adventure
magazine
adventure
magazine
Starter Kit
4: Gear
boats are the obVious part of the family formula.
but don’t forGet paddles, pfds and other kid-friendly Gear.
By tiM shuff
Boats
you don’t always need specialized boats to get your kids on the water. you can
take them out on your lap in any kayak. But for family trips buy or rent a tandem
with a centre hatch that can be modified with a child’s seat. for splashing
around at the beach and the cottage, sit-on-tops are the most beginner- and
c
B
kid-friendly. And then there are kid-sized touring kayaks, scaled-down versions
of the real deal that let pint-sized prodigies develop serious skills.
a) if yours is the type of precocious B) a triple-cockpit kayak like the c) kids and parents on our test crew
a kid whose first question is “how seaward passat G3 is the ultimate voted sit-on-tops best for messing
do you roll this thing” or you’re a mothership: two regular cockpits plus about at the waterfront. high stability
pitbull-in-sunscreen kayak-mom a centre hatch with a removable and an open cockpit make them
who reads them paul Caffyn booster seat. as kids grow, one parent less intimidating for first-timers. only
stories at bedtime, then you’ll walks the plank, tyke moves to the 9’7” long, the hobie miragesport is
probably want to put them bow and the centre hatch becomes easy to handle. you can even put a
in a “real” kayak as soon as 180 litres of waterproof storage. not small child on the back and make it a
possible. look at the new just a nerdy family van, the G3 has tandem. hobie’s pedal system is more
wilderness systems tsunami performance for expeditions and intuitive and gives young kids more
sp, for paddlers ranging from adventure races. power and control than paddling.
60–120 pounds ($825 Cdn/
seaward kayaks passat G3, $5,085 hobie miraGesport; $1,549 us;
us; wildernesssystems.com),
Cdn; $4,575 us; seawardkayaks.Com hobieCat.Com
or the fibreglass Current
designs raven shown
here (12’ x 20” and only
26 pounds). these boats
let kids edge, brace,
«
pFd
roll, and paddle circles
Choose from infant, child and youth
around their parents.
sizes (8–30, 30–50 and 50–90 lbs).
infant and child pfds have grab
Current desiGns
loops on the collar. older kids enjoy
raVen, $1,199 us;
features like pockets.
Cdkayak.Com
stohlQuist drifter youth, $90 us;
stohlQuist.Com
«
paddLe
kids’ paddles are 180 cm and up
with smaller blades. the lighter the
better. lendal, bending branches,
and aqua-bound all have new
kids’ paddles.
shown: werner sprite, $90 us;
wernerpaddles.Com
«
Base Layers
Choose a fabric that’s quick-drying
and offers sun protection so you
don’t have to do the full-body slip-
slop-and-slide ritual.
noZone baby suit, $39 Cdn/us;
noZone.Ca
«
spLash gear
a full-body waterproof suit is a
critical paddling layer for wee
ones that really helps small bodies
thermoregulate in cooler climes.
meC newt rain suit, $51 Cdn;
meC.Ca
34 adventure kayak | sprinG 2009
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