Our friends have a lovely home on the shores of Big Lake.  They were kind enough to entertain us for a day of BBQ and water activities.   Tubing is a popular activity on the inland lakes in our area.  We were excited to have an opportunity to try this out on this beautiful summer day!

The lakefront setting is a nature lover’s dream, however, the natural stone pathway leading to the dock was steep and rugged making it tricky to navigate.  In a situation like this, an alternative could be to use an accessible public boat dock instead.  This lake has public access and we could have had our friend pick us up over there.  However, it worked out that Caitlin was able to walk down to the dock with us supporting her on both sides.  With our lifejackets securely buckled, we were ready to take a ride!

Once we were on the dock, we pulled the tube right up to the side of the dock.  The tube was just slightly lower than the dock and we were able to step down onto the tube.  The tube held up to three people.  It was spacious and had a comfortable back rest.  We were able to sit upright with our legs stretched out.  There were built-in handles on both sides to grab on to. 

There were several people in the tow boat.  Our friend was driving, one person was our spotter whome we communicated with and the two others were there to watch for other boats.  Before we left the dock, we all went over some signs so that we can communicate during the ride.  “Thumbs up” means  SPEED UP, “Thumbs down” means SLOW DOWN, and “straight hand across the neck” means STOP.

We started off slow at first to get a feel for it.  There was little wind and not a lot of boats on the water so the lake was pretty calm.  Caitlin was laughing and seemed to be enjoying it so I gave the spotters a “Thumbs Up” to go a little faster.  We started to bounce a little and Caitlin (still laughing) began to creep down off the backrest.  I gave the “Thumbs Down” to slow down so I could help her “scoot up” to a more upright position.  Once she was re-positioned, I gave the ”Thumbs Up” again to go a little faster. 

The faster speed, increased wake and slight turns caused us to really start bouncing!  It was a little much and she was out of the upright position again and almost laying completely flat.  I gave the STOP signal because I needed to help her sit up again.  It was evident that we needed to go very slow for her to maintain an upright seated position.  

We went slowly for a few more minutes and got about half way around the lake.  She seemed to be less excited (probably from all the bouncing) and so I decided we should end our turn.  The driver cut the engines to the boat and pulled the tube onto the swim platform to get it right next to the boat.  We traded places with our friend and enjoyed the rest of the ride around the lake from inside the boat.

When we returned to the dock, we jumped into the water for a relaxing swim.  We needed to wind down from that wild and crazy ride!

Tubing can be a fun activity for kids with special needs.  But it definitely takes an experienced boat captain and multiple people to ensure that everyone stays safe and we have the manpower to transfer to and from the tube.  Safety equipment and communication are essential for a safe and enjoyable ride.  It also helped ease my concerns that we were on a small lake with less watercraft traffic. 

Have you tried tubing behind a boat? Are there any other summertime sports that you enjoy? If so, I would love to hear about it!

JoAnn

JoAnn’s journey as a parent and caregiver to an individual with disabilities started when her daughter was born pre-maturely with multiple health issues resulting in cognitive, physical and speech disabilities.  Over the years, JoAnn discovered that recreation, travel and social experiences can bring happiness and relief to a life that is often stressful and frustrating.  She loves to seek out adaptive, accessible and fun activities for her daughter and the whole family to enjoy.  She started the blog www.OurSpecialFunOasis.com to share her uplifting stories and positive ideas to help and to inspire others.