C-Forum

The favorite boat thread is great. It and other recent threads where list members have bemoaned their advancing ages (and added weights) has caused me to wonder about the demographics of single bladers. Recently on a NRG trip Paul Joffrion and I were brainstorming ways to get more young people interested in canoeing. There were four open boats on that trip. Kevin Kelly as a 30 something was by far the youngest, netxt 46, then 52. I, of course, at 62 "won" the contest (prize = week's supply of Ibuprophen). I wonder if a thread based on current ages and how long we have been paddling might serve as a platform for a discussion about how to attract young paddlers to the vast rewards of spending countless painful hours on your knees. Here goes: I'm 62. Started paddling in 1988. Paddled K-1 for ten years. Swung both ways for a couple of years. Last seven seasons single blade only.

I'm 69.
Started paddling a Gruman aluminum canoe in 1967.
Switched to a kayak in 1977.
Saw the error in my ways and switched to a C-1 in 1979.
Got bored with the C-1 around 1988 and switched to open canoes.

Been there, done that.
Still paddling most of it.

Jim

I'm 31

Starting "paddling" in 1979 (yes, whitewater), OC2 with my father
OC2'd mostly, though there was a short period (3 years?) I owned a kayak (Perception Reflex)
Switched to C1 when I realized they existed in 1994 or so.
It's been many rivers...and many boats...since.

Still learning, having fun, and now designing and building boats.

Probably (although I'm not sure) the youngest to check this board regularly, I'm 16. Started paddling open boat (esquif Spark) two and a half years ago. Started paddling C-1 this past spring.

Nate

I'm 38 started in a bell wildfire 2002

I'm a 23 year old female and people ask all the time what the heck I'm doing in an open boat. I started paddling with the Girl Scouts when I was 13 in Grummans and continued to paddle class I-II, race, and do slalom in tandem Grummans until I finished high school. When I kept paddling it just seemed natural to keep going in an open boat.

I think outreach to youth groups who can use canoes is the easiest way to get the younger set into open boats. Kayaks (or C1s) are cheaper, smaller, and more practical for most high school and college-aged people.

Interesting thought (school groups and such).

I've tried for years to get folks interested, and though I've gotten a few folks to try CBoats (and a few yakkers to switch), few of the "younger" (under 18) folks have seemed interested. But, then again, when I was that age I was the only one in my entire high school that paddled in the Whitewater Derby, and that is a big deal in our town (this year was the 50th, as you may recall).

Nice to see some age dispersion here:)

Without trying to hijack the thread (which I started) specific to age demographics of the list; most newbies I talk to would like to see an entry level boat with a point of purchase in the $500-600 range. May not be a reality. Or a "Try before you Buy" option available through those offering instruction or boats for sale or even paddling clubs or organizations. No doubt K-1 is a cheaper and easier venue to enter: especailly considering the larger inventory of used equipment available.

Age : 39

Started at 20 or so with an occasional trip on a lake in a Grumman, then got the hook set at about 21 by my future father-in-law, then bought my first whitewater boat in 1991 (an ME at the GAF). Paddled OC-1 exclusively til I picked up the C-1 about 5 years later, Kind of took an OC-1 rebound about 2 years ago.

I'm 55. First paddled a canoe when Dwight D Eisenhower was President. Don't seem to have learned much since.

20.
started whitewater tripping when I was 11, then went to the arctic when I was 15, and 19, here we are...started OC1 2 years ago, then went to a C1 1.5 years ago, been training seriously for 8 months...
cheers
-isaac

38
Started canoe tripping through a summer camp at about age 14, and tripped a lot for about 10 years.
Paused from canoeing for a few years when I moved to the west coast where there's no wilderness canoeing and the rivers are steep & cold.

Started doing a bit of ww in about '99, started doing more in the past 5 years after I got a solo "playboat" (a 13'10" OT Otter). Just getting into C-1.

A local canoe club is what got me into whitewater, but we have a hard time getting new, young recruits.

PY.

I'm 54. I and my wife bought a used aluminum canoe the year we married and started paddling WW then. that was in 75. We did relatively easy class I and II, the Cacapon and North Rivers in Virginia. We then moved to Boston and I spent 15 years away from paddling. I started paddling again in 94 in borrowed tandem OC's and them bought an XL 13 in 97. The difference in the paddling experience between 75 and 97 was that the majority of paddlers I encountered now were serious paddlers with helmets and wearing PFD's. Technique was as important has having fun. In 2000 I bought a GyroMax and a year later my Atom and Viper C-1's. I have rarely paddled an open boat since. The only thing I regret is that I have become so obsessed with the technique that I think it puts people off.
Jim Michaud has been able to keep more of the fun spirit of paddling in focus, maybe it is just getting past the point of feeling you need to improve your technique. For young people I wonder if there is a little intimidation about all the gear and the focus we put in the days paddle.
Well I hope to see you on the river, I'll be out there this weekend and all I can till it freezes over.

Jim

I'm 35. no, wait. 34.

Bin-padaleen (sounds like a terrorist dont it) since.. 2003 I think. I needed back surgery, and my doctor said, "whatever you do don't do wctivities where you twist, lift and bend" I looked away quickly and nodded. mhm.

Dumbest thing I ever did was not get into this when i was younger! ... or living in Lyon, France at Hawaii-sur-Rhone!
________
Toyota Avalon (Concept) Specifications

Started canoeing in '72, and bought my first c-boat, a Hahn, in '74. Nice boat, but heavy and breaky. Switched to a Sage in about '80. Less breaky, less handling. Sage became "Miss Piggy" to my paddling crowd. Miss Piggy began cracking up by '84, but I had bought a Phoenix "Slipper" or Seewun by then. At first the handling was a revelation, though now I realize my weight was too far forward and the boat needed more rocker. Still, I ran many rivers in it, up until the mid 90s.

I had always wanted a slalom boat, and in '96 I acquired the first-out-of-the-mold, high rocker Zealot from Adam Clawson. This became my favorite boat, even though I have little racing skill, and now I am too heavy for the boat, and my knees don't bend that much anymore.

Bought a Synergy in '97, and while my wife and I never could do that well paddling tandem, the Synergy proved to be both a good "leaded bat" for weekend runs, and an ideal platform for western trips on the San Juan and Dolores.

I will confess to owning a few kayaks. Also have a Millbrook Wide Ride c-1. Not really used to it, and wondering if I want to kneel that low.

At age 64, I do a lot of solo runs, not over class 3. I think I have become an open boater.