Kayaking...

[JakeR]

Hi Folks,

My wife and I are both pretty keen on trying kayaking. However, we are both complete novices... I did a bit 20 years ago, the wife never has.

We were thinking flat water as we'd like to take the kids.

Anyone know any good forums/clubs where we can get more info?

cheers

JakeR

[mcdjl]

The BCU website has a complete list of all the clubs in the country http://www.bcu.org.uk/clubs-i-centres/ or try the UK rivers guide book http://www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/forum/ which is a bit like Pistonheads for paddlers. I'd suggest finding a club near you and getting some advice and coaching from them to start with and seeing how you find it- flat waters great for learning on (swimming pools are better as theyre warmed when you fall in) but can get boring quite quickly.

Edit to sort out links

Edited by mcdjl on Monday 24th August 20:35

[dern]

Your best bet would be to join a local club and do your 1 and 2 star courses to get some confidence up and then you can decide what to do after that.

There's quite a choice of boats these days. Do you want individual boats or are your children quite young and therefore you'll want to take them in your boats?

[JakeR]

dern said:

Your best bet would be to join a local club and do your 1 and 2 star courses to get some confidence up and then you can decide what to do after that.

There's quite a choice of boats these days. Do you want individual boats or are your children quite young and therefore you'll want to take them in your boats?

Hi Dern,

Thanks for that... good advice methinks. Kids are quite young (prob too young!) so we would be looking at a couple of 2 man kayaks. I quite like the look of the inflatable ones from the point of view of storage and transportation... what have you got?

cheers

JakeR

[dern]

JakeR said:

Thanks for that... good advice methinks. Kids are quite young (prob too young!) so we would be looking at a couple of 2 man kayaks. I quite like the look of the inflatable ones from the point of view of storage and transportation... what have you got?

I've got a couple of singles (a short boat for dicking about and a longer one for when I want to go somewhere) and a large sit on top for taking my daughter out. My kids are 5 and 7 and I only take the older one as I know she would definitely be able to swim to the side or at least float without panicing if she fell in. I chose a sit on top as they are very very stable and you can get back in them even if you are in open water and they are largely unaffected by the quick lunging motion by daughter employs to move about the boat

I'm pretty sure we have one of these...

http://www.sit-on-tops.co.uk/perception-gemini.htm

...which seats 2 comfortably and 3 at a push (1 adult, 2 kids). It's a big boat but well priced, we didn't go for any fixtures and fittings and haven't missed them. You can easily paddle it single handed and one person can get it on and off a car. If you need to walk round a lock or two I'd advise getting a trolley because it can get quite heavy in short order. On top of that you'l need paddles, bouyancy aids (life jackets for younger kids) and so on.

If you live near Newbury you can have a go on ours but any local kayak shop worth their salt will have demos.

I looked at inflatables for the same reasons as you and while I didn't have a go in one they looked a bit flimsy for me to want to paddle one for long. The sit on tops are a lot more flexible in my opinion.

I can get ours on top of our impreza no worries with just roof bars and I guess you could get two on the roof if you got some kayak specific uprights.

When you've got all the kit get yourself a single kayak and spray deck too... a lot more fun

Edited by dern on Monday 24th August 16:59

[JakeR]

Great stuff thanks...

My kids are only little (younger than yours) so I guess it would be safer to wait till they're a bit older...

cheers

JakeR

[mcdjl]

If you want to take small children out in boats you might be ok with an open canadian type boat. Theyre a lot deeper than sit on tops but are just as or more stable but this does mean that all of you can fit in one boat. They are a fair bit bigger/ heavier though so more awkward to shift/store.
Depending on where you are you might find an activity centre place that can hire them out (i think Lea Valley near London has them and one of the pubs near me has some as well...no idea how to find out where to find them near you- local tourist info?)

[Chris71]

mcdjl said:

If you want to take small children out in boats you might be ok with an open canadian type boat. Theyre a lot deeper than sit on tops but are just as or more stable but this does mean that all of you can fit in one boat. They are a fair bit bigger/ heavier though so more awkward to shift/store.
Depending on where you are you might find an activity centre place that can hire them out (i think Lea Valley near London has them and one of the pubs near me has some as well...no idea how to find out where to find them near you- local tourist info?)

Sorry to hi-jack the thread, but does anyone know any more about Canadian canoe activity in the south east?

I've been trying to coax my OH who's a bit nervous in the water (actually she's a bit nervous in general ) to have a go at canoeing and recently I managed to get her into a Canadian canoe for the day on Derwent Water. Even more surprisingly she liked it. So I'd really like to get into it.

All the clubs I can see locally seem to be more kayak/white water orientated, but looking for something in North London/South Herts.

[mcdjl]

From another thread....

Semi hemi said:

forum a good source of info on open canadian canoes

[TedMaul]

Sorry for the thread resurrection. Son is nearly 5 so hoping he will like Kayaking as he isn't enjoying biking so much yet and he loves pedalos.....

Am looking to hire kayaks from Pugneys in Wakefield, but speaking to them they say it is up to me whether he is old enough to go in a Junior Kayak, or take him out in a Canadian canoe. Gut feeling says Canadian for the time being, even though he will probably love the idea of his own boat.

Anyone had any experience of getting kids into kayaking? I did quite a bit in my youth, but that was, errr 20 years ago.....

[mcdjl]

As they say its up to you what you give him. Part of it depends on how comfortable you are in a boat (ie can you get to him and help him paddle in a straight line while also looking after yourself?), whether he'll do what you tell him to and how big he is...kids a few years older than him can look dwarfed by even some of the small boats.
Might be worth going along and having a look, then if it comes to it get him a kayak and yourself a canadian and move him to your boat if he struggles.

[TedMaul]

mcdjl said:

As they say its up to you what you give him. Part of it depends on how comfortable you are in a boat (ie can you get to him and help him paddle in a straight line while also looking after yourself?), whether he'll do what you tell him to and how big he is...kids a few years older than him can look dwarfed by even some of the small boats.
Might be worth going along and having a look, then if it comes to it get him a kayak and yourself a canadian and move him to your boat if he struggles.

Not a bad idea - I have also looked at Rother Valley and it looks like they hire Tandem sit-ons, so could start out that way. He is pretty sensible for a 5yo and loves boats of all sorts so suspect he would behave on a promise of doing more - he has never been daft in pedalo type jobs anyway...