wed.-fri. I have had my new boat out 2 times now. nothing to brag about, but landed a fish each time. I think for your buck the Creek Company is the way to go, it will do anything you ask of it, Unless you plan on doing some major class IV and V rivers on a regulare basis.
I really like the 8 ft oars. And the girth of this boat is a bit wider and feels very stable.