"Re towing, what did you find to be the useful range of tow rope lengths? And I couldn't tell whether your anchor points referred to the tower or towee. Does the tower's end have to pass through something on the very end of his stern? Ditto for the bow end of the towee (what if he's too sick to steer his boat)?" The tow line for use in big swells should be all of 50 feet long, so that the towed boat doesn't surf right into the tower's boat. For flatter water it is nice to have a line that is shorter (it can be psychologically better to be closer, as well as helping to communicate). The short line still has to be a few feet longer than the length of the two halves of the two kayaks, so it might be 20 or 25 feet long. Start with a longer length and shorten it until you like it. If the only place you can carry a spare paddle and be able to reach it from the cockpit is behind you, what would you do- carry it there but remove it if you capsize? I am now considering stowing it in the boat. Downside to that?" There are a number of rear deck rigging arangements that allow you to reach behind your back and get at the spare paddle halves. The one that is used on Mariner kayaks works well. You would want to practice with any such system. If you keep the spare paddle inside the boat you will be unable to get it out without getting out of the boat. This could be a very bad idea. For the same reason I carry my towrope on my person, ready to use. Nick Lyle *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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