Buoys, posts or other markers on the water are great for teaching. You can use them for students to circle around doing figure eights, zig zag or another activity/game you can think of.
The problem is that buoys often are placed in locations that are not ideal for teaching paddling. For some reason God always seems to place them near boat channels, shallow rocks or just to close to shore making it impossible to turn around.
Because I’m always on the lookout for new teaching gadgets and aids, I was very excited to discover (courtesy of my friend, Bonnie Perry) the Lindy Marker Buoys.
You got to check them out. They are essentially lightweight plastic dumbbells with 60 feet of thin line wrapped around the waist. Attached to the end of the line is a small lead weight.
The great thing with the design is that when you throw it in the water and the buoy will spin as the weight unwinds. When the anchor hits bottom it will stop spinning due to a very cool counter weight built inside keeping the buoy in place even in a medium wind.
With a set of three you can pass them out to pairs of students or create a triangle or line for zigging or zagging. When the activity is over get the students to wind them up to store in your day hatch until you need them again.
I’m serious, they are fantastic tools.
You can pick-up them individually or in sets of three. For example, Dicks Sporting Goods has them for $7.99 each while Bass Pro as a set of three for $19.
Image credit: mantraplake.webs.com