You're afraid of canoes because they suck. Unstable, wind sensitive, slow, easy to swamp, hard to reenter.
Give me a ocean kayak with a proper rudder. I've launched kayaks in surf big enough to surf board on, paddled 10 miles offshore in big swells, landed through crashing waves, with no fear.
A canoe on a mildly choppy lake scares me to death.
Okay, I may be a wuss.
I'd get something like
http://feathercraft.com/kayaks/wisper-xp/
or better yet
http://feathercraft.com/kayaks/klondike/