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From: Dave Bishop <bishopd_at_jps.net>
subject: [Paddlewise] Boat For A Family of Four
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2003 11:26:56 -0700
A couple of young paddlers I know with  6 year old and a 3 year old children
are trying to decide what kind/type of a boat they should get to carry the
four of them plus some gear such as for overnight camping.   Anyone have a
suggestion or recommendation?


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From: Nick Schade <nick_at_guillemot-kayaks.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Boat For A Family of Four
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2003 15:26:08 -0400
On Friday, April 25, 2003, at 02:26  PM, Dave Bishop wrote:

> A couple of young paddlers I know with  6 year old and a 3 year old 
> children
> are trying to decide what kind/type of a boat they should get to carry 
> the
> four of them plus some gear such as for overnight camping.   Anyone 
> have a
> suggestion or recommendation?

How about a canoe? Lots of room for gear, room for kids to squirm. 
Stable enough to let them do things that would be scary in many kayaks.

Nick Schade

Guillemot Kayaks
824 Thompson St
Glastonbury, CT 06033
USA
Ph/Fx: (860) 659-8847
http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/

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From: Steve Cramer <cramersec_at_charter.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Boat For A Family of Four
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2003 15:53:18 -0400
Dave Bishop wrote:

> A couple of young paddlers I know with  6 year old and a 3 year old children
> are trying to decide what kind/type of a boat they should get to carry the
> four of them plus some gear such as for overnight camping.   Anyone have a
> suggestion or recommendation?

Sounds like a job for a 17-18 foot tripping canoe. Send them to the Wenonah 
website (http://www.wenonah.com) for a good basic education.

-- 
Steve Cramer
Athens, GA

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From: <FoldingBoats_at_aol.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Boat For A Family of Four
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2003 16:10:49 EDT
Dave Bishop wrote:
>A couple of young paddlers I know with  6 year old and a 3 year old children
>are trying to decide what kind/type of a boat they should get to carry the
>four of them plus some gear such as for overnight camping.   Anyone have a
>suggestion or recommendation?

Steve Cramer wrote:
Sounds like a job for a 17-18 foot tripping canoe. Send them to the Wenonah 
website (http://www.wenonah.com) for a good basic education.

Ralph Hoehn writes:
They might also want to check out one or another of the larger open cockpit 
folding boats out there if they're more comfortble with double paddles than 
with single blades.

Best regards,
Ralph

Ralph C. Hoehn

Folding Boat Center
P.O. Box 700
Enfield NH 03748

info_at_FoldingBoatCenter.com
www.FoldingBoatCenter.com

phone: +1-802-649-2555 -- Ralph
phone: +1-603-632-9500 -- Alv     (yup, they rhyme)

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From: David Flory <daflory_at_pacbell.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Boat For A Family of Four
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2003 13:07:38 -0700
On Friday, April 25, 2003, at 11:26  AM, Dave Bishop wrote:

> A couple of young paddlers I know with  6 year old and a 3 year old  
> children
> are trying to decide what kind/type of a boat they should get to carry  
> the
> four of them plus some gear such as for overnight camping.   Anyone  
> have a
> suggestion or recommendation?

If I wanted to transport two kids as small as that little one, I'd  
suggest they look at 2 Tribalance kayaks.

<http://www.tribalance.com/>

This clever little tupperware boat has a main hull 21" x 14 feet, so  
it's pretty quick, and two outriggers with a total width of 92" or  
about 7.5 feet, making it _extremely_ stable. (can you say flyfishing  
from a standing position?) It would allow unexpected movement from a  
little one without any danger of pitching everyone into the water. It  
would also be especially handy for fishing one out of the water, too.  
(For little ones like that I'd equip them with a PFD with a nice big  
handle like the doggy ones do, for snapping them out of the water,  
quickly, in case of need.) The stability is especially handy if you  
want to take pictures, video, etc. while on the water. Not a great real  
rough water boat, but then I wouldn't be taking the little ones out in  
that kind of stuff, anyway. The only only other alternative I see would  
be a big boat like a triple kayak, or a canoe, which are choices I  
wouldn't go for.

