Lions Club Raises Money, Completes Adaptive Kayak Launch Installation
When Kempton Lions Club member Tom Kerr was seeking a project for the year, he leveraged his other civic involvement to identify needs in the community. The Kempton Lions Club is a rural club in the rolling hills of eastern Pennsylvania. Kerr, a Kempton area resident, also sits on the Leaser Lake Heritage Foundation board and was heavily involved in Leaser Lake environmental issues and outdoor activities.
What Is an Adaptive Kayak Boat Launch?
What is an adaptive kayak boat launch?
In the video below, BoardSafe explains the features of its adaptive kayak boat launch that provide access to those with disabilities, handicaps, and other mobility limitations. The launch is ideally engineered and built for kayaks, canoes, and other boats.
The ADA-compliant adaptive kayak boat launch was engineered based on existing adaptive paddling applications, as well as innovations generated by a group of adaptive kayakers and paddlers.Read more
Adaptive Kayak and ADA Boat Launches Protect Your Boat
At BoardSafe Docks, we believe we have designed and built the best ADA adaptive boat launch available on the market. That’s not coming from us — it's coming from the adaptive kayakers and para-rowers. After all, they are the experts, and they are also the ones who designed it.Read more
Adaptive Boat Launch, Piers, and Rowing Products
Adaptive Boat Launch, Piers, and Rowing Products
BoardSafe has developed a line of ADA-accessible products specifically for the adaptive athlete. These products include an adaptive kayak, canoe and boat launch, accessible piers, and floating docks with ADA features, as well as adaptive rowing docks for adaptive rowing (See links below). These products were developed in conjunction with adaptive athletes and conscientioulsy designed to meet their needs. Because adaptive rowers and paddlers had input on the products' proprietary designs, BoardSafe knows that their adaptive boat launches, fishing piers, and adaptive rowing docks, are the best-performing and highest-quality products on the market. All of our adaptive products are made with the same best practices, features, engineering, and quality measures used in all BoardSafe products. Each adaptive rowing product is specifically designed with the rowers in mind.
If you need an adaptive kayak launch, fising pier, or adaptive rowing dock, BoardSafe will customize your product by adapting their standard designs, engineering, and product sizes, to build a product that fits your needs.
Follow these links to learn more about our adaptive products:
> Adaptive kayak, canoe, and boat launch
> Accessible fishing pier and floating dock
Need help with fundraising? Read our recommended best practices for fundraising for your accessible project.
Leaser Lake, PA, Bridge Completes Walking Path Around Lake
As parks, marinas, rowing centers, and other outdoor facilities, add greater accessibility, Leaser Lake, in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, stands out as one destination that can be enjoyed by all. The park has completed an area that features accessible trails and a floating fishing dock. The county also unveiled an accessible kayak launch that includes an aluminum gangway, floating dock, boat ramp, and kayak access with ADA features.
The accessible floating dock and kayak launch were designed and manufactured by BoardSafe, who took several existing accessible kayak launch designs and added innovations based on feedback from wheelchair focus groups. The outcome was a new design that offers a convenient and safe way to transition from a wheelchair into a kayak. As one kayaker said, "It was awesome to transition independently, get in the kayak, and be free on the water."
New! Watch this updated video about the installation's durability:
Watch this brief video highlighting how the custom prefab bridge is positioned:
https://youtu.be/QbW9_ogt2Cs
The project highlights include an ADA accessible park, paved nature trail, ADA / adaptive fishing pier, ADA adaptive kayak boat launch, and accessible picnic tables.
The completion of the footbridge comes just in time for Lehigh Valley residents to walk around the lake and enjoy the warm fall summer and vibrant foliage.
In September 2022, BoardSafe visited the site of several of its applications at Leaser Lake in PA. In 2015, an ADA fishing pier and adaptive kayak launch were installed. The following year an aluminum pedestrian bridge was installed. The ADA-accessible park also includes a paved nature trail and accessible picnic tables.
Upon site inspection by BoardSafe Docks, all of the applications appeared to be in excellent condition, structurally sound, and in proper function. BoardSafe Docks prides itself on manufacturing high-quality products and excellent craftsmanship. As this footage shows, the condition of the ADA fishing pier, adaptive kayak launch, and pedestrian bridge continue to perform to the high product standards desired by BoardSafe.
Since the construction of Leaser Lake in 1971, Pennsylvania residents have enjoyed activities at the lake: fishing, boating, and hiking. For the first time, visitors will be able to walk completely around the lake with the installation of a footbridge. The bridge, built of commercial grade aluminum and manufactured by BoardSafe, goes over the dam at the lake and connects the nature trail on both sides. Prior to the installation of the footbridge, there was no continuous walking trail around the 117-acre lake. The bridge is one of the last installations of a renovation project crafted by the Leaser Lake Heritage Foundation.
This 540-acre park is owned in part by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and in part by Lehigh County.
BoardSafe's First Adaptive Kayak Launch Is Dedicated 9-11-2015
On September 11, 2015, after installing the first BoardSafe Adaptive Kayak Launch, at Leaser Lake, Dan Smalley and Jason Strozyk from BoardSafe Docks met with a number of Disabled Paddlers and representatives from the Leaser Lake Heritage Foundation to discuss what adaptive features needed to be added to the launch.
Located in the foreground are a cooler, two concrete blocks, and a cardboard box — This was the prototype for the first BoardSafe Boarding Bench with pullout seat. The bench was built and installed. The day before the dedication, the idea of installing the roll cage with straps and the overhead grab bar was proposed. Within 12 hours of the discussion, the items were manufactured and installed, literally a few hours before the ribbon cutting. This is a testament to the dedication and passion the BoardSafe Team has for the BoardSafe Adaptive Kayak Launch.

Boat Rack Systems
Aluminum Boat Rack Systems
Rowing centers and kayak launches need a functional way to easily store and access their boats, kayaks and rowing gear. BoardSafe has built numerous rowing centers and understands the uses and needs of rowers, kayakers and adaptive athletes to offer the best options for boat storage. Aluminum boat rack systems can be freestanding or built as an addon to a floating dock, pier or adaptive kayak launch.

BoardSafe Floating Docks, Piers, Gangways, and Other Marina Products
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Quality and Experience Made in the USA and centrally-located in the Mid-Atlantic region, it's no wonder that marina owners, homeowners, conservationists, rowing clubs, and other associations, trust BoardSafe for their projects. Our collaborative and comprehensive approach with customers leads to projects they are highly satisfied with — done on time, within budget, and aligned with their goals. Commitment to Innovation BoardSafe takes great pride in manufacturing boat docks and boat dock components that are environmentally-friendly, safe, require minimal maintenance, retain their structural integrity, and offer ADA accessibility features. |









