Tom,
Something to keep in mind is that canoeing and swimming go hand-in-hand when you’re learning how to paddle a canoe. (They tend to tip over) This is a little fact that I forgot to tell my wife when I took her on her first canoe/camping trip to the Boundary Waters.
Will O’Ban
Don’t they come with seat belts and air-bags now? 
djm
Well Will O’B, what the heck were you guys doing in that canoe? 
We’ve only gone over once in about 15 years, and that was on a weird turn in a river. I was glad I had my lifejacket on though. The river wasn’t too deep, but the current was fast and I couldn’t get up. We always wear life jackets. Those big lakes would take some swimming to get back to civilization.
I like kayak because it’s a palindrome. If you get thrown out of a kayak, have you been “dekayaked?” - another palindrome! I believe the longest single-word palindrome in the English language is “detartrated,” a chemical term.
Steve
Well, kinI’ll be!
kayaks are best.
Heheh (oops, another accidental palindrome there…)! You’re gettin’ there, Cynth!
Steve
Sorry, that’s called being “kacked”.
djm
When I was little my Grandad used to say “Have you kacked?” when he saw you emerge from the lav. What he meant was “Have you managed a number two?” 
Steve
My wife and I bought two kayaks about 2 yr ago, and it was one of the best purchases we’ve ever made.
These are “recreational” kayaks, which some people here have been discussing as “lake kayaks”. They’re Pungo Classics, the older version of the Pungo 120. These are VERY stable with wide, open cockpits which make them easy to get into and out of. Haven’t tipped them over yet, except once intentionally. NOT suitable for rapids of any real size, but the’re perfect for calm lakes and rivers. We paddle on the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, a local reservoir etc. Tomorrow, we’re taking them for a 6 hr trip on the Battenkill in Vt/NY.
Learning to paddle is very easy and the basics should take you all of about 10 minutes.
By all means, find a good dealer that does demos and paddle lots of boats of all sorts. Once you have a bit of a feel for what you’re looking for, keep an eye out for used kayaks.
I was in Dick’s Sporting Goods the other day, and they had some decent kayaks for less than you might think. The brand Victory is a low-end line from the same company that made ours.
Keep in mind that you will need to transport your kayaks, and unfortunately racks are not cheap. We have a basic Thule rack (bar and feet-- no kayak cradles) which works fine for our particular kayaks, and ran nearly $200. Still, for about $1000 we got ourselves out and on the water and have been having a blast with it.
For a while there in the cheapo detective genre, the term “kacked” was bandied about as supposed gangster slang for having murdered someone, i.e “Joey kacked the bastard”.
Consider how you feel dragging yourself out of the water sodden, exhausted and half-drowned after pulling a particularly stupid stunt in the kayak, and I think you’ll find “kacked” combines elements of both feeling murdered and a wet turd at the same time.
djm
It’s just that I like palindromes. Is a kayak just a powered boat that’s been derotored?
Steve (date of birth 15-6-51…honest!)
Tom
Definately kayaks. I’m older than you and my wife’s older than me.
There are two basic types of kayaks “sit on top” and “sit in side”. Sit on tops are purely receational, slow and very stable. If you do go over, you’ll just fall in the water. My wife has a very light weight Lincoln “Little Quoddy”. She loves the water and is probably out every weekend and some evenings all summer. I have an Old Town Loon 136. Comfortable, heavier (60lbs) and stable. I’m content to go out 3-4 times a year. We do both fresh water and ocean, but always calm, almost flat water.
The biggest concern will probably be the folks in power boats. I’ve never actually been in danger, but seeing them flying around takes a bit of getting use to. Their wakes can be fun.
Rolling is much less of a concern. yrs ago kayaks had very smooth bottoms and were very tippy. Learning to roll was important, but I’ve only been kayaking for a few years and never learned. The are lots of very stable kayaks out there and you’ll probably never roll unless you want to.
Here’s the web page to a dealer near me. He has links to many manufactures.
http://billingtonseakayak.com/manufacturers.html
Have fun
BTW as with most hobbies it can get expensive. Personal floatation devices (pfds) are essential. Good paddles are $100 or so. Car carrier adds more cost.
-I recommend kayaks as two can have a ball in separate, responsive craft paddled together yet have a fine time if alone. Do learn & practice self-rescue techniques and equip yourself for them as the ability to right & re-enter the boat away from shore is basic safety on rivers, lakes and seas.
Its good to know how to roll a kayak but prudent as well to know how to re-enter it when a roll fails.
-Its true sticking one’s legs out in front gets old, but many kayaks have a large cockpit which permits a paddler to place legs on deck
to stretch if away from shore. This raises the center of gravity but affords relief when a better stretch is unavailable. Check a kayak for this before purchase. Some companies like Feathercraft offer models with an open top, wetter of course in rough water but a feature which helps avoid sore legs-tucked-under-the-deck-syndrome.
-You will appreciate a kayak which tracks well if your major use is at sea, on lazy rivers or on big lakes. Kayaks meant primarily for whitewater will turn very easily at the expense of straight-line tracking, a feature which is frustrating when trying to cover mileage in a straight line. (weak joke omitted re. paddling a “strait” line)
Here’s a fairly diverse kayak site to check out:
http://www.sit-on-topkayaking.com/AhoyThere/index.html
Best to you,
Brian
Pirogue is both.
and with a skeg it will perform well.
Thanks for the suggestions, folks. I appreciate it.
All the Best, Tom
They certainly didn’t in the 1960s, when I was subjected to them.
This is the general idea, with a rain roof and mosquito netting:
Dad adapted it with a stretcher at either end of the “bed” part so it wasn’t quite so much like sleeping in a drawstring bag. You zipped up the flap so if you rolled it over, you didn’t hit the ground.
M
Wasn’t it hot inside with the flap zipped up?