We are looking for a board for flat water work with 1 or 2 kids on as passengers. It will be used on the lake 99.9% of the time with maybe 1 or 2 ocean paddles a year. When on a family paddle my wife would use it with the kids on and I will ride a 12' board. Is a 14' board going to be big enough or should I be focusing on the longer boards.

What are my choices... DC's, Laguna bay, Lahui Kai? How do they all compare? I would prefer to buy second hand.

I think there's a new big Laird board coming that's about 34-36" wide.. That'd be good.

How big are the kids?

DJ

Kids are 3 and 6 years old. Wife is about 57kg and has good balance. I'm 95kg and will take the kids with me occasionally.

We tried a tried a 17 Lahui Kai race board and it felt very stable. I think I'm leaning towards the longer boards.

Does anyone know how wide the DC 17's are?

Thats exactly what I'm talking about doing, thanks for the pics mate! The Suction cup handle is a brilliant idea. What brand of board is that? What width is it?

The board is 16"5" x 28" wide. Dean Snow made it for me ... he is "LSD" on this forum.
www.seabreeze.com.au/Members/Profile/Details.aspx?member=LSD

It has a fixed fin. I wouldn't worry about a steering system, as Ive never had a problem turning it. Even my 6 year old can paddle it and turn it around. The little fellow can even walk to the nose and paddle it standing 2 inches from the nose!

I would have two fins. One for the river (the cleaver), where it may get shallow and weedy, and one for the ocean to catch swells on (11 inch).



The kids love it. We have been taking a picnic lunch in the "dry bag" and set off for an adventure. Lately, the boys have been pretending they are pirates, and we are hunting for treasure.

Great fun and fitness when the surf isnt happening.

I've had a Jimmy Lewis Distance for a couple of years and it is a great cruising board with the kids. I've had three kids on it and still paddled fairly fine. My two boys and I regularly load and go!