Wes wrote: > I thought about this, too, partly as a mental exercise. How about a swim > platform, possibly mounted on rollers, that slides down so it's under > water? Drive the kayak onto it, winch up the platform, and get in or out. > Unfortunately, it probably wouldn't work for carrying the boat, just for > access . . . this is an area where a foldable or sectional boat would seem > to have some merit. Well. . . yes. There are two issues here. First, carrying kayaks on a sail or motorboat. Second, loading/unloading and entering/exiting them. As for the first issue, I think it only makes sense on VERY large sailboats (over 50 feet) and on reasonably large motorboats (say, over 25 feet), and always depends on design, as well. My own personal hope is to get a nice lobster boat in the 30 foot range, and rig up a rack system to carry at least two good sea kayaks. This strikes me as pretty easy. Larger motor boats, like trawlers, can easily do this. Sailboats. . . as Wes says, this seems to me a good place for a folding boat. As I have mentioned to a couple people privately, the sailboat I am building is being set up in such a way as to accomodate two Feathercraft folding yaks in the forward cabin (under the berths, aft of the chain locker and extra water tankage). As for entry/exit, this frankly seems like an area for lots of pipe dreams. For a properly designed motorboat, yes, a swim platform is fine, and Wes's idea is pretty cool, but perhaps a bit too fanciful (as I think he meant it). In reality, a nice platform can work just fine without any modification. A motorboat without a platform, or a sailboat, to my thinking, just means using caution and entering exiting from the swim ladder. Maybe some sort of float can be rigged to add to the picture. In fact, a simple inflatable dinghy, like an Avon, tied to the swim ladder, should be a great help. It's always going to be a small challenge, I suspect. Part of the picture. . . Mark *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Jul 21 2000 - 17:37:33 PDT
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