Boat for wheelchair canoeing

Jon had the idea for this invention while rowing at Diver Lake Park, in Nainaimo, British Columbia, after seeing men in wheelchairs casting lines from the accessible fishing dock.

“Too bad they couldn’t be out bobbing in a canoe or rowing their way around the calm waters”, Jon thought. And that’s when he thought he could make this happen.

“I gasp and look to the sky in amazement. I know it will work even before testing my theory”, the inventor shared.

Then he started building the prototypes. This was the first version: Take any two canoes and lay five 12-foot planks fastened together as a breakaway 5-piece dock. The wheelchairs can be rolled onto the platform (even from a shoreline) and paddlers in the canoe are stationed on each of the four corners rowing the vessel. The chair bound passenger sits atop — with a spouse, a child or a loyal dog — feeling exactly as if atop a 10×12 foot floating dock. Other models use three canoes and a trolling motor to power the makeshift catamaran.

Another basic and different prototype for getting wheelchairs on the water uses a rowboat. Jon calls it the Chairower and it uses a short interior ramp descending into the hull: “Just roll on, and cast off.” To develop the craft, which should easily pass national safety regulations, Jon needed to make modifications to raise the oar height using extenders.

“It’s been amazing putting a fishing rod into the hands of someone who hasn’t been on the water in 10 or 12 years,” the innovator noted.

Jon started testing his different prototypes via a resource group called Access Nanaimo. The feedback from the users has been positive.

Adapted from: http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/canoeing-for-all-introduction/

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thk_B9eU54Y