The kayak is a CNC Kayaks Shrike-R reduced to 2/3 size build, slightly longer than 3 meters, built for up a paddler up to 45kg, and about 140 cm height. The paddler is 5 years 9 months old, at 118 cm and 20 kgs weight.
Special thanks to Alexander Pavlikov (Aspid), the maker of both boat and paddle, Christopher and Nick Crowhurst (CNC Kayaks) for the Shrike project, and Christopher Reed(Reed Chillcheater) for a custom child skirt and Fyodor Mygun for original Nivkh Nation artwork.
Background to the photograph:
Today was a special day. The weather looked iffy, but there are always calm spots on the Island so we went out to test Katya’s first own boat. It turned out to be a blast. The speed with which the children adopt to new things surprised me once again, in about 30 minutes I was challenged to a kayak race.