Looking for a good first boat for a beginer - will be rowing primarily on the North Channel of Lake Huron. Just starting to do research... boats that intrigue me so far are the Echo 18 due to simplicity and folding riggers. I know the Alden 16 is a popular boat but I'm also curious about the Appledore 16. Any thoughts?

-- Peter Welles (pwelles@msn.com), January 06, 2005

Answers

I own both an Echo and an Alden 16. I had my Alden since the 80's and I bought my Echo a year ago. I live on a bay in New Hampshire so the water conditions can vary from being calm to being very choppy and windy. I prefer the Echo in both cases; it's more responsive in calm waters, and I believe every bit as stable in all conditions. I taught several friends to row this past summer. I am talking about people who have never set foot in a sliding seat shell before. For whatever reason, I (they) had greater success when their first experiences on the water were in the Echo. I hope this helps. Feel free to e-mail me directly if you have any other questions.

-- Ralph Kleinmann (ralphkleinmann@hotmail.com), January 18, 2005.

I have tried the Echo at Mystic Small Craft Weekend the first weekend of June every year, what a nice boat. All I had to do was just float it go out sit on it set myself up and go for a row. It is a wonderful very well thought out design lightyears better than the Alden single because it is designed to be launched in waves from a beach as well as from a dock. It has volume where you want it in the bow and midship. This is the most portable sliding seat boat I have ever seen. I know Doug Martin the designer. He put into this boat all those things one needs for being truly at home on open water. You should look at his video because this shows how the boat reacts to wave conditions. thanks gail

-- gail e ferris (gaileferris@hotmail.com), March 03, 2005.