New Boat!

So, last summer, I purchased a used Canadian 17' canoe, so me & the wife could get out on the water together. After a few trips, she decided that being in the same boat with me was too much for her (actually, my constant stopping to fish did it), so I sold it earlier this year, with an eye on purchasing a new Old Town 119 one person canoe. I pulled the trigger on it last month, and finally picked it up Friday. Before I get into my OWN review, here are the official specs:

Material:	Three Layer Polyethylene
Length:	11'9"/ 3.6 m
Width:	32.5" / 82.6 cm
Width at 4" Waterline:	31" / 78.7 cm
Bow Height:	19" / 48.3 cm
Depth:	13.5" / 34.3 cm
Weight:	49 lbs / 22.2 kg
Max Load Range:	450-500 lbs / 204.1-226.8 kg
Suggested Retail:	$649.99 USD

There are 2 different color variations: the Discovery is red, and the Guide is a sort of camouflage. My model is the Guide.
First, the cost. Mine was $499.99 through Dicks Sporting Goods. They occasionally have it in store for as low as $429.99. This particular time they didn't, so I had to special order it, and paid full price. Not that big of a deal, as if they get one in the store and reduce the price, I can go & get the difference.
Weight: the nice thing about this canoe is the relatively light weight of it. It makes for easy handling, and putting it onto and taking it off of my jeep. Portaging it short distances, I simply put the gunwhale on a shoulder & carry it sideways. Due to the construction of it, the thwarts aren't centered, there is no yoke (the overall size of the canoe being too small to justify it), and the seat is just a smidge too far back to rest it on your shoulders for a classic portage. I may simply design a removeable yoke for it, to assist in longer portages, but for now, the standard shoulder carry seems to work just fine.
The seat: I see many reviewers either love it or hate it. Its molded plastic. It does its job. I only have a couple hours in the boat so far, and come from a kayaking background. I find the seat similar to a modern kayak seat. A cushion layer would be a nice improvement. I plan on using an old CCF pad that's a parts piece to cushion it myself. The upside of the canoe is that I can adjust my legs (pull my knees up, stretch out, etc) without having to deal with a hull. This alleviates some of the sitting issues that I sometimes get, with the legs getting stiff, lower back hurting, etc. Lounging back in the seats helps with that too.
Stowage: again, coming from a kayak, gear storage in a canoe is like the Taj Mahal. I'm used to a dry bag at my feet, one in the rear compartment, and one tied onto the deck. With the canoe, I can put a tackle box, my PFD, and a large dry bag behind the seat-and still have the rest of the canoe for gear. Needless to say, lots more room.
Now, lets look at on water performance. I took this out on two separate days, both for about an hour, so my experience with it thus far is pretty limited. The first day I took it out on a local pond, and paddled around for a bit. I used a canoe paddle-an aluminum and plastic one. Day two, I used my kayak paddle, and I will go into some detail as to each.
First, tracking. This thing being small, and lightweight, doesn't track well. But, I didn't expect it would. Kayaks sit lower in the water, and your hips are actually at the water line in most (unless its a sit on top). Also, in a kayak, YOU are the pivot-your seat is generally in the center of the boat. In the Guide, you are sitting at the back third of the boat, and above the water line. This does two things: it makes the front 2/3 of the boat into a sail, as there is little weight up there, resulting in less friction and drag from the water. Also, with the pivot point being that far back, there is that much more boat to control via steering. My experience with a standard paddle was that, when paddling one side, you track hard to the other after 1-2 strokes. Then, you change sides, and paddle the other side, doing the same thing. This results in a zig zag track, and constantly changing sides. I found that, on the second day, using my kayak paddle, made it overall MUCH easier to control the boat. Paddling was easier, steering was better, there was far less of a zig zag track (due in part to the shallower draft profile of kayak paddles, and the 1:1 paddling). My plan is to use kayak paddles to paddle normally, and take a canoe paddle when I need a deep, strong paddle.
Balance. The chief complaint from many other reviewers is that this boat is tippy. While I find this to be true, it DOES have to be put into context. This canoe is short. There is less overall volume to displace. Can it tip easier than a longer 17' canoe? Yes. Sitting where you do with this, the boat is at its heaviest where you are (naturally). There is no counter weight to it-no other person, and likely not enough gear, to counteract your weight. But, I didn't find it any more difficult to get into or out of than any other canoe-and, certainly easier than getting out of a kayak! On the water, I rocked it a little, just to get a feel of it, and it didn't seem to bad to me. One thing I DID notice was that I wasn't sitting in the center of the seat, and this causes the boat to list to that side a little. Not super noticeable, as the seat is contoured, but, when I was fishing, I was leaning more towards the gunwhale, and that causes listing more than in a kayak. I think that, moreso than with a standard sized canoe, its important to load this boat centerline and low, to keep it as stable as you can. But, as to some  complaints about instability, I would say that people either are inexperienced, or simply don't want to adapt to a different feel of the boat.
One last note on this: coming from a kayak, I found that, when its windy, this boat is a SAIL. I was pushed around by the wind for an hour, often having to take shelter behind eskers to rest a bit before fighting the wind again. I don't know if this is standard for canoes in general-they do have a higher profile than a kayak, so I expect that there is some difference regardless-but this was something I was a little surprised with.
Overall, I like this canoe a lot. Its easy to load and unload onto my jeep, its easy to maneuver on the water, its got plenty of room to pack gear into, and it works great as a fishing platform. Its small and maneuverable enough for streams, yet large enough to take out onto lakes. The construction is solid & durable, and I'm not worried about the occasional bump off of a log, rock, etc. I'm a convert, and I feel that my kayak will now get a little lonely!