Troy76 wrote:
Since having kids my wife and I haven't been able to get out in the
rivers as much. We have a 2 and 5 yr old. 2 years ago I saw a pontoon
fishing boat at Sportsman's Warehouse that had a smaller seat behind
the main seat...perfect for a child. Of course now we can't find this
model and none of the sporting goods shops has seen anything similar in
their catalogs. We want something that is very portable and doesn't
require 2 people to put in or operate (sometimes we like to go out on
the water by ourselves).

I would reverse the order of seating by having the child in front of
you
where you could more easily reach them.


For those of you with small children, how have you dealt with this
situation? Did you just quit enjoying the rivers until they were
older? Or did the kids stay home with the other parent or a
babysitter?

We want to go out as a family on the rivers rather than leave the kids
at home with a babysitter. My wife works full time and I'm in college
full time so time with our kids is important.

Thanks for your input...\Troy76 wrote:

We solved this problem by getting a raft. It allowed us to carry just
about
anything we would have every needed and enabled us to do some extended
trips. A raft is roomy, incredibly stable, and very forgiving.

We started with flat water trips and worked up to moderate whitewater
over
the years. As a self guided tripper, one is always very conservative
when your
entire family is on a trip. Then we added inflatable kayaks (IK). My
daughter
and I would paddle one and my wife in another. When my daughter was
old
enough, she got her own IK

One can find a used raft for a very reasonable cost. And one can always
rent
one if you are planning a trip.

Blakely

---
Blakely LaCroix
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

"The best adventure is yet to come"