I didn't mean to sond like i wanted to hit whitewater right away, Was just trying to understand how much the various boats would limit me down the line. Also with my weight I thought that most of the singles would be unable to handle me... certainly in the stores it seems all of them are rated at 250 lbs or less. I am trying to make some friends in my area that do more Paddling.

Thanks for the suggestion on the older WW boats. After posting last night i found a place talking about them as beggineer boats oddly enough. I still don't have much of a handle on what class 1 and 2 rapids are, but i'll take the responces to indicate that the doubles aren't suitable for them but a canoe should be ok. This is terrible... i see a small flotilla in my future. :-)