Kids/smaller people have been an integral part of paddling since slalom came to the USA. But it took some time before the manufacturers of plastic boats went to bat for the smaller paddler. The driving force behind smaller plastic boats initially came from women….and the Perception Dancer XS.

A ground breaking boat in the 80’s, the Dancer XS was the boat that started the momentum for smaller peoples’ plastic boats. The statistics on it read 8’3� length, 23� width and a volume of 50 gallons. Once smaller people got into the XS, the industry recognized that there was the need for a boat that was proportionally built for that small size.

Next out of the gates was the Dagger Blast. Even on the other side of the pond, the reviews were two-thumbs-up:

“The Dagger Blast is a superb kayak for children and smaller paddlers up to about 9 stone. There are lots of kayaks suitable for children to paddle but only a few that are designed for those children who are keen to learn the sport. The Dagger Blast is possibly the best Junior Kayak available. It is designed to enable the paddler to progress their skill base from flat water paddling through to white water and surf. It has true kayak proportions and is both quick and directionally stable.�

During the 90’s the momentum did not stop with the Blast. Coming in at a length of 6′8 and a width of 24â€?, Perception’s JIB picked up on the trend; a sporty low volume boat that was a notch up in high performance from the Blast.

In 1999, young slalom boater Becca Red became the model child for Dagger’s next kids’ boat: the DYNAMO. The Dynamo was designed for river running and playboating—bringing in some of the concepts the current playboats were introducing, while keeping a more forgiving hull given the age factor. The Dynamo was light weight and more manageable for smaller experienced paddlers.

In 2001 Wave Sport joined the bandwagon recognizing the kid factor with the EVO. Wave Sport’s by-line on the EVO read:

“We’ve all done our best to keep the kids from kicking our butts by putting them in oversized boats with questionable performance, but to avoid an ugly uprising by the kayaking youth of America, we realized it was time to buck the trend. The answer is the EVO, the first full-on, high performance kid’s boat: super-loose hull, sleek shape, low volume. It’s going to set kids free all across the globe and make squirt boating fun again for smaller adults. No moves are out of the reach of kids 90 pounds and over, in flat or whitewater. For kids 65-110 pounds, the EVO makes an incredible river-running playboat. For the adults out there who think volume is a dirty word and part of the worldwide conspiracy, the EVO delivers incredible comfort in a small boat. We’re making “Squirt until you hurt” a phrase of the past. Go ahead – do endless clean cartwheels in flatwater, shred your favorite wave, mystery move your favorite local squirt-boat spot and wear your favorite booties. Here’s a squirt boat that never needs fiberglass repair and a hull that could win the Worlds, with all-day comfort. Only from Wave Sport.â€?

In 2004, the demand for high performance play boats was at its peak. And onto the scene came Jackson Kayaks and their FUN series. The smallest Fun in the series was the Fun1 at 5’3� length, 20� width and optimum river running weight of 60lbs. Even the 60 pounder now had a boat that could be cartwheeled!

One of the obvious struggles with manufacturing a small person’s boat is that the market is so limited. There is always an initial wave of popularity, but because of the ability to “recycle� boats between siblings/neighbors/cousins/camps, kid’s boats tend to have a long life span. But the manufacturers continue their support of the “small persons� market as seen by the 2007 release of Wave Sport’s newest small person’s boat: the FUSE; a river-running playboat tested by and designed specifically for smaller paddlers.

Wave Sport considers the FUSE 35 a blend of excellent river running characteristics with high performance play features, effectively ‘fusing’ the best features found in a river-running boat with the best features found in a playboat. The thought behind Robert Peerson’s latest design is that a paddler can begin their whitewater paddling career at an early age and as they grow and their skills develop, the FUSE 35 will follow their growth, transforming from a river runner to a high performance playboat.

There is such a rich history of kayaking here in the States, but the sport is still young enough to make multi-generational paddling a common occurrence on the river. Many of the original US boaters are still enjoying the river—but now they are on the river with their children and/or grandchildren.

