Whichever route you choose, basic training in safety, often conducted in the confines of a swimming pool, is important before getting onto the white stuff. Not knowing what you are doing is not fun and can be dangerous. Rivers have an attraction, a might and majesty - white water canoeing is the only way you can get on wild water, just you against the elements. At first, you should opt for a relatively short boat with rounded ends and sides. More radical designs, concave decks, sharp edges etc, allow more radical manoeuvres, but do not easily admit size 11 feet, or forgive the fumblings of the beginner.
Larger boats are slower but less 'twitchy'.
All white water canoes, except fibre glass competition boats, are now made in plastic. Other items of essential equipment are a paddle, buoyancy aid, spray deck, helmet, and wet suit. The paddle should be strong enough to take a few knocks. It is an unfortunate fact of white water life that, in the early days at least, if you are not swimming, you are not trying. Guide books Guide books to European rivers, particularly those in the French Alps and Corsica, are now beginning to appear in English, but the best remain those produced by DKV in German.