Starting out - need some advice please!

[richardlawrence]

Hi,

 

I have a Prowler 13 Angler and have taken out my 4 and 6 year old girls one at a time. They love being able to look over the side at the rocks and sea weed etc.

 

We found that they could either sit on your feet out of the way or sit on your lap and help paddle. Next plan is to try one on the feet and one in the tank well (only in very calm conditions though.) Stability doesn't seem to be a problem. They just need to know not to move about (try that with a 2 year old !)

 

There is a short video on kayak fishing with kids at Big Water's Edge.

 

www.bigwatersedge.com/movies/movies.html

 

Full life jackets go without saying.

[Mark Crame]

Thanks for all the replies everyone, very good - the outrigger dea was one I'd already thought about, but taking the cane out again today with my wife I decided that it really isn't going to be either what I want or need, and that my youngest is too young for that style.

 

To clarify some points:

 

1. Fishing will be me in one, maybe a friend on the other one. I wouldn't fish with someone else on the canoe as it would make unhooking pike extremely difficult and would be foolhardy from the point of hooks, as so rightly said above.

 

2. The girls will ONLY be on the canoe when using it on the river (days out and camping trips). I do not wish to take them in the sea at all as not only could it be dangerous, they would also probably puke all over me. They would be on my lap or feet until they are older and I feel they are ready to ride in the well at the back.

 

3. Don't worry about insulting my intelligence - in things kayaking I am as thick as a plank. It's a long time since I've done any, and even then it was only half a dozen times. Treat me as though I'm thick and I'll get told what I need to hear and would appreciate the advice!! I am married, you cannot insult me!

 

4. Isn't a tandem more difficult to use solo?

 

5. Whats the difference between Prowler 13 and Prowler 15 in terms of use?

 

Going to look at the video now,

 

thanks guys, really appreciate all your help.

[GB]

I have a tarpon 140 and I have taken my 8 yr old out in the tankwell but only for fun on the beach.

 

Have you thought about 1 tandem and 1 single. My next purchase is a tandem either the tarpon 130t

 

Or the OK zest two

Edited July 3, 2006 by GB

[Yakity - Yak - u.k.]

Hi again Mark.

 

Take a long hard look at the Scrambler XT, for the price £379 you get a very versitile piece of kit.( one you may want to consider )

She will hold her own against most,including the P13.

She will be ideal for what you intend to do, and the price is good too.

 

I have just sold mine......and Im still regreting it.

 

 

http://www.bournemouthcanoes.co.uk/product...crambler-xt.htm

 

This makes a good read.

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.kayakfishingstuff.com/articles_...yak_Articles=11

 

 

Enjoy.

 

 

Bill.

Edited July 3, 2006 by Yakity - Yak - u.k.

[Mark Crame]

Excellent link on the differences between SOT's and SIK's. Made very good reading, and I'm now more able to understand the terminology! Made me more certain that I want an SOT for suitability. Also amkes me think that the Angler 13 is preferable over the 15 - if I read it right it's going to be easier to manouvre and lighter, more stable and perhaps better suited for the smaller amongst us (especially my wife). Am I right?

 

The XT Scrambler doesn't look quite as tempting - no hatches etc and looks like less of a load carrying creature, plus of course no rod holders.

 

Just trying to find out what the one I tried was...

[Mark Crame]

Oh, further to my last, it was a frenzy.

[Yakity - Yak - u.k.]

Hi Mark.

 

Glad the link was a help to you.

I sugested the XT for value for money, seeing as you may need TWO Kayaks.

If you need hatches , then the P13 is a good bet for you.

 

The Frenzy is the little brother of the Scrambler, and the Scrambler XT is the big brother to the Scrambler.

 

Good luck with your choices.

 

 

Bill.

[dingle]

 

Hi mark,

Just to throw add another one into the pot....

 

I have a OK sidekick as I have a 7year old and a three year old. As its described as a one and a half seater so the eldest goes upfront and the little one between my legs. Certainly worth considering from the family side. I have also now rigged it for fishing (theres some photos on here somewhere) and find that its a cracking boat very stable and easy to paddle out at sea and su[erb for going through the surf. As for storage there is no hatches so to speak of but a decent tank well and if your on your tod you have all the space where the front seat goes.

 

Let us know what you end up with!!

 

Dingle

[Mark Crame]

Thanks Dingle,

 

I'll not only let you know what I end up with, I'll become a regular member of the board too. Exect to see lots of pike pictures and maybe a few bass with luck. Whether or not I'll be silly enough to face the cold for a cod I very much doubt!

 

Bill, it will be two kayaks, but it's one of those purchases that starts big but is then free for a long long time, and if in a year or two we have enough of it they seem to hold their value quite well. It cost me £350 to service the car last week, money that you don't 'see' as such (but get the benefit of course) and tend to resent slightly. These should last us many many years, and as neither of us do any sports (my wife likes to run but has no-one to run with) it seems the ideal way to get fit and healthy (I'm getting lardy), get outdoors and do something together (we don't really do a lot together now, always busy with kids or working or housework etc). Being that we can involve the kids in something that is basically free and is always going to be pleasant means we have extra options available to us. I live in Lowestoft, 5 minutes walk from the sea and a quick drive to the Waveney, on the edge of the Broads so really have the ideal location to get involved with this. I have 4 months of summer to enjoy (gave up full time work last year to do a degree) and want to spend good times with my girls before they start school etc. I've got back into fishing and see the opportunities to increase drastically the available locations available to me, opportunities for picnics, camping trips, days out and all the rest and really can't understand why I haven't thought of this before. Besides, it probably would save money long term as well. To go out to an attraction is £20-£30 plus ice cream money, fish cost us maybe £50 a month (I can't be bothered to fish from the shore here much any more) and we get peace and quiet without the crowds. I really appreciated the beauty of the upper Waveney today, and can't believe it's so long since I've been up there - and never as peacefully as I always had an engine behind me before!

 

And it's so rare for my wife and I to actually agree 100% on something we'd be fools not to!

[Yakity - Yak - u.k.]

Hi Mark.

 

Good luck with your choices, and good luck to you and the family with your kayaking adventures together.

It will be nice to see you here as a regular, and look forward to seeing some pics of those Pike.

 

Cheers,.

 

Bill.