Do you have to row, or can you paddle? I remember seeing some 3/4 size Coleman plastic canoes at K-Mart some time back...I think they ran about $300--cheap compared to some of the "specialty" shops around. Coleman also makes a mesh seat with a back rest for canoes...something I keep hoping to run into. I lug a 17' Grumman around, and it feels like overkill most of the time...with a smaller boat, you could use a kayak paddle. My one gripe after a day on the lake is that my vision makes everything look "liquidy", and the chair in my living room feels like it's rocking back and forth to the waves in my head~~~~kept a 16" cutt for dinner tonight--don't often keep 'em but this one was so bright and chunky I couldn't resist!