There's no question — canoeing with kids is a different ballgame

For a brief period when I was a first-time parent, I had actually convinced myself that the finely tuned canoeing machine that was my wife, Marypat, and I — oiled and honed through many years and countless miles of wilderness canoeing — needed no retooling just because a child had entered the picture. Like I said, this was a short-lived notion.

The delusion ended abruptly on a local riverbank at the start of our first multi-day canoe trip as a family. Our son, Eli, at the fledgling age of four months, right there and then let me know exactly what he thought of the personal flotation device (aka life vest) I'd purchased for him. He set off an uproar worthy of a car alarm — and nobody could find the"off" switch.

	The Big Decisions Type of Canoe Method of Packing Comfort while Afloat and Ashore The Right Clothes How Many Tents? Sleeping Gear

Had I brought Eli to the store with me when I bought his life jacket, I would have known right away to investigate other options. The design, which looked perfectly sensible in the store, constricted my son so he resembled nothing less than a misbehaving Pilgrim strapped to the"stocks."

Other hard lessons followed, especially as our family grew to five and we continued to canoe. Does life on the water change when children are added to the equation? You bet, which means that your preparations for getting out on the water have to change as well. Equipping and organizing a family canoe adventure — whether it's an overnighter or a three-weeker — require considerations new to any canoer who is now a parent. Trust me, it's not an easy job, but the rewards far exceed the hassles.

Following is what I've learned so far that can help you.

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Alan Kesselheim is a writer who lives in Montana. His family of five just returned from a three-week, 230-mile canoe trip down the Nanutak River in northwest Alaska.