The Preparation

I had enthusiastically bought a kids’ paddleboard 2 years ago (Thurso Surf Prodigy Junior, 7 feet 6), thinking it would be awesome to paddle with the boys. But after a few attempts, Big Bro just couldn’t get the hang of it yet. The board was unceremoniously tucked away in storage most of the time.

Thanks to Tina’s maximal effort in booking and chaperoning dozens of swimming lessons this year, both Big Bro and Middle Bro developed a liking to swimming. Big Bro became especially comfortable in the water with a life jacket, being able to swim around independently. I thought he was ready for a re-attempt at paddleboarding and he agreed.

Getting to Buntzen Lake in 2024

Buntzen Lake is one of the most beginner-friendly places to paddle near Vancouver. The problem with Buntzen is that everyone knows it’s one of the most beginner-friendly places to paddle near Vancouver. A day-pass reservation system was introduced in 2022 due to the crazy demand. Before the pass system, we were turned away at the gate so often that we stopped trying to go to Buntzen Lake all together.

This time, we managed to book an all-day pass. It’s easier said then done though: the website froze for 5 minutes for both Tina and me at 7:00am due to the overwhelming demand. I eventually refreshed and saw that a full day pass was still available and grabbed it. Tip for future reference: make sure you are logged on and had your car registered before 7am, because I was stuck on the account login step on one occasion. The system was supposed to send out a verification code but it never did.

All the remaining passes were snatched up soon after we got ours. I think people started to get through as the web traffic lessened between 7:05 to 7:10am. Our friends Amy and Marcus only got a morning half-day pass so had to leave by 2pm. Unfortunately another friend who wanted to come with us couldn’t get a pass. The reservation system works well for one family, but it also rules out Buntzen Lake as a social destination for a group of families, because it’s almost guaranteed that some of the families will not get a pass. Unless they are willing to take a bus.

It sure was nice to arrive leisurely late in the morning knowing that there’s a parking spot waiting for us though!

Big Bro’s Big Day on the Water

The reputation of Buntzen Lake being beginner-friendly for paddleboarding has spread. There were at least a hundred paddleboards on the shore and on the water in the afternoon. It’s not a big deal, as my plan for the day was not to enjoy my own thoughts in quiet serenity, but to play with the kids on the water.

And play we did!

Only a few minutes after being pulled away from the busy shallows and unhooked from my tether, Big Bro got on his feet and started paddling! He was doing some powerful strokes too. New achievement unlocked!

At first he was spinning around because he angled his paddle too far away, but after a single tip, he switched to paddling with the padle straight up, vastly improving his tracking.

After some initial trepidation, Big Bro joined me in the lake and enjoyed some open water swimming. In fact, he enjoyed swimming so much he didn’t want to get back on the board. Tina’s hard work paid off in spades.

As the afternoon winds had arrived, Big Bro paddled himself down wind, but had to be towed on the return. Towing him on the fixed D ring created frequent jerking movement, which was greatly reduced when I tethered him onto the flexible bungee cords.

After lunch, we paddled some more, this time with Baby Bro on my board. Baby Bro proceeded to fall asleep after no more than 5 minutes. All the kids have perfected their ability to nap on my paddleboard. On the return towing leg, Big Bro also crashed and slept soundly with the gentled rocking and bumping of the waves. We got a lot of compliments on the water.

Needless to say, I was one proud father this day.

After an early dinner, we even had a chance to let Tina practice paddling too! It’s the only way to get better: grabbing any chance to practice, even for just 20 minutes.

Now that we know Big Bro can handle himself both on and off the board, and Tina can carry a kid on the board, my dream of paddle camping with the whole family is inching closer…