Solo or Tandem? In every category of canoes, you can find boats built for one or two. If you cherish solitude or total control, soloing may be the way to go, and a few lessons can ensure that you go the way you want to go. It is easier to travel and to steer with a paddler in each end, however, and tandem canoes are far more commonplace.

• General Recreation. This is the canoe you paddled at summer camp, and the one you rented last Saturday. Multi-purpose and usually tandem, they range from 15 to 18 feet in length and, in skilled hands, can turn and go straight reasonably well.

• Tripping or Touring. Solo trippers can be from 13 to 17 feet long, while tandems top out at about 20. Tripping canoes have less rocker and are built for travel, usually on calm water, but some also handle moving rivers and big lakes if the canoeists are well practiced.

Other specialized canoes :

 Whitewater Canoes, which are short, deep and highly rockered.

 Solo Sport Canoes, which are used for non-destination, quiet water "play".

 Racing Canoes, which come in various configurations.

• Plastic, including the brand name Royalex, is inexpensive and impact-resistant, but it’s heavy and less able to hold a fine design line.

• Composite, or laminated, canoes are built from fiberglass, Kevlar, carbon fiber or some combination layered with synthetic glues. They can be very lightweight, and your back will not mind the increased cost, especially after a long carry. These canoes are more fragile and thus less common on whitewater.

• Aluminum is quite durable and resistant to ultraviolet rays. It’s heavy, though, and design features are limited by the nature of the material.

• Wood is  less commonly used in modern canoes as is fabric skin stretched over a skeleton-like frame.