I have paddled this boat for a couple of years now and love it! I am 6' 320lbs and have trouble finding boats to fit me. That having been said this boat is very comfortable for me! It is very responsive, has good secondary stability and rolls relatively easily. It is also rather fast for a creek boat. It seems to have a slight suggestion of a V-hull kind of thing on the bow that allows it to cut through and ride over waves without digging the nose in. It also resurfaces well after drops or seal launches. The aft compartment is nice to have for easy access and packing, and the cover seems to attach solidly with the attached bungee cord. The bulkhead between the cockpit and the Stern hold is solid and thick and seems to be water proof though the hatch cover is not water proof as it is made of spray skirt material with a plastic cover bungeed on top, but I wouldn't expect it to be anyway and I do like this set up. I always use a dry bag for items that MUST stay dry and you should always do this anyway. The forward bulkhead is comfortable on my feet and is made out of boat plastic covered on the face with standard boating foam. The boat is supplied with a second forward bulkhead in a smaller size (so it will fit further up into the bow) for paddlers with longer legs. The forward brace is made of plastic with steps molded in, and is also a nice touch for escape during possible pins or wet exits. The lip around the cockpit is substantial enough to give your skirt a solid hold but seems to release well enough with a tug on my skirts handle. here are two drain plugs, one behind the cockpit on the port (left) side before the bulkhead and one on the Stearn. these seem to seal off positively and drain fast. the small plastic tab that the plugs attach to could be beefier though (I broke one) but this is really kind of nit picky and the plugs can easily be tied to one of the rescue handles as there is one beside both plug holes.
Overall a great boat and should be good for beginner to advanced. The only difference in the Expedition and the large Solo is the Stern hatch and if you are a smaller paddler I would demo the medium and the small just to see if they feel different for you. I give nine out of ten!
