I’ve made many posts
about taking my daughter out as an infant on walden pond in a pamlico (open cockpit boat).
Didn’t want to repeat them here.
OK i’ll discuss my methods since you
– Last Updated: Apr-10-04 12:03 AM EST –
are really looking. I'll also give you my best recommendations. Worst case without my having a heart attack: If my daughter and I go over I would simply put her pfd clad body face up on top of my pfd clad chest and swim in, controlling her with one or both hands as needed. (Like you, I have been a working lifeguard.) I'd get the boat later.
That means that we are never further from shore than I can swim just using my legs.
The boat I paddle with my daughter is 29 inches wide. My solo boat is 21.5 inches wide. My skill level is never anywhere close to tested when she is in the boat. We are way way inside the envelope. I would counsel a simiilar path for you in that regard.
My pamlico has a huge open cockpit. My daughter has always just sat or slept on a seat or the floor. I suggest wearing clothing for shade. Get a hat for her face and shades for her eyes. forget the mini skirt when she is in the boat Entrapment in my boat is much less of an issue that with a pungo, much less with the skirt. n Forget the child carrier unless you want to paddle with her in a face out position on you chest. That way if you capsize you can both float face up and breath. Even that configuration I do not recommend. In the water gettin her out of a snuggli to get back into a boat even if you had the help of an expert kayaker. Grabbing a loop a the back of a pfd takes no time. I doubt you would be able to get a baby clad in a pfd into a carrier and a backpack style is right out!
We paddle on ponds with no motorboats or lakes where motorboats over 20 hp are banned. I know these lakes and any people on them at least by sight. In a semi sheltered harbor, wakes, a rogue wave, or moment of stupidity (I have had a few on the water and off), and deep trouble could result.
Yes, perhaps on a calm day in a very sheltered bay the risk is on the order of 1 incident per 1000 hours of having something really unusual happen. Even that rate is way too high for my taste, so I don't do that with my daughter yet. Have you considered Tides, currents, sudden windstorms???
My daughter and I will have practiced rescues on lakes till she is bored with them before we go out to do general trips on boston harbor in a tandem. (Pamlico is not not fit IMHOP) She will be able to swim well etc.
Like you my wife had our daughter with no drugs, though we did choose a mellow hospital setting with midwife. She was born into my arms, (in other word I caught her, tugging very gently coordinating wiht my wife, after the midwife cleared the head and mouth.) the amount of time she has been touched by people without love as the prime motivator for touch can be measured on less that 200 seconds. Like you, we did the infant CPR route before she was born.
The most important things about your child having a future in kayaking are, 1. that the child has a future, 2. that kayaking is really pleasant for her. My daughter's whim controls my agenda whe she is on the water with me. I try to always get off the water while she is still wanting just a little bit more. (Just a little bit). We have a great time with picnics, storytelling and reading, looking at fish and birds, and her dragging her hand into the water, like i used to do with my papa.
Seidmans "the essential sea kayaker" has a fun chapter on kayaking with kids, but not much info on infants.
Sorry that I called your serious request a troll. I salute your spirit of adventure, and I see that you want to raise a bright human, not a factory product. I have outlined my activities, contingency plans, and reasonings; yours may well differ. I counsel you to a very cautious appoach. I wish you all the best and
Good paddling to you!
I’m with the majority here.
I simply can’t imagine how to make it safe enough for an infant. An unexpected passing motorboat, whale, or log could dump you, and there’s no way a 6 month old baby dumped upside down in a boat can be counted on to survive, no matter what she’s wearing. Capsizes occur very very quickly sometimes–you can’t count on holding onto or being able to rescue the baby. During a capsize in a boat with open coamings it’s easy to get hit by the coaming, or to get trapped under the boat. A few tablespoons of water in her lungs and… can’t even think about it.
At 6 months, sitting up and dragging herself around on dry land is all the adventure she needs.
My daughter is a water maniac and a skilled natural athlete (much more than her dad). But I didn’t let her in a kayak with me until she was 5 years old, and then only after she had very amply demonstrated her ability to rise to the surface after being rudely, unexpectedly, and repeatedly thrown through the air. We use a double kayak with large cockpit openings and (gasp) sponsons to further stabilize the boat. I also won’t take her in water under 60 degrees.
