I thought that design looked familiar.
Now I see the legendary canoeist/adventure Verlen Kruger was his teacher and mentor. He's carrying on the tradition it seems.
Never paddled one, but if you see where Verlen went in his, I think that will tell you all you need to know.
Not very portage friendly, but for your needs and in severe conditions, I don't think you could do better.

Google Verlen Kruger and you''ll see tons of info and video of his incredible paddling feats, many of them solo. I believe he paddled the equivalent of 4 times around the globe in his lifetime 8-)