At the boat ramp (1/2 mile from our house!) I was able to carry it over my head with 2 hands comfortably and drop it in the water.  My first ride was sweet, it's a fast boat!

After taking my friend John Grill for a short paddle to thank him for all his help building it, my wife Becky also got out from behind the camera for a short run up the river.  We all found it a bit tippy which will take some getting used to.  I may lower the seats by a 1/2 inch to try and make it more stable, but the round hull is inherently tippy even when sitting on the bottom of the boat.

With 2 people in the boat it is fast, and it settles in to the water at a nice level.  When I took her out for an extended solo cruise I found that it does track well and is not adversely affected by cross wind.   The trade-off of the flat rocker design seems to be that it does not turn very nimbly.  Also when solo paddling using the j-stroke I felt that the boat was crabbing sideways more than I would have expected.

Overall  I am very pleased and plan to get a lot of use out of this sexy looking boat.  We'll be taking it up to our family cabin on Frenchman's Bay, "down east" in a week or so for some extended paddling around the islands.

Footnote:
I was surprised how quickly I let go of the preciousness of the canoe, the moment it hit the water it became a "just a boat" to me.  I was not paranoid about scratching it up on the beach since I knew that I could repair any damage pretty easily.  It is also very gratifying to see the responses of fellow boaters who admire it.