Brian ... when I looked at the Skookum, there were several things I didn't like, one is the shape of the pontoon ... virtually no rocker ... I also remeber that there were straps that went around the pontoon ... a buddy's JW Outfitters boat had straps around the tubes and he nearly wore through in a SINGLE day of low water floating in which the pontoons hit bottom in the riffles ... along these same lines, I want no platform, and and open path out of the front end of the boat ... this way you can lift the boat and walk through very shallow areas ... you can also stand up and "be out of the boat" when fishing non fishing from boat areas while the seat rests on your calfs ... thus saving an actual beaching of the boat, and the open front (unlike the JW's that my buddy had that got into trouble) to escape in an emergency situation ... in the JW's, my buddy had to drop through the bottom of the foot rest bar to get away from the boat. Something else I didn't like was sitting that high up in the boat ... I don't buy "waderless" anyhow ... as it makes the boat tippier.