Washington State family gets into kayaking

February 19, 2005

Here is the note they sent
me:

Good morning Eric:
I wanted to write about my son who is 11 years old from Redmond, Washington

HISTORY
My son has always been interested in sports but has had a difficult time
at
it. Tried baseball, soccer, floor hockey, basketball and every time he

really struggled at it Needless to say we found out he has an ADD disorder

which makes him not want to focus on things to long and was always not

paying attention.

Recently he showed some interest in kayaking so we
got him a cheap inflatable that we took with us on our summer vacation
last year. Well he loved this, which really surprised us since it was
just paddling around on calm water. This winter we went on a Christmas
lighting walk in our town and there were some kayakers in the river with
there boats all lighted up and singing Christmas carols. It turns out
it was the owners of Northwest Kayaks and they had started a new venture
called "outdoor adventure company" www.outdoor-adventure.org
and they were offering indoor whitewater kayaking lessons.

Well guess what, he loves this, has been doing it now
for 2 months every
Friday and is getting pretty good. He is focused, never looses direction

during his lesson and loves the people and does not want to get out of
the
water. Oh ya I should mention that it took him 5 years to learn how to
dog
paddle and kayaking has been a great motivator in advancing his swimming.

THE PUNCH LINE:
I am ready to commit to his own kayak and the Owners of Northwest Kayaks

have recommended your boats as he says you specialize in kids where most

others don’t.

PROBLEM:
Which boat to go with?

STATS:
1) We have access to our own pool 12′ by 40′ feet long and 4′ deep.
2) Weight 77 lbs, been this weight for about 2 years not big on gaining

weight
3) Height, right at 4′ 9"
3) Can swim about 1 lap in a pool
4) Can hold his breath under water for about 15 seconds.
5) Is able to roll with the hand assistance ( 5 consecutive times in a
row)
6) Has good paddling technics as he started with an instructor and has
no
bad habits to break.

Believe me this is great progress, and all in the last
2 months, I am so
proud of him!!!!!

What boat do you recommend and what gear to go with
it.

Locking forward to hearing from you

Jon, Lisa & eli
Glassinfusion / Glass Shack
Redmond, WA
http://www.glassinfusion.com