Thanks for all the input. I'm thinking that going back words will work best for me. I weigh about 190 and with the excessories probably over 200. I think my gear  will top out at about 100. I've done a lot af paddeling in my 18 ft canoe with my wife and/or daughter in the front. they are both more "boaters" then canoers and I have minamal difficulty controlling the canoe  from the stern with out their help paddeling. The few times I've been in it by myself if I was in the stern  the front would pop up and  I was tippy and had difficulty maintaining control even with a moderate wind. I'll test it out to see if the 100 pounds of gear will hold the front down enough for me to maintain controll and handle a wind.

Thanks again