RE: blind question
You are talking about 2 different beasts here. With the first one, you are going to practically lay down in your boat to hunt... almost treat your boat like a layout blind. The second one you would be sitting normally.
I think a lot of it comes down to the type of area you will be hunting in. If you are going to be hunting in an area with low cover than the first would be better... otherwise, I wouldn't hesitate to go with the other.
Personally, I like the type of blind where you can sit normally in the boat. You can always build a couple 6-8' hybrid boats and bring them with you if you're going to hunt low cover.
Good luck. Our season is over here. Everything is frozen and the birds are gone... Was a good season though.