Any touring/sea kayakers here?

[Romulus]

:hi:

I live in the DC area and am a member of Chesapeake Paddlers' Assoc. (www.cpakayaker.com) (shameless plug)

[wildeyed]

1. Never done it.

But I am interested. Is this a sport you can do with small kids? The sport love of my life is rock climbing, but it is very difficult to manage with children. I have heard that flat water paddling is better. You can load the gear into the boat, strap floaties on the kids and take off.

Any online resource you can recommend?

[Romulus]

3. a few thoughts

The primary reference I would point you to is http://www.paddling.net , which has buying guides as well as gear reviews from "regular" folks, plus a discussion forum.

Depending on where you live, there may be a local paddling club, or informal group, where you can meet people and learn a lot.

In the northeast, there's http://www.stormpaddle.com , an informal NY/NJ/CT/PA/DE group that is mainly geared to (fairly serious) sea kayaing, but are really friendly and a great source of expert knowledge on kayaking. I met up with some of these guys are they are eager to help out newbies to the sport.

There are other club websites out there, and you can easly find them on google for your area. I am mainly familiar with DC-area groups.

You could do "sea" kayking with small kids, but mainly on calm waters. Other flatwater like a lake or slow river is definitely an option. Kayak mfrs are looking more to the "family" market these days and are selling modest double kayaks with a third "jump seat" (like this:
http://www.kayaker.com/new/products/boat.asp?type=recreational&ID=103). Now that we have a kid on the way, this will be the way to go for us. It's basically a more stable, and faster, version of a canoe.

I say "modest" because you won't be able to stuff a kid into this sleek one (with little complaint)!: http://www.kayaker.com/new/products/boat.asp?type=day_tour&ID=87), and that second boat is much faster than the one with the jump seat.

I would recommend against "floaties" (if they are what I think they are) and point you to a real personal flotation defive (PFD) for the kid. I think the Coast Guard and most states requires kids to have PFD's. http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=2165&deptid=956

Little kids could also wear a floatsuit: http://www.parents.org.uk/index.html?safety_swim-safe.htm&2 . Body Glove makes one, and I saw some at several US sports store websites.

Paddling with my 3 y/o niece has been really fun, especially in wildlife refuges and other interesting areas where you can't really walk to the "good parts." Remember to wear a hat and bring sun screen!

[Redneck Socialist]

2. My sister was a big sea kayaker

She and her husband live out in WA and used to go a lot. I've considered it, having gone with her a couple of times I definitely see the appeal. One of the biggest problems in my life is too many toys, not enough money to buy them all and not enough time to use them all. :-(

Have you ever done any paddling up New England way?

[Romulus]

4. *LOL*

Not enough money - tell me about it! My bow is languishing in the basement because I spent all my "fun" money this month on kayak gear! I have no money for arrows!

Haven't been to New England yet; just started paddling this year. Some people from one of the DC-area paddling groups go on an annual coastal Maine trip. Maybe I'll join them in the future!

[Kolesar]

5. We did a week in Glacier Bay NP, Alaska in a rented tandem

You have to take an "air taxi" from Juneau to Gustavus. Then we paid to ride a cruise catamaran that took us 30 miles up the bay to a drop off point. The crew didn't give us our white gas, so we were stuck there at the drop off point for 24 hours until they made the next round. They didn't have our fuel, but other parties just gave us the excess they had brought and sent us on our way. Good Karma to those brothers in neoprene.

We paddled up the bay, taking in the views of snowcapped mountains and ice fields. There were porpoises, jaegers, and a huge variety of wildlife. On the third morning of the trip, a juvenile grizzly came wandering into our campsite as we were packing to leave. We made lots of noise and it left us alone. When it finally walked down the beach 150 feet from us to feed in the mussel beds, we hurriedly threw everything in the boat and pushed off. Exciting! My first grizzly sighting.

We paddled far enough up to see icebergs floating back from glaciers calving up the bay. For some reason, the "captain" of our vessel decided she wanted to turn back and not camp at the campsite near the glacier. :grr:

Coming back down the bay was uneventful. We did have all of 1.5 days with no rain or mist and got some nice pictures that day. We could never dry our clothes, so from the third day on, I was putting on wet socks in the morning before putting on the mukluks. Other boaters just wore Tevas.

On our last night, a weasel came into our camp and totally entertained us for 10 minutes.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

6. Haven't tried it (yet)

I live in Ohio, so sea kayaking is not something you do as one of those spur-of-the-moment things. I was in Maine last summer, but my schedule was so tight that I couldn't find the time. I'm planning to go back next year, though, and won't go home till I've tried it.

I didn't discover kayaking until I was past 40, and can't believe I went so long before taking it up.