Based on your responses, I would recommend a canoe made out of royalex. Fiberglass and alumunium canoes are heavy and Kevlar is too expensive. A wood strap canoe is heavy and requires alot of maintenance and care.

Royalex is not to be confused with polyethylene or other thermoplastics. Poly canoes are generally cheap. You might get a few years out of it before it succumbs to the weather. In hot weather the poly canoes are easy to warp when you put them on a car top.

Royalex canoes are relatively light-weight and can withstand the occational run-in with a rock or tree stump. The material will stand up to the weather better than thermoplastic canoes.

A canoe with a wide beam will give you more stability and will track easier, but it comes at a price. You loose speed and maneaverability. If you are going to be in flat water most of the time, you could get away with a narrow beam and still have good stability. The beam of my canoe is 40-inches. Two adults can stand up in my canoe and fly-cast. If you go with a wide canoe, which will work in your situation, it will just take you a little longer to get where you are going.

I would avoid canoes with a transom unless you plan to use a trolling motor. Square end canoes are a pain to paddle. If you are considering useing a trolling motor I would recommend using amounting bracket with a double ender canoe.

A 13 to 14 foot canoe is about as long as you will want to go if you are paddling by yourself. It is long enough for 2 people if needed. Anything over 14 feet is difficult to carry and paddle by yourself.

When you look at canoes look at the over all construction. You can easily tell which canoes are built well. I learned the hard way. One of my first canoes was not built very well. The mounting brackets for the seats kept breaking and the bow and stern plates were made out of cheap plastic and broke as well.

Those are my 2 cents. There is a lot more we could talk about like rocker styles. If you can, I recommend testing the canoe in the water before you buy it.

Hope this helps. Give a yell if you have more questions.

PG