Just back from 10 days out doing one of my other activities .. and back to 500+ emails - but a few threads have linked together... In the past year my wife and I have purchased a 23 foot power boat (egads!) as another way to experience the water (and one of our other activities). It is large enough to comfortably sleep on, as well as cook, and has its own head and pump (better than a boom box). Also has an electric bilge pump, (which I see has come up again). It sure makes "camping" much easier, and in the downpour of the past few days in my area, we were most grateful we weren't camping out, and stuck waiting for storm winds to subside. However - of interesting coincidence - has been our on-going lament about how to incorporate kayaking into our power boating travels. Our boat is too small to keep kayaks on deck, and there doesn't seem to be a great towing system for 20+ Kn speeds. We tried a rowing dinghy, but it just ain't the same! We were contemplating getting some 9 foot plastic jobs and keeping them vertical on the back deck while cruising, but didn't feel that would work well on our small boat. While moored at a marina, we saw some folks paddling STEARN inflatables. I asked about durability and was advised that with their hard rubberized bottom and keel, they hadn't experienced any problems with barnacles, beaching, etc. We tried them out briefly, and for little trips around the bay, I think they will be ideal.They zipped around quite quickly and were fun to paddle. (They don't have a full spray skirt, and I am not sure if they come with an elevated seat - the ones we were paddling didn't have them in place.) They did warn about watching the level of inflation - vis- a vis temperature changes (for flotation, or for bursting seams in hot sun), but other than that did not have any problems. I was contemplating posting a question to PaddleWise about these inflatables when, lo and behold, Sandy already did! Well... back to emails - and other related threads. Sam and Ann Isaacs *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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