(John, Should I include that it was designed by a sometimes poster on  
the list, who occasionally writes educational treatises under a  
professorial nom de plume?)
--  
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
-
Check out the marine mammals _at_  
<http://homepage.mac.com/dflory/Menu5.html>
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
-
     Speak softly and study Aikido, then you won't need a big stick.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
-


-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
-
Check out the marine mammals _at_  
<http://homepage.mac.com/dflory/Menu5.html>
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
-
     Speak softly and study Aikido, then you won't need a big stick.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
-

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From: Robert Livingston & Pam Martin <bearboat2_at_attbi.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Boat For A Family of Four
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2003 19:41:25 -0700
We used a Seascape II for 10 years for this purpose with the kids going from
0 to 10.

I build a fiberglass shell for the center hole that completely could shelter
the youngest child and the older child was in the back hatch.

It worked. We had friends who used the same solution without going to the
trouble of making the fiberglass shell. 

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From: Kirk Olsen <kork4_at_cluemail.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Boat For A Family of Four
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2003 16:27:57 -0500
On Fri, 25 Apr 2003 11:26:56 -0700, "Dave Bishop" <bishopd_at_jps.net> said:
> A couple of young paddlers I know with  6 year old and a 3 year old
> children are trying to decide what kind/type of a boat they should get
> to carry the four of them plus some gear such as for overnight camping.
> Anyone have a suggestion or recommendation?

Let's see I've got a 3 and a 6 year old....

For the whole family we use a Wenonah Jensen 17 for day trips.

For an overnighter I would take our Old Town tripper.

As for 4 people in one kayak - they could build a Kodiak triple (
http://www.arctickayaks.com/PlansKodiak_3Kayak.htm ) or a Dyson triple
with an oversized center cockpit ;-)  Having paddled one of those
beasties they would be safer in it than any canoe I've used.

Alternatively they could buy a pair of double kayaks.

Kirk
-- 
  Kirk Olsen
  kork4_at_cluemail.com
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From: Rev. Bob Carter <revkayak_at_aptalaska.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Boat For A Family of Four
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2003 17:57:12 -0800
We used an Eddyline San Juan , (triple - two cockpits and one huge hatch)
while our son was growing up and it worked well for us.
Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Bishop <bishopd_at_jps.net>
Subject: [Paddlewise] Boat For A Family of Four


>A couple of young paddlers I know with  6 year old and a 3 year old
children
>are trying to decide what kind/type of a boat they should get to carry the
>four of them plus some gear such as for overnight camping.   Anyone have a
>suggestion or recommendation?
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From: Shawn Baker <shawnkayak_at_yahoo.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Boat For A Family of Four
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 08:43:42 -0700 (PDT)
On Friday, April 25, 2003, at 02:26  PM, Dave Bishop wrote:
> A couple of young paddlers I know with  6 year old and a 3 year old 
> children are trying to decide what kind/type of a boat they should
get

As a die hard kayaker, I'd vote for a ....  canoe.  It's also highly
dependent on the local water conditions they have available, but for
waters that are kid-friendly, they're also quite appropriate for open
canoes.

With the potential for more open-water conditions, Kirk's Dyson
baidarka suggestion is a good one.

Shawn

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From: Dave Kruger <kdruger_at_pacifier.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Boat For A Family of Four
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2003 09:13:17 -0700
Rev. Bob Carter <revkayak_at_aptalaska.net> wrote:

> We used an Eddyline San Juan , (triple - two cockpits and one huge hatch)
> while our son was growing up and it worked well for us.

The San Juan is no longer manufactured, I believe, but you might find a used
one.  Enormous boat, and a great sailing platform, one of the uses for which
it was designed.

Another solution, and relatively cost-effective at that, might be two Folbot
Greenland II's.  Plenty of room for the youngster in front to loll around,
read, sleep, or [gasp!] paddle.  Two friends made use of G II's for this for
a few years while their kids were small.  They never went anywhere very
fast, but the kids loved it.  Two kids in a single cockpit together, seems
to bring out the worst.  They tried that, but their nerves were never the
same.

