Bob’s Canoe Rental, Inc.
(631) 269- 9761
* I run a day camp, and want
to bring my day campers *
There are 2 different trips for Day Camps on the
Five Mile River Trip
The five mile river trip is our standard trip for everyone else, except day camps, very young school groups, younger scout groups, etc.. This trip is available on more days than the
Short Trip, because there are more tides
that work well (See schedule, or
call). You start on one end of the
river, and canoe to the other end. This does not happen automatically. It requires appropriate behavior, some
discipline, some organization, some skills,
and a serious effort on the part of all concerned to make it work. There is no easy way to pull out early, no easy way to cut the trip short. All of the councilors are expected to stay
with their assigned children, and all of the children are expected to paddle their boat to the
end. We do have day camps that come
each year and make this trip and love it.
They are the ones that have experienced paddlers on their staff. If you do not have people with canoeing or
kayaking experience, then start with
the Two Mile Trip.
Two Mile Short Trip
This is the recommended trip for Day Camps. Because of the Tides, the
The first boat out is the Lead Guide (one of our staff). We lead the group down the River. The rest follow behind, each councilor staying with his assigned campers.
At the very end comes the Backup Guide (can be a responsible person on
your staff, or you can hire one of our
guys) whose job it is to stay in the
last position and help any of the weaker
paddlers who might need help. The Lead
Guide paddles down the River about a
mile or a mile and a half. When he
feels the time and tide are right, he
will turn the group around, and head
back to the launch site. He then
becomes the Sweep Guide, staying
last, making sure that everyone comes
safely in, in front of him.
Lunch is usually accomplished when the canoes come in, but sometimes it is done before the boats are
launched. It all depends on what time
you get there, and what time is high
tide. Everything on the Nissequogue
River goes by the tides. Even lunch.
OK.
Here’s some things you ought to know
Bob’s Canoe Rental, Inc has been
renting canoes and kayaks to Day Camps for over thirty years. Some Day Camps love it, and come every year. Some Day Camps come once, hate it, and never come again. We want you to love it. This Page is an attempt to define exactly how
to successfully canoe the
Safety first
There are three
basic safety rules
Rule one- the lifejacket rule. On
a day camp trip, we expect everyone to
wear a lifejacket. We mean
everyone. We mean the camp
director, all of the councilors, the
swim instructor, everyone. When one
person takes lifejacket off, it spreads
like wildfire, and everyone starts to
take them off. The end result is that
the very weakest campers, or the non
swimming campers, will wind up not
wearing a life jacket due to the old “…but everybody’s taking them off”
syndrome. So, even if you are a good swimmer, wear yours anyway, and be a good example for the kids.
Rule two - no bare feet. Everyone has to wear old sneakers or water
shoes.
Rule three- appropriate
behavior. Now this one is a mystery to
me, how you get a bunch of kids and
semi-adult counselors to exhibit appropriate behavior, but some day camp leaders are very good at
it. I will tell you this, the more horsing around you allow the more
chance there is that someone will get hurt.
Splashing one another with the paddles and turning canoes over on
purpose are strictly forbidden. If they want to swim and splash, take them to a water park.
Pre trip instruction
It ain’t rocket science, but…..all day
campers should know a few basics before they get into a canoe or kayak. Stuff like how to get in and out without
turning over, for starters. They should
be shown how to hold a paddle, and how
to make a stroke that makes the boat go foreword, or backward,
or right or left. They need to
know what to do if the boat tips over
and they find themselves in the water.
If we are going to the
Do instruction beforehand
We can and will go over the above stuff in the field on the
morning of the canoe trip, of course,
but it is better by far to do an instructional session beforehand. The most successful canoe trips are the ones
where the leaders thoroughly prepare the children for the experience.
Organization is the key to
success
Organize
the trip before you go. Your very
best, most competent, most reliable person should
be in charge of the last
canoe. This is the sweep position, bringing up the rear, and it is toughest job of all. The responsibility of the sweep boat is to make
sure that all the other boats make it to the end, and in so doing, they get to help all the weaker and less
skilled paddlers. The sweep boat starts last, and
stays last, and they don’t come in until every other boat is in.
Second in importance is the lead boat.
This is usually an easy job. The
lead canoeist should have enough paddling experience that they can stay ahead of every one and enough
authority to prevent anyone from passing.
Knowing where you are going is helpful,
too, of course, but not absolutely necessary, as most reasonably intelligent people can
find their way down the river.
In between the Lead Boat and the Sweep Boat, each councilor should try to keep the campers
assigned to him in sight, in front of
him, so that he can help, if need be.
Explain to the councilors them beforehand that although they should have
a good time themselves, they are really
along to help the children. So if they
see a boat in trouble, they should stop
and help.
Along those lines, it sometimes
happens that the weakest, most giggley
girls or the most un-outdoorsy guys will wind up in the same boat
together, and just can’t seem to make
any headway. It sometimes becomes
necessary for a councilor to pull over and switch paddlers to and from different boats in order to get everyone
going.
Guides Available
if you
have no experienced paddlers on your staff,
you may want to hire a guide or two.
Release Forms
* available on Home Page *
have each participant
print one out and sign
I love to help plan Day Camp
trips!
Call me-
(631) 269- 9761
Bob’s Canoe Rental, Inc.