Dock makes a splash with paddlers
October 5, 2008
St. Clair County has launched a prototype of a kayak/canoe dock that will allow people with physical disabilities to enjoy the water.
Recreation, said Lynn Borg, vice president of the Community Foundation of St. Clair County, "is what makes life fun."
"Children should be able to enjoy playgrounds and pools, and people should be able to enjoy the outdoors and water, which is such a resource here," she said.
The prototype canoe and kayak launch is at North River Road Park in Fort Gratiot. It is part of the Access to Recreation program funded through the Community Foundation by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
The Access to Recreation program also includes improvements to the city pool in Algonac to make it more handicap accessible and construction of the state's first universally accessible tree house at the Pine River Nature Center in Goodells.
"I think it's fantastic," said Jerry Celmer, St. Clair County Circuit Court administrator and a kayaker.
"I got a chance to try it out the day they installed it," he said. "I think it's going to add a lot to the recreational opportunities people have."
Eric Mueller, a Harsens Island resident who has developed a kayak accessible to people with physical challenges, called the county's latest effort "an unbelievable thing."
"This is just the start," he said. "It is definitely a step in the right direction."
Borg said the Community Foundation awarded $20,000 to the St. Clair County Parks and Recreation Department to develop the prototype and eventually two permanent docks. The county, she said, must match the grant with $20,000 of its own.
"This is a prototype," she said. "We are inviting canoe and kayak enthusiasts to come and try out this system and give their feedback on this."
The dock is modified from a personal watercraft launch system. It uses rollers to allow kayakers to enter and exit the water while staying dry.
"We've added a series of railings so you can pull yourself out or pull yourself up," Borg said.
Celmer said the system "works really well."
"You can just glide right into the water on the rollers, and when you come back in there are bars that extend out about 6 to 8 feet and you can pull yourself right in," he said.
The launch currently is not fully accessible to physically challenged persons. The county is working on a transfer system that would allow a person to move from a wheelchair to a kayak or canoe without assistance, Borg said.
"We're going to continue the prototype and testing through the fall until it becomes too cold to kayak or canoe," she said. "We will take the winter to develop the transfer system.
"Hopefully in the spring we will have the transfer system and docks in place."
It has not been decided where the two permanent docks will go, she said.
Mueller said canoeing and kayaking have many physical benefits.
"I have friends now who ... push either their wheelchair or racing wheelchair or handcycle for exercise," he said. "The benefit of kayaking is you're using the opposing muscles.
"When you push (a wheelchair), you're pushing, and when you're in a kayak, you're pulling."
He said kayaking also boosts confidence because physical differences can easily disappear on the water.
He mentioned about a woman who tried his canoe in a pool, then went on a five-hour tour a few days later. The woman met a fellow kayaker and started to talk to him, Mueller said.
"She paddled back over to me, and she was so excited, she was just about jumping out of the kayak," he said. "Her terms to me were: 'That guy had no idea that I use a chair!'"
— Originally published October 5, 2008 in the Times Herald.
Questions/Comments
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us.
- Gigi Mericka, Program Manager
- Phone: (810) 937-2707
- Community Foundation of St. Clair County
- Phone: (810) 987-4761
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