Expedition Boating with Kids

My popularity, though normally abysmal, was seriously bothering me this
spring as I then had a young chickee to impress. I bought a 16' SB and
suddenly became Mr. Popularity with the kayak bunch. I was even invited on
trips! I found the raft could carry six or seven extra drybags, food and
camping gear for everyone, and still leave room in the bow for the kayaker's
kids or non-paddling SOs. Even strapped a kayak or two on the back when the
water got too scary for those weenie boats.

On the last trip there were nine of us depending on the raft for support: 3
weenie boaters, a manly OC-2 (so full of foam that it couldn't carry its own
dunnage), and 3 adults or children, depending on who was in the tandem
canoe, in the raft besides the rower, I'd rate the load as medium; room
for a lot more gear but much over #300 more would start to seriously
deteriorate the raft's performance. I had very occasional help from two bow
paddlers, but found I could handle the class II 2000cfs rapids alone with
ease. When we hit the braids I was quite surprised to find how little we
drafted, about 5". What happened to the chickee? Well on the first trip
during that first night in the tent ...

So, I think a 16' SB would suit you wonderfully. A cat doesn't seem at all
good for handling small kids; nowhere to put them, unless you lash them into
a seat or stuff them into a river bag. And a cat is reputed to be rather a
dog when overloaded. There were also three cats (with 4 people) along with
us on the aforementioned trip and they had fun with little weight, but all
said they would have crumbled under the load of gear in the SB.

Most tripping families I know add another craft, usually a canoe or IK
(duck). Mom rows the raft and Dad takes one of the kids in the duck. Or
the two oldest kids take the duck. Or Mom and Dad...... Anyway, you get
the idea. The extra boat provides lots more variety and opportunity to gain
river skills, have 1 on 1, remove oneself from the crowd if needed, or just
play in a river feature next to camp. Because variety and entertainment,
along with constant munchies and frequent stops, are the secrets to heading
off mutiny as the kids reach walking age (that's walking away from family
outings, not toddling along).

Good luck with your upsizing, and let us know how things are going.

Padeen


"BNick" <nickens RemoveThis @kingsfan.net> wrote in message
news:a1c00dff.0310031500.600ebb44@posting.google.com...
 > Kids are new to me. I've been a pro guide over 25 years, but it's
 > always been 12-16' paddle or gear boats. We have 3 kids now (8, 4, 1)
 > and have taken the older ones on several Class II trips. Next year we
 > want to do some overnighters on rivers like the East Carson, SF
 > American, Lower NF&MF American, Putah Ck, and 4-8 day expeditions on
 > the Rogue, Yampa, John Day, Eel in the next couple years.
 >
 > We did fine on an overnigther (2 adults/1 kid )with a 14' oar rig, but
 > it's gonna be getting tighter. Especially the boys want to bring
 > friends.
 >
 > Thinking about adding a larger boat to the fleet, just wonder how
 > others have done with 16' SB's or 16-18' cats. I'm imagining
 > (dreading?) carrying 2 adults, 4 kids under 10, a 120 qt cooler, dry
 > box, and 6-8 med-lg drybags. I'm leaning towards a cat, but not sure
 > which combination of frame modules would be best. What are your
 > suggestions?<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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