Steve,

Andrew (proud owner of his own recently launched SOF http://129.101.15.9/Albums/Saturday/P9130112.sized.jpg ) is also 10 years old. His reach is also about 65", which is the length of the first GP I carved. He prefers a paddle that Bob Kelim made that is just under 72" (with a blade width of 2 7/8"). From watching him paddle with both, the longer seems to me to be a better fit for him. His stroke looks more natural with it and it also gives him a little more leverage in our rolling lessons. (in the picture in the link he is using the 65" paddle). I just asked him which he prefers and why -- he said "I like Mr. Kelim's paddle because it is a bit longer and I can go faster with it." Andrew is to the point where he can comfortably drop to a balance brace and he is now working on being able to sit up from a side scull.

And, Calder is looking good there. It has been fun tracking the status of your project with these boats. Please to be sure to keep us updated on the progress of the skills development aspect of the project.

-John D.

: Here's a picture of Calder, my 10 year old son beginning to learn to roll in
: his new Tom Yost designed Sea Pup. The pool we were in was all of about 9
: feet wide, so this is about as far as he got. Our neighbor gave us some
: lessons, and I rolled for my first time. This weekend we're going to a
: much bigger pool, and Calder hopes to roll all the way. I think he'll make
: it. I'm starting to build my first Greenland paddle, and I have plenty of
: design advice for that, but I'd also like to make one for Calder, and I
: have my doubts that the traditional measuring methods will work in
: miniature. He can reach to about 65", (he's small for his age) and I
: just think a paddle that short may not work very well. I'd think his
: paddle ought to be more like 72", but that's just an uninformed
: guess. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
: By the way- if you recall, we were building four Sea Pups all at once- so
: here's a little update. Two were finished pretty quickly, but two still
: remain incomplete. I'm sort of taking over the work on one of them, as the
: dad is just too busy to get to it right now, and I'd like the boy to have
: it to paddle, and also I'd like to get it out of my garage! Sean comes
: over to play with Calder, so I rope him into helping me on it. Getting
: pretty close. The other one will probably get finished late in October,
: when my buddy can find time to come work on it. Why is it that people put
: dumb things, like income, and school, and marital harmony- above the
: important stuff- like building kayaks, for instance? Like I should talk.
: I'm out there building some boring furniture for a client, and I keep
: gazing wistfully at my barely begun Greenland paddle. Sigh.