Kayaking with a 3 year old

    

 When I started kayaking last year the only thing that was bothering me about my time on the water is that I was spending time away from my family on the weekends. 

My wife and I started discussing how we could get her and my 3 year old daughter out there with me we considered briefly a tandem kayak and also a canoe but when I was able to pick up my Vapor 10xt for cheap that was the perfect solution.  I can paddle the Vapor with my daughter and my wife can use the Necky.

The Vapor XT has a huge cockpit so my daughter can sit in front of me with plenty of room so I don't have to worry about hitting her in the head with the paddle.

My biggest concern regarding kayaking with her was safety.  We got her an age appropriate PFD from LL Bean.  It has a grab loop at the back just in she falls in the water and a crotch strap so it isn't going anywhere.  I also picked up a bungee cord with carbiners at both ends so I can attach her pfd to mine in the event that we do capsize she won't get too far.

I also found a nice little padded kayak seat to make her ride a little more comfortable and to keep her off the wet floor of the kayak.  With all of our new gear we set off for the Spicket River this weekend for our first paddling trip.

I wanted to keep our first trip under two hours and keep in interesting for her so we paddled through the wildlife sanctuary where we would surely see plenty of birds and other critters.  Knowing your child's attention span is fairly important as you don't want to have to hear a child whine the whole way back to take-out.  Luckily my daughter is fairly easy going for a 3 year old so I knew a couple hour trip would not be a problem as long as we had plenty of snacks and water.

I am glad to say our first outing went flawlessly, it was a little cool and overcast but we saw plenty of nesting Great Blue Herons, Canadian Geese, Mallard Ducks, Red Winged Blackbirds and an otter or muskrat, not sure exactly what it was.

We are really looking forward to taking some longer trips later in the season when it gets warmer so we can  pack a lunch and have a nice family picnic.