February 19, 2005

Here is the note they sent me:

Good morning Eric:
I wanted to write about my son who is 11 years old from Redmond, Washington

HISTORY
My son has always been interested in sports but has had a difficult time at it. Tried baseball, soccer, floor hockey, basketball and every time he really struggled at it Needless to say we found out he has an ADD disorder which makes him not want to focus on things to long and was always not paying attention.

Recently he showed some interest in kayaking so we got him a cheap inflatable that we took with us on our summer vacation last year. Well he loved this, which really surprised us since it was just paddling around on calm water. This winter we went on a Christmas lighting walk in our town and there were some kayakers in the river with there boats all lighted up and singing Christmas carols. It turns out it was the owners of Northwest Kayaks and they had started a new venture called "outdoor adventure company" www.outdoor-adventure.org and they were offering indoor whitewater kayaking lessons.

Well guess what, he loves this, has been doing it now for 2 months every Friday and is getting pretty good. He is focused, never looses direction during his lesson and loves the people and does not want to get out of the water. Oh ya I should mention that it took him 5 years to learn how to dog paddle and kayaking has been a great motivator in advancing his swimming.

THE PUNCH LINE:
I am ready to commit to his own kayak and the Owners of Northwest Kayaks have recommended your boats as he says you specialize in kids where most others don't.

PROBLEM:
Which boat to go with?

STATS:
1) We have access to our own pool 12' by 40' feet long and 4' deep.
2) Weight 77 lbs, been this weight for about 2 years not big on gaining
weight
3) Height, right at 4' 9"
3) Can swim about 1 lap in a pool
4) Can hold his breath under water for about 15 seconds.
5) Is able to roll with the hand assistance ( 5 consecutive times in a row)
6) Has good paddling technics as he started with an instructor and has no
bad habits to break.

Believe me this is great progress, and all in the last 2 months, I am so
proud of him!!!!!

What boat do you recommend and what gear to go with it.

Locking forward to hearing from you

Jon, Lisa & eli
Glassinfusion / Glass Shack
Redmond, WA
http://www.glassinfusion.com