I’m not so sure
Remember the guy last year who wanted to take his two-year-old to the Apostle Islands? He seemed serious.
Wetsuit for a baby? Gives a double meaning to the term, doesn’t it?
The BEST advice for you is…
GET A BABBY SITTER!!! Jumpin’ Christ on a pogo-stick!! What in the world are you thinking??? Putting a baby below deck…
Paddle easy,
Coffee
Thats what
– Last Updated: Apr-06-04 10:30 PM EST –
dry hatches are for! I wanna take my 1 yr. old skydiving, already got him a parachute, but need advice. How do I get him to pull the rip cord?
Just get a “baby-back pack” and…
carry it on the front with your chute on the back. THAT, my friend, is a “yuppie” thing…
IT’S A BABY, NOT CAMPING EQUIPMENT!! CARRY IT, HOLD IT, LOVE IT, DON’T “PACK IT”…
Paddle easy,
Coffee
Well there’s a first.
I agree completely with Coffee!
This same screen name
responded to another recent question re: trying to find out if it’s possible to install a second bulkhead in a pungo, so I think she is a real person, seeking our advice.
Southwind Kayak Center
I noticed that you mentioned this Southern California outfitter in another thread. They have an excellent reputation as well, and can get you started with some classes while your child matures.
I don’t normally look at profiles, but…
…I had to on this one.
Since you are a beginner my “very serious” advice
to you is take the wee one to a local pier and toss it off the end into deep water. If the wee one doesn’t come up you know it is to early to take it out in a yak.
If it does come up and swims back to shore, take it home and leave at home and consider yourself lucky
Life is precious, don’t gamble with your little ones.
Cheers,
JackL
Help me
I agree with Coffee as well!
Jim
TAKE THAT BABY WE DID!!!
– Last Updated: Apr-07-04 1:16 PM EST –
Our babys name is DIXIE.we took her to GA.powers water release at Talluah gorge last weekend she loved it & did just great.Even at the swim we had to make at oceana.oh! yeah she is a sixmonth old also.could not find a wetsuit to fit her.so we let her go in her birthday suit.any way i would suggest some classes on parenting & boating.IT was atight fit in my perception MADNESS! forgot to say dixies my BABY LAB PUP>LOL
NO-NO-NO
Lady - give the kid a chance…don’t even consider doing that…I was raised on the water and my kids were raised on the water - but that is HIGH RISK at best…please don’t do that!!!
Don’t know …
– Last Updated: Apr-07-04 2:03 PM EST –
Don't know if you're for real or not, but if you are for real, and are seriously considering what you say you are, my advice to you is....... "Forget about it"!!!!!!
When my daughter was 6 months old; I was introducing her to a wading pool, with me keeping full time, eyes on. Seemed fairly appropriate for a 6 month old child.
BOB
P.S. I alreay know what the water is like in your area; I lived there for over 2 years. Put a 6 month old, in a baby carrier, under a spray skirt, in a Pungo, on the ocean; you gotta be kiddin' !!!!!
Chill people
I’m going to have to deal with this same issue this year. Wife and I had a baby in October, spring is here and I’m itching to get us, all of us, out on the water - I’ll wait till the water’s a lot warmer to take the kid, though.
I think some of you are knee-jerk reacting without carefully reading the first post. The OP said they have mini skirts for the Pungo - essentially a sunshade/splashguard for your lap.
And they said “calm” ocean waters. Calm might mean glass flat, no current, in a sheltered bay, or it might mean something else.
The Kelty carrier mentioned straps the child to the front of the parent, it’s not a car seat type thing.
Now, rather than calling this person a troll, how about responding to a newbie asking a serious - if apparently preposterous to you more experienced folk - question.
- It’s dangerous. You MIGHT tip over, your boat fill with water, the child get stuck in the front of the boat and drown.
- It’s dangerous. The water in your area is full of currents, the open ocean has unpredictable waves that can flip you unexpectedly, the ocean in your area is COLD.
- It’s dangerous. Putting the child in the carrier raises the boat’s center of gravity which makes it more likely to capsize. And, in the event of a capsize you’d have to lay on your back or drown the child.
- It’s dangerous. Your profile lists you as a beginner. There are more skills and risks involved with kayaking than you may be aware of. Take a couple classes and build your skills before taking your baby. Would you let a teenager who just got their driver’s license or even just had their learner’s permit drive your baby around town?
- Life is dangerous. Every time you carry your child in your car or walk down the street you are at risk.
The consensus here seems to be that the ocean in your area is too risky to take a baby out on. And that the method of carrying your child you proposed is too dangerous. And that, being a beginner, you don’t have the skills necessary to handle the situation if something does go wrong.
OTOH, a CALM (as in totally flat, no powerboats or ships making waves that might unexpectedly tip you), sheltered, warm, body of water; with a proper life-jacket on the child, tethered to you, might not be too bad.
- Jasen.
Well said.
And well thought out.
