Dan - thanks so much for the encouragement. You hit the nail on the head
when you pointed out the touring vs. white water distinction. While I am
not yet familiar with the inland waterways in NS, my preference is touring
on big lakes or relative calm and deep rapids (max Class II). My kids are 8
and 10 and have little experience in canoes or kayaks (around 3 canoe trips
under their belts and kayaking during one week at summer camp). I
understand that kayaks are actually more stable when it comes to the chance
of dumping because te low center of gravity and the fact that you don't have
to worry about counterbalancing the weight of the canoe and its load. I
will have to demo a few to see what I prefer. I really don't know yet what
I will be doing more of: lakes or oceans. That's simply because I don't yet
know whether there is a lot of lake tripping that can be done in NS (still
not clear whether there are loop trips that can be done or whether it is
mostly limited to one-way trips). The thing I like about the kayak idea is
that paddling upsteam won't be near as difficult.

If you have any other tips about NS paddling, i'd love to know! Thanks
again!

Shrink