I've had mine for about 4 years now. It has served me well. It is quite stable, does take a little effort to paddle because it is wide and has a rather flat bottom. I use it probably 10+ times a year, I enjoy it and like you said for the money I was able to get the wife to buy off on it and got myself into kayaking. I've been looking into sot pedal kayaks for the last year but that is a little harder to get the wife to agree on.