From: "Michael O'Flynn" <moflynn@sd23.bc.ca>
To: <baidarka@lists.intelenet.net>
Subject: baidarka 'Yaks for little'uns
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 21:48:57 -0700
Greetings to all after some silence on my part.
We took our Putz-style boat (is that a Greenland style?) out several times
this summer (I'm kind of a leisure paddler...), and I was very pleased to
see my 5 year old take to the 17 foot boat like his 8 year old brother.
Both are very confident in the water and love taking the boat out.
I'd like to know some people's opinions on down-sizing Putz's boat to suit
the boys better, or should I just leave it full size, and make it a boat
they'll be able to keep, rather than one we'll eventually give over?
I'm not in any screaming hurry to start, but one of my students _finally_
"took up the gauntlet" and decided to build a boat using my frames/stations
and "vast knowledge." He tried my boat on the water last Friday, pronounced
it "sweet," and "beautiful," and asked when he could start.
Personally, I found it very frustrating when I'd finished my kayak that
instead of saying, "Wow, that seemed easy, I'd like to build one," that most
students said, "Wow, that looks really hard, I couldn't do that."
- Michael O'Flynn
Technology Teacher
KLO Secondary
3130 Gordon Drive
Kelowna, BC V1W 3M4
ph: 250-762-2841
FAX: 250-762-4537
e-mail: moflynn@sd23.bc.ca