First time you held a paddle in your hand?

evergreen · 10-31-2010, 02:06 PM

I myself was 12 I think and my older brother let me the paddle, we ended up going in a circle for about fifteen minutes to a half an hour till I got my strokes synchronized and we actually started moving forward

, how about you?

woodsman · 10-31-2010, 02:18 PM

I think it was a canoe so it was a little bit easier to handle and I was probably around 14, been loving it ever since, what can I say water is my element. All tough getting a raft to handle the way I wanted it the first time around was also a bit tricky, guess it's somewhat harder when you are new to it.

hikingprincess · 10-31-2010, 03:43 PM

I think I was 16 and we were canoeing as well. I was pretty well versed in how to paddle though so I did not have too much trouble getting going. I have been hooked ever since.

dinosaur · 11-01-2010, 05:27 AM

I was a kid on a canoe trip with my Dad. I was up front providing the power strokes, my Dad in the rear doing the steering. Dad is gone now but I still have the canoe he left me.

lbean · 11-01-2010, 01:43 PM

I have been canoeing since I was a baby. I can not remember the first time that I held a paddle in my hand. I know by the time I was 8 and my sister was 9 she and I could do the paddling on our own pretty well.

Path · 11-01-2010, 02:16 PM

I have no idea how old I was. It was my second BSA camp out - wood paddle in an aluminum 17' canoe.

FireBuilder · 11-02-2010, 08:19 PM

I remember paddling with my dad when I was a kid. It took me a long time to figure out why we always started by going upstream first. Finally he said, we can start downstream if you want, but then you are paddling back by yourself. Lesson learned!

paloma · 11-11-2010, 04:16 AM

I was about 20 when I held a paddle in my hands. I thought it was so easy to paddle but my upper arms and shoulders hurt a lot the next day.

kasters · 11-11-2010, 07:02 AM

I was 7, we had just gotten our first aluminum canoe, and I still have that canoe! I actually got to watch it being made at the manufacturer.

Circuitrider · 11-12-2010, 12:31 PM

I was 7 or 8 on a trip with my dad and my brother who was 10 or 11. We paddled down the Clarion River - or should I say my dad paddled and Ricky and I floated along behind holding on to a rope tied to the Gruman. Good times and started my 40 some year love for canoeing.