@fishsail, regarding prices, Port-a-bote does an annual
sale I believe. Last year's ended at April 5, $200 off all the boats. It's after April now but you might have luck asking anyway.
The company is pretty old
school - the pictures in their
marketing materials look like they're from the 80's (they probably are), and the company doesn't do well with replying to emails - better to call. But the boats are well made. A good
inflatable costs around $2k as well anyway.
We have a 10' porta-bote and are happy with it. Heavier than expected. I can
lift it myself off the
boat onto a
dock without a
halyard but it's pretty difficult. Better to use two people. We've seen boats with the 8' in the
PNW, it's much smaller, but for our calm waveless
anchorages you can still transport 3 people or 2 people and a dog in it.
I have to disagree with what jag39 said above about rowing. They row very well. The stock oarlocks aren't great though, so if you don't upgrade those you need good technique to row properly.