You want to wait a few years…
Several of us are parents here who have introduced kids to boating. I’m not an expert on the Big Sur area but visited last summer and in a drive up the coast we found two places where we dared to put in with waveskis and surf kayaks. Its just not a place for beginners or infants.
Wait until your little ones have had swimming lessons and they can play with you tipping the boat over and getting out and getting back in. Start out with canoes or SOTs. Calm bays are fine for kids in PFDs if they can swim a bit and are capable of getting themselves out of a swamped boat. Lots of companies have PFDs that work OK for children, they have crotch straps and large collars to keep the head up and grab rings on the collars to help rescue. I started paddling with my son when he was five on flat, warm water in canoes. I don’t think I would push that. Kids grow up pretty fast. My son who was five when we started paddling now rides waves as big as my house that scare the ----- out of me. Raising kids takes patience and judgement and they aren’t ready to be out on the water until they are much older than you are thinking about.
The basic problem
is that if you capsize one of those kayaks in that water with a baby, there’s a very strong chance that the baby is going to drown. Most of us aren’t willing to bet our kids’ lives that we’re not going to capsize.
I’m probably less intense about risk than a lot of people here, but I would not take a child in a kayak on the ocean until the child was big enough to float in a PFD without assistance. I’m not sure just when that would be–maybe around 18 months–but I don’t think a six-month-old has enough body control to do it, especially in waves. I’d also make sure that the kid could easily get out of the kayak in a capsize, which I don’t think could be done from inside a rec boat.
I would also use a SOT rather than a sit-in rec boat. FWIW, the OK Cabo is a great kid truck. I’ve been taking my son out in it since he was three or four and my nephew since he was two. One nice thing about the tandem is that you can have two adults so that one can deal with the boat and one with the child.
Billy goats gruff…
I don’t think anybody called her a troll. They simply implied that this is someone “trolling” the message board - purposely posting an absurd question to get everyone fired up.
While everything you say may sound reasonable (maybe if they weren’t talking about the ocean), I think the “baby wetsuit” comment put this original post into the realm of absurdity.
Diaper Dip
I was a swimming instructor in college, but I never taught kids. One of my fellow instructors specialized in what was called the “diaper dip”
She told me that childern under one year can learn to swim, but if they are not taught then, they need to wait several years before thay can really learn to swim on their own. Don’t ask me why. I was never that much into child development.
Anywhere on the ocean off the NORCAL coast can change really quickly. Some places may seem safe at a certain time, but that same place can be incredibly rough at another time.
My favorite spot is Capitola Cove. Some days it seems like a lake, but I have seen overhead surf there on other days. You just never know.
Just to chime in:
Assuming that this is a legit question, here are my thoughts:
Like others have mentioned, wait till the child can float unassisted in a PFD. Get a good PFD, try it out in a pool with one or two adults right there first - get the kid used to it and make sure it is working right. This is going to depend on size and weight - not age.
Stay off the ocean till the child is a good swimmer. I’ll put my 2-year old in a boat for the first time this summer, but only in an extremely quiet pond or lake.
Go with a tandem boat, no doubt about it. You need 2 adults right there. Worst case scenario with a single - what if one of the adults gets knocked on the head, has a heart attack, or what ever. You need two (strong swimmer) adults there.
I’d go with a sit on top or a canoe. Too much can go wrong with a decked boat. I’d avoid the Kelty carrier thing. Carve a nice little seat out of minicell & glue it in the boat. No straps or anything of the kind!
let me settle your nerves
let me set the record straight. We bought the pungos to go go in lakes and bays - sheltered water - which is where we intend to stay - i was asking about , although i didn’t say it, the coves in lets say anacapa island -there are some beginner trips there. Let me reasure you that we have no intention of putting our daughter in danger. The thoughtful gentleman who wrote in explaining about how the miniskirt was for sun shade was right. The 3mm wet suit acts as a warming element over that is a polartec one piece suit should she get splashed from the paddle. Cotton as we all know, when wet gets cold. I am a sailer and a 10yr canoer, so I have some water experience. Sasha was born at home, in the water, and goes to mommy and me swimming and loves it. I know this turns some of you off - to not be in a hospital without the aid of drugs - but we feel we did the best thing we could for our daughter We thought of the kayaking as a way to go out in the water as a family, have a picnic and come home. We purchased a high quality life jacket for her and we made her a seat with a back and side arms that goes right between my legs. I have lifeguard experience and we both took a cpr class when i was pregnant to make sure that even on land she would be safe. I appreciate the advise about the open ocean and will heed that. We never intended to venture into the surf. When I said big sur , i meant more specificly Monterey bay. We have the book Adventure kayaking , Trips from Big Sur to San Diego and were only planning to do the trips marked beginner. Last but not least, we have taken two 4hr classes and have done capsizing assisted and solo. -just in case. So we have not been to the Anacapa Islands - we were intending to take a ferry there and then Kayak around the protected beginner area provided the weather was appropriate - we weren’t going to go into caves either. Has anyone been there? is it as calm, weather provided as certain books suggest?