Re: [Paddlewise] Towing

Bill,

I don't claim to be a great authority, but I'd recommend trying to foster
an attitude that towing is a "normal" activity, no more (perhaps less)
odious than using a double.  Last year I think I towed someone on at least
half the group paddles I was on. It can be pitched as a matter of
convenience and safety, and couched in terms of making an "instant
double."  If you can identify people in a group who are slow or prone to
fatigue before the rest of the group, it seems far better to tow them
early, when a modest force by the tower can help them keep up with the
mid-pack paddlers, rather than wait for them to bonk.  This *should* make
everybody happier in a mixed group, since the atheletes get a bigger
endorphin buzz and the couch potatoes aren't struggling to keep up.  If
two pairs travel together with equal length lines, everyone has someone to
chat with.  I felt more inhibited about slapping a tow on someone if the
group was small and already somewhat strung out, because then the towee
and I couldn't really talk easily and boredom becomes a deterent.

Convincing people to co-operate is probably easiest if you propose
"practicing" towing, which is obviously something you should do in benign
conditions as much as possible BEFORE the shit hits the fan.

I made a couple of DIY tow rigs using a 1/2" polypro rope as a belt, with
a trick quick-release knot (the "Lapp knot" described in _The Complete
Book of Knots_; I don't know what it is called in Ashely).  I'll try to
get off my butt and scan a diagram of this knot and put it on web access.
This is obviously not up to ww rescue standards, but it seems safe enough
to me for use outside of the surf zone.  Giving the towee a quick release
is not a problem I've really solved yet.

Mike Wagenbach

Let every student of nature take this as a rule--that whatever his mind
seizes and dwells upon with peculiar satisfaction is to be held in
suspicion.
               -Francis Bacon

***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List
Submissions:     paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Subscriptions:   paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net
Website:         http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/
***************************************************************************