Just last week I chanced upon two great multi-generational scenes on the Nantahala River. Pulling in at Ferebee with a group of campers canoeing the Nantahala for the first time, I noticed Doug Woodward preparing to put-in. Stopping to chat for a moment, he introduced me to his son Rivers who was out with Dad for a paddle down the Nantahala. Not a day later at Surfing Rapid on the Nantahala, Horace Holden Sr. was out giving logistical support to Horace Jr. who was paddling with three of his four sons. Chatting with Horace for a moment while his oldest son hand-surfed the wave, the former Olympic paddler lamented that if he did not hurry up and learn to loop, he would not have a “first� over his sons!

Such experiences would not be possible without the support of the manufacturers; who over the past twenty five years have made sure that the smaller among us have as much fun on the river as their elders!

Wed 13 Jun 2007
Posted by erabrian

Hard men don’t do Yoga. We don’t get in touch with our bodies or massage our inner beings. There’s too much ice in our veins for them to be coursing with love and gratitude. When something hurts, we punish it. It either heals or it breaks. The pain, the soreness only makes us harder.

It still stings to write this, but a few months ago I turned in my Hardman Club Card. I felt obligated. Denying it any longer would have only made me feel cheap and dirty. Still, I couldn’t help but feel I was making a mistake. What had happened?

I was only going to try it…just one short session, just to see what it was like. I thought, ‘how bad can it really be?’ It seemed everybody was doing it. Hell, one of my best friends had gotten himself tangled badly in the stuff, and he still seemed normal.

I did Yoga. In a poorly lit hotel room on the outskirts of San Jose, Costa Rica, the furniture thrown up and beds piled against the wall, I rode the downward dog. Ignoring the strange sounds, I huffed and groaned and sweated through a 45-minute video. The stretches erased my amateur grip on flexibility. Good God, could the body really bend like that?

Legs shaking, arms trembling, every tendon on the verge of snapping, I thanked God and collapsed when finally Yogi Master called for ‘total relaxation pose’. There on my back dripping little tears of sweat, I surrendered. The feeling was not so much a release of tension as a crush of relaxation.

I sat up a few minutes later and felt for the usual pain in my back, neck, and forearms. It was gone. I panicked. The Hardness was gone.

The following day I slipped into a kayak for the first time in three years without wincing. It felt like I was paddling with a new back. I cranked out attainments, made a hundred eddy turns, and hit move after move in the play hole. ‘Holy Buddha!’ I thought. Whatever Yogi Master had done, it felt incredible. At the end of the day, however, the old Hardness returned. It was different now, not the trusted confidant of before. It felt like a pal, one of those life-sucking, ‘good-time’ friends that you just can’t shake. Tired and stiff, I tried stretching – the bending motions I saw Yogi Master doing on the video – to try and release the tension. My back cracked. My knees creaked. My neck went pop-pop-pop with every turn. With each bend, bands of soreness released and I realized that being Hard was stupid. You actually could paddle without pain. You could paddle longer, harder, faster, and just downright better.

It’s been almost 6 months now since they took my card. I wish I could say I regret it. But the yogi-peace has filled me with a tranquil wisdom. With this newfound agility, flexibility, and budding yogi-strength, I’m just a better paddler now…even if I am soft.

Mon 11 Jun 2007
Posted by eraken
Comments Off

I wanted to thank you all again for the great trip we had yesterday, June 9th. It was both our sons’ first rafting experience, and Sarge was wonderful with them. He was very knowledgeable, and the kind of person you would like to learn more from, and get to know better. Everyone had a great time, and John and Maggy were also great to deal with….All in all, we had a fantastic time, and plan to make this a permanent part of our annual June camping trip to Cherokee. I would also recommend you guys to anyone planning a trip.
Thanks again, Tom

Sun 10 Jun 2007
Posted by eraguest
Comments Off

Thanks again so much for your help with teaching me– I’ve seen such a huge improvement, more confidence and greater response using the things you showed me. I’ve been taking my playboat over to the WW Park and also down the Ocoee last weekend and having a blast. Thank you!

Chris

Sat 9 Jun 2007
Posted by erasteve

Wow! The end of the fifth day of our Rocky Mountain adventure and we are both feeling the miles–from both the road and river.

