longer canoes are faster. it has to do with the way water flows around a
hull. but they are also heavier. narrower canoes are faster too but more
tippy. racing canoes are only about 8" wide on the waterline and when the
racers aren't moving they have to brace with their paddles to keep from
falling over. its all about tradeoffs. expect the canoe to weight more
than one of your solo kayaks. will the wife help carry the canoe as well
as help paddle it?

I don't like the kevlar canoes because they put a lot of big foam core
ribs in them close together and it wrecks my knees when I try to find a
spot to kneel comfortably. They have to do that becuase they use a skin so
thin it needs lots of reinforcing. a few ribs spaced a couple feet apart
in non-kevlar canoes aren't a problem for me. I also find sand and grit
painfull on the knees in really smooth bottom boats. You need a pad of
some sort to kneel on, or maybe a piar of knee pads like skate boarders
wear.

You might not enjoy sharing a canoe, or as some people say, "paddle
tandem, sleep solo". If you find the quiet broken by animated disputes you
might want to go back to kayaks but more open ones with cockpits easier to
get in and out of. On kayaks with big cockpits you have can carry stuff in
the cockpit like a knapsack or "dry bags" which I beleive are rubberized
nylon bags kayakers put things in to keep them relatively dry. Sit on top
kayaks would be the easiest to get in and out of but the one's I've tried
don't have a dry place to carry stuff. Canoes don't offer any more
protection from the sun and wind than sit on top kayaks do.

good luck


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