Boat info needed

[Shemz]

Newbie here, longtime wood butcher/sawduster in NW Washington.
New wife wants to go fishing, rowing, etc. in a boat I build for us.
Now you know why I married her.
I'm looking for opinions of what you like and don't like about various designs you have experience with.
Should be a rowboat for protected waters, two people rowing.
Rowing qualities very important, stability, trailer launch ok
Dories of varying design, skiff, Babson,....others?
Thanx

[cedarribs]

A Rangeley Lakes boat if you want to go high end. A Yankee tender skiff is a great little rowboat if you want a flat bottom.

[donald branscom]

A boat that is good for rowing may not be good for fishing.
You would need to tell the members where you plan to use this boat.
A fishing boat usually needs stability and would be wider and that would make it harder to row.

[Thorne]

You'll want to try borrowing/renting some boats to get a clear idea of your design requirements. Most boats won't just be used for rowing and fishing, they end up being set up for either sail or power as a secondary/primary propulsion source.

If you really only want to row doubles, you'll want a long waterline and small transom. Some designs like this will take a sailing rig well, others won't.
http://www.luckhardt.com/MarshallBch08/MarshallBch-9-08_files/P9121610.jpg

What waters will you operate the boat in, what budget, desired materials (solid wood or ply), etc etc etc?

[Shemz]

Thanx guys. Lets redirect this:
Tell me what you have for a small boat and why
Maybe a little something about what you'd rather have or remember being really great. Under 20 feet, wooden, river, lake, bay, open ocean...other?
Think of this as a survey:

[TerryLL]

I've built several dories and the finest rower of the lot was my 18'-3" Swampscott John Dory by Iain Oughtred (plans available from WB). It was light for its size, about 225 pounds, which made it pretty handy on and off the beach. These boats seem a bit skittish for those not accustomed to the way a dory moves, because of their low initial stability, but they are very capable boats in all kinds of conditions.

I set up the boat with three rowing stations so it could be rowed comfortably either single or double. For a light-weight, easily-built boat that rows and sails well, this is the boat I would choose. There are numerous larger and smaller versions of the same design in John Gardner's Dory Book.

Here's a pic.

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k365/TerryLava/johndory.jpg?t=1244291462