Bella 6,. Abby (pup) 8 months , SquriserâŚyoung enough. Background onâŚMarcus 15. Foreground. Riker 10.5yrs
Ah! Making memories. These younguns will remember these times forever and will pass on their experiences over the years to their own kids. Thank you to the adults, young or older for making their days on the water happy ones. My great grand daughter and I began paddling together this summer. Only issue we had on the river was the spider that got on her SOT. When she screamed I thought she was hurt, so I asked âWhatâs wrong?â to which she noted âA spider on my boatâ and I told her to kill it. I thought for sure sheâd put a hole in her boat before that spider was âdone forâ. When it was over, she asked if Iâd get it out of her boat. When removing it I laughed and she noted, âItâs not funny Nana!â That poor spider wasnât any bigger than a comma in one of these sentences. I asked her how she even saw it and she answered, âBecause it was creeping around on my boat.â Ah, the memories we grandparents donât make with the youngsters.
I have posted this before. My granddaughter, second time paddling, 7 years old.
Andy_Szymczak, What boat is your grand daughter using and what is its size? My ggdaughter (7yo) is bugging Nana (I live next door) for a sit-in kayak and if I can find one, that sheâll not outgrow too fast, Iâll be on the watch for one. Most of Papa & Nanaâs boats will be too big for her until she gets a lot taller. TIA
Wilderness Systems Piccolo! They are no longer made, but can be found. I have two of them. They are 14 feet long X 22". They are great little boats and my grandkids took to them quickly with a bit of instruction.
Two others worth looking for (and of course no longer made) are the Wilderness Tsunami SP (WMCKA has a fleet for their kids program (hoping for 2022) ) and the Pygmy Osprey 13â. My daughter & I built an Osprey 13 when she was 8 and it is a great kayak for a small (under 130 lb) person.
Hereâs one of a young fellow (Salomon) I, and several other Pnetters, had a hand in starting youngâŚ
With grandma (Rena) a long while ago:
And one with him in the bow from merely a while ago. Weâre approaching the Mississippi - thatâs Iowa on the horizon.
Heâs living in Maine now and off on his own adventures. I doubt Iâll have any more photos of him.
Edit: Oh, and hereâs one from in between⌠Thatâs Durangoski (remember him?) at camp teaching Sol to enjoy grapenuts with hot cocoâŚ
There are some other ex-youngsters who I should picture, but those memories are all on floppy disk or paperâŚ
My oldest from back in '08 in her first boat:
Yes. Teach them to swim, teach them water safety and let them grow up with boats.
His name was Sam; he was a skilled, motivated paddler although quite young. A joy to paddle with. He and I led a group of about 20 paddlers down the Buffalo river in Arkansas once. It was one of the best paddling days of my life.
He was taken from us (not paddling related) long before he should have been.
His older brother,and sister, his Mother and Father are also skilled paddlers, and great fun to have around. RIP Sam
BOB
My granddaughters wanted to go out today. One is 10 yrs old and the other is 13. I bought the oldest one a Perception Prodigy two years ago. She outgrew it and passed it down to her younger sister. The only boat I had for the oldest was a 125 Tsunami. Which she used last year. I just found a used 140 Tsunami so I let her use it for this trip. She handled it well and liked it, so Iâm looking into a used 120 Tsunami SP. It should serve her well for at least two years before I need to get another boat for her.
I took them on a five mile round trip out of Middle River along the shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay. The youngest was thrilled with the gnarly wake of the big cabin cruisers speeding by. She wanted to go to a point before turning around. On the way back she complained that her arms were tired. I told her I probably should have turned around earlier, and she said, if she had turned around, she wouldnât have found out what she could do. Ainât that the way it is.
Need to go out tomorrow and get them new paddles. The shortest I have is 220cm.