We drove straight from Bryson City to the Embudo, roughly 1 hour south of Taos, New Mexico. By driving in shifts we made it in 24 hours! Unfortunately that left both of us pretty exhausted of the road. The Embudo is known as the desert creek run and lived up to its reputation fully. After putting in a serious looking storm began to swallow the previously blue skyline. Being in a desert environment we realized the potential for flash flooding and pulled out above the first committing gorge. After watching the rain for a few minutes we began to prepare for an overnighter on the river. We found fire wood, and shelter, and moved up well of the river to scout what lay ahead. After an hour, we lucked out as the river only raised by a small bit, and after out scout we continued downstream. The rest of the river failed to disappoint. In fact the Embudo far surpassed either of our expectations. What a great class five creek in one of the most beautiful settings!

After the Embudo we camped under the stars near Taos, NM. The next day we put in on the gorgeous Upper Taos Box. It’s hard to believe that there is whitewater in such a flat part of the desert, but this section of the Rio Grande has carved a beautiful gorge into the northern NM landscape. The water was warm, and the rapids complimented the scenery in amazing fashion. Another great desert run.

The next morning we drove north to the city of Durango, home of the lower Animas. After a quick talk with some locals about why the runs in the area where so high including the classic Vallecito creek we were directed to the first gorge of lime creek. After some scouting and realizing the time of day and water level, we opted for a retreat to the high in the sky city of Silverton, the headwaters of the legendary Animas. After a couple local brews we hatched the plan to run the 26.8 mile of the Animas from Silverton to the Rockwood Box. The next morning we woke to 28 degrees F, 70 mph winds, and beautiful sunshine. Not to be deterred from our goal, we decided to pack for the adventure and possible cold weather overnighter. We ran about 14 miles of our goal before the ice on our drytops and pogies got to thick to paddle in and we hopped the train from needlton to Silverton, a very neat if not pricey shuttle, but at the time the only option before hypothermia.

Feeling defeated by the weather and lack of cold water experience, we headed over through the snow storm to the town of Ouray, where we found an excellent low elevation creek run in the Ucompaghre. Short sweet and very fast is the nature of this run and we enjoyed a little redemption from the mornings upset.

In looking back we still ran thirteen mile of the Animas including a rapid named no name that I think rivals any river not creek rapid that I have run to date. So maybe the Animas adventure was not such a let down.
After the Ucompaghre we headed into the town of Gunnison in preparation for the Crested Butte Quadruple Crown. This Trophy includes the Upper East, the Daisy, The Slate, and the crown jewel, Oh-be-joyful. After a speedy descent of the upper east we headed to the next drainage over to begin the last part of the crown, only to find that the storm that had caused us such strife on the Animas had locked all the snow down, leaving the other three of the 4 creeks nothing but glorified trickles. Slightly discouraged we headed east to Buena Vista, CO.

Here in the Arkansas drainage we decided to take it easy with a short river-not-creek section of the Ark. We had heard legends of the Pine Creek section, and decided that would make a great evening jaunt. The river was beautiful and at the best level to make the Pine Creek Rapid as scary as possible. What a great rapid. As described in the guide book, “what every class four run needs…a great class five rapid! Feeling satisfied after our run through this great section of river, we settled into our bags under a sky so bright with stars falling asleep was tough!

The next morning we awoke in the clear creek wilderness with expectations of creeking. Again that storm only a few days earlier had foiled us. Clear was empty! What to do? Head back to the Arkansas of course. This time with a little more daylight, we decided to run from Pine Creek through the Numbers. Again what a great run.

Our plans for the next few days are up in the air depending on what weather does, so we will where that takes us.

We look forward to checking on with you soon!
Steve and Brian.

Tue 5 Jun 2007
Posted by Erajuliet

Monday afternoon Brian and Steve took off for their 2007 adventure–paddling in the southwest.  With an ambitious itinerary (they may have mentioned paddling every river in New Mexico and Colorado if I heard them correctly!), they needed to get to their destination.

Answering Machine Message #1: “Are we there yet?�

Answering Machine Message #2: “Woodrow Oklahoma�

Answering Machine Message #3: “Texas/Oklahoma State Line�

Answering Machine Message #4: “Sunset in Amarillo.�

They must be on the river now, no more messages on the answering machine! But before they left, they promised updates to make us all jealous.