Come to think of it, they might have a San Juan, and be willing to sell it.
The Dad is a sometime Paddlewiser:  Bill O'Brien.

Yo, Bill?

--
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR

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From: alex <al.m_at_3web.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Boat For A Family of Four
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2003 23:35:52 -0700
Not from personal experience - but the above suggestion (was it Dave?) of
wide-beam folding double like Folbot GII is worth exploring.  Nautiraid
double could be even more stabile (37"  inflated width), or Klepper Quattro
(the one with 4 sponsons, don't remember the width, but hell, it's a lot of
stability).  Quattro is used by some army troops, I don't know their exact
number of crew and amount of "gear", should be 2 men + pretty heavy weapons
and other stuff; with total weight more than a family with 2 kids and
few-days camping gear. Klepper owners would telll you more.  But... well, I
don't see Quattros for less than $4000, even used ones. It's a barge, not
many people own or need them in civilian life :-). You could get 2 new GII
for the same buck, and there are plenty of them used ones, too.  I
personally would favour a 2-boat option - if anything happens to one of the
boats, then the other one could (hopefully) render some assitance.
Alex.

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From: obrien <obrien_at_mail.albanyfirefighters.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Boat For A Family of Four
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2003 23:47:16 -0700
>Another solution, and relatively cost-effective at that, might be two Folbot
>Greenland II's.  Plenty of room for the youngster in front to loll around,
>read, sleep, or [gasp!] paddle.  Two friends made use of G II's for this for
>a few years while their kids were small.  They never went anywhere very
>fast, but the kids loved it.  Two kids in a single cockpit together, seems
>to bring out the worst.  They tried that, but their nerves were never the
>same.
>
>Come to think of it, they might have a San Juan, and be willing to sell it.
>The Dad is a sometime Paddlewiser:  Bill O'Brien.
>
>Yo, Bill?

You rang, Dave?

Dave's post is accurate.  We're hanging on to the San Juan.  Now that our son hit his teens, it works well with him in the front, our daughter in the middle, and the wife happily paddling a single.  We all paddle singles on day trips with the 10 yr/old in a pigmy osprey 13.  She only weighs 65 lbs but can really move.  She only has two speeds - just like her dad.

There are a lot of San Juans still around and I've been told they still make them for outfitters when asked.  Having both kids in the middle was tough, especially with a feisty little one. The folboats are a great value and similar folders work well for kids in the front.  Pack a couple of the heavier objects in the front and the boat trims out well.  We have sailed them, too.  The kids really liked that.
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From: Matt Broze <mkayaks_at_oz.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Boat For A Family of Four
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 16:38:59 -0700
Seda is coming out with a new model soon called the Amigo. I've been trying
to get them to build this kayak for 6 years now so I'm glad to see it is
finally happening. It is a big single 18' or so long and 25.5" wide that can
fit a big paddler as an expedition single kayak but the front hatch can also
become a front cockpit to make it into a day paddling double (suitable for a
paddler at least up to 120 pounds if not more if the stern paddler is
heavier). When I tested the prototype a couple of weeks ago 120 pounds was
how heavy the bow paddler was, I'm 195 pounds. The idea was to have a day
paddling double that was small enough to be handled by one paddler so that a
totally non-paddler could ride in the front (your dog, your kid, your
grandmother) as well allowing a smaller paddler paddling it as a double. It
should be ready pretty soon and might be one way to take one or even two
kids along (the biggest in the bow cockpit/hatch and the smaller between
your legs and resting their head on your belly or sitting on your lap and
paddling with hands on the paddle just inside yours). I used to take my
daughters out in a 20.5" kayak this way and they learned to paddle by just
doing what I was doing with the paddle (with their hands just inside mine)
while they sat on my lap. 10 or 15 minutes was my limit for having a kid sit
on my thighs so when that got too difficult to me they could slip down
between my legs and sit on a cushion that was in front of my seat.
Obviously, some capsize drills with help standing by would be in order
before paddling this way.

Matt Broze
www.marinerkayaks.com

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