Children's Kayaks

[Martin Spurling]

Does anyone know of plans for a small (age 5-10years) child's kayak? I have plans for a sea kayak but can find nothing smaller (6-7'?)

[Canoez]

I'll be Thorne this morning...

Can you tell us a little bit about the intended use for the kayak and what type of construction method you plan to use? Also, what is the weight of the paddler? (min-max as they grow...)

[Ian McColgin]

Slightly modify the ubiquitous one-sheet plywood double-ended canoe-bateau.

With end bulkheads holding foamed in place flotation you'll have something that will float like a happy bathtup if swamped, opening up huge domains of games for a couple of kids, a retriever or Newfie, and an adult swimmer.

I found in games like this with kids that young that backstroking along with painter in hand gave the boat movement that the kid's arms on the paddle were not yet coordinated or strong enough to do, and they developed faster for that.

As in swimming lessons for children that young, you want one fully trained and competant adult swimmer for each child. I've done things with two, but that's pushing it and I don't recommend it until after the children have at least been drown-proofed.

Edited to add: Young children learn at an astonishing rate, sometimes to the surprise of their parents. A friend was bringing her then 7 year old daughter for a week's cruise and they were having a furious argument about wearing the PFD. Striking an artful compromise I suggested PFD if out of the cockpit when under weigh but no PFD on deck when ahchored if the girl could swim around the boat unassisted. I dove in as escort, she dove in, and we swam around Granuaile thrice before setting out to go round a couple of other moored boats. Her mom just had not seen how much good those winter pool sessions had done.

A boat like this - or even a knock-off surf board (plank with shaped ends) - makes the right sort of water craft for the budding mariner.

[Woxbox]

I built a Bolger "Minimal Kayak" with (for?) my son when he was just a bit older than that. It worked out great. Easy to build and very stable for a kayak. The cockpit is very easy to get in and out of, the ends are totally enclosed so it can't flood -- and it paddles better than you'd expect, too.

[Roy Morford]

Post your question on this board and you'll have the benefit of some really amazing kayak building expertise.

http://www.kayakforum.com/cgi-bin/Building/index.cgi

[Canoez]

I was going to suggest a tack-and tape sheet plywood boat or a simple canvas covered frame kayak in the tradition of Popular Mechanics or the like. Both are fairly quick and inexpensive builds and you could size them to the child. Innuit style skin-on-frame kayaks built from books by the likes of Robert Morris, Christopher Cunningham and Mark Starr can be an excellent choice because they are built to the child's body size. The downside is that they quickly outgrow things at this age.

Ian and Wox both bring up several excellent points:

Good flotation is required - for both boat and child. Don't forget a PFD! (...and be a good role model - be sure to wear yours!)
A large cockpit opening is almost a requirement.
One adult per child would be my minimum coverage - who will help you, as the adult, if you need to be rescued?
Whatever the situation, you should be able to get the child back into the boat on the water if need be, multiple boats or another more stable rescue boat are a good idea.

I'd add that the boat should be lightweight for the child to handle and ideally simple so that they can help with either the build of the boat or the "personalizing" of the boat with decoration of some sort. One big beef that I have is that there are not good child-sized paddles and you should probably build these, too.

[keyhavenpotterer]

Tom Yost's site is superb for home kayak building and he has a number of small designs.

http://www.yostwerks.com/DesignsMenu.html

Sea Flea is 11'

http://www.yostwerks.com/Sawyer1.jpg

Brian

[David G]

Or, another approach might be one of Gavin Atkin's Mouseboats:

http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/gavin/mouse/index.htm

http://www.geocities.com/mouseboat51/

Great kids boats, and easier, perhaps, to handle than a kayak for a youngster?

[DGentry]

I have to second the Tom Yost SOF kayak recommendation. www.yostwerks.com (http://www.yostwerks.com)
His non-folding, wooden framed kids kayaks are great, and can be built in just a week or so of part time work, for less than $100.

OK, that's great, but more importantly, your kid will be getting a real kayak, that performs and rolls just like, or better than, an adult sized kayak. And they are so light that kids have no problem carrying them to the water, etc.

Removable training wheels (outriggers) are a great option for very little kids, and I've even seen them with a removable brace that rigidly attaches them to Dad's kayak, with space enough between the two so that they can both paddle. Sorry, my pics of that are on another computer....

Anyway, it'd be hard to go wrong with one of these. I fully intend to make some for all of my friend's kids.

Good luck, in any case. It's a worthy endeavour no matter what you end up making!
Dave Gentry

[LeeG]

I don't have plans but it's something you can make up. I used a 4x8sheet of 4mm okoume and made exactly what Ian described, weighed about 22lbs. A pirough with big flotation bulkheads so the back rest was the bulkhead. I had to use some extra ply for the bulkheads. Worked for under 75lb paddler, suitably tippy and wouldn't go in a straight line without corrective strokes.

[2MeterTroll]

skin on frame and take the measurements of the kids them selves. carefully add a little bit of length. like 5 inches. this will make a boat that is sized correctly and is lite enough for the kids to carry around and launch them selves. the thing to remember about kids in small boats is the kids will adapt faster that you would believe.

[Ymepointer]

My son built a little dubber last year, when he was 11. It was very simple to put together, Stitch and glue method. weighed about 25 lbs and is about 7 feet long, and 32 inches wide, so very stable.

Here is a link to a few pics of it

http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/ymepointer/Calebs%20Kayak/

[Ian McColgin]

The current WoodenBoat (#207) displays just what I mean under "Launchings." The child looks about 5.

[keyhavenpotterer]

Tom Yost now has an inflatable kayak for kids

http://www.yostwerks.com/Sonnet10A.html

http://www.yostwerks.com/Sonnet10A.jpg

Brian

[Woxbox]

This thread brings back a bit of nostalgia. Here's me and my two sons messing about up at Lake Richardson in Maine about 16 years ago. The kayak is the Bolger minimal kayak built from the information in the Payson book. It meets the requirements Ian put forth and got a lot of use. What surprised me was that the older son had no trouble keeping up with my wife and I paddling a two-person foldup kayak. The theorists would say the hard chines and short waterline would make it slow. Well, too slow to race, but not too slow to keep up with parents who aren't in a hurry.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/Woxbox/Bolgerkayak.jpg