This year she’s 6, and we might venture into 8 inch waves on the Charles River. I won’t take her on the ocean until she’s 8 or 9.
On the other hand… Tamsin Venn, the editor of Atlantic Coastal Kayaker, began taking her young children on the ocean, in the middle hatch of a large double, when they were about 2, I believe.
I’ve only heard one story of an adventuresome family who took a newborn baby everywhere. Can’t remember the details, but I think they canoed some cold Canadian waters with their 6 month old.
Sanjay
Are you “seriously” asking… OR…
Just waiting to hear someone say it is ok. From the osunds of it you are going to try and prove your point till it seems feasable & somebody agrees with you.
I still say GET A BABY SITTER!!! If you are that broke, I’ll pay a sitter 5 hours a week FOR YOU. This baby won’t know (and doesn’t know) what “family time” is till she is roughly 5 or 6 anyways. Also read my post from your latter post just above…
Paddle easy,
Coffee
What was MS Venn’s Skill level
Do you think she needed to ask about the waters or had paddled a hundred times in them. Was her boat infinitely more seaworthy than a pungo? How far within her skills envelope was she, or would she have been even, if the boat capsized. What other considerations made Ms venns choice safe (if indeed it was)?
These questions are of course not meant to attack you Sanjay, my esteemed friend and (kayaking wise) elder and teacher. They are meant to help other people examine Tasmin’s choice wiht great care, rather than draw inaccurate analogies.
Alexandra,
I have NEVER been given bad advice on this board!Several times, I have disagreed with what I had been told. and then, as my experience level increased, I realized they had been right all along! Please benefit from the experience of others - everyone is trying to help you! Blessings.
I got hammered on this board once, too.
So don’t feel bad, Alexandra. It’s kinda like an initiation rite. While there are obviously some posters here who don’t believe in making their point gently, they pretty much know what they’re talking about.
Welcome to the group!
Anacapa is not for infants
I know the author of “Adventure Kayaking from Big Sur to San Diego”, Rob Mohle, and have paddled with him on several occaions and also exchanged emails. His beginner trips are not designed for infants.
I have also paddled from the mainland to Anacapa Island and it can be a fairly easy intermediate level trip to a real nightmare. The week after I paddled there in a little over three hours, it took some friends over 6 1/2 hours to make the same trip because of winds.
I paddle the Santa Barbara Channel very frequently and I know that the winds can come up very suddenly and can cause some difficult wind waves to contend with. Also, the lee of Anacappa can change when we get Santa Anna Winds which blow from the Mainland out to sea. Closer in to shore, they can be 40 - 50 knot gusts–not good paddling weather.
There are also only 3 places where you can land on Anacapa.
The first two are for day use only and you can’t hike on the island from them. One is Cathedral Cove and if the tide is high, there may not be any beach at all. Another is Frenchy’s Cove. The concession boats going to Anacapa, do not usually stop at these places - usually they only go to Landing Cove.
The third place to land is Landing Cove. There is a 10 - 12 foot climb from the dock to a kayak. You cannot tie a kayak up there, but instead will have to hoist it via hand winch and a sling (you need to provide this) to the dock. Then you could climb the 154 steps so you could then hike to the campground (no trees and LOTS of wind). If you are lucky, the concession boat will land you in the water and you only have to get from the boat into your kayak without capsizing.
Do yourself a favor and wait until your infant is old enough to handle their own boat before you attempt this.
The waters around Anacapa are also not suitable for a rec boat in my opinion. If you don’t want to use a touring boat, use a SOT.
The more you say…
The more nervous I am about your baby. If I were to see you head out in the Pacific Ocean in a Pungo (NOT, I repeat, NOT an ocean kayak, especially for beginners) with an infant strapped in a seat, I’d probably call both the Coast Guard and Protective Services.
This is from a parent who did home birth and took my infant in a sailboat many times before the age of one… a 28 ft., 4 berth ocean sailor on relatively calm days… and had my son rock climbing before he was 6.
You are a beginner kayaker. No matter what your other experience, you don’t know enough about what you are doing to do this safely. If kayakers like Sing and Sanjay and Peter, who have a proven high level of skill, wouldn’t do it, and you won’t listen to them, why ask advice?
Sorry if this seems harsh, but you aren’t talking about endangering your own life. You are talking about endangering the life of your infant with needless risk. Don’t do it.