I cut my eye teeth on canoe trips to Quetico and the BWCWA as well as river camping trips and have wanted a proper canoe for years. My problem is storage, which I have none so I rent when needed. We did recently pick up a couple of Kokopelli inflatable kayaks at a good price and I really look forward to using these. They are certainly limited in that they lack a proper keel and must have a keg which reduces the usefulness on certain waters, but every boat is a compromise anyway and I would definately choose different boats for big lake than I would for rivers.
But if you want to learn how to overland with only the necessary gear going out on a MC or a canoe will certainly show you what is really necessary! Any by all means get on that water!