[Paddlewise] Towing ill kayaker (was Thank the gods above and Jackie!)

From: Wes Boyd <boydwe_at_dmci.net>
Date: Tue, 06 Feb 2001 15:06:17
At 02:10 PM 2/6/01 -0500, ralph diaz wrote:

>And, if someone is ill, lashing on sponsons to the boat could
>make a big difference in the person getting to shore on his/her own or in a
>tow.

I was with a group last summer where just that situation arose. As it was,
we flagged down a fishing boat and got them to take the sick kayaker back
to the launch, and towed the empty boat back. 

In talking about it afterwards, however, discussing things that could have
been done had we not had the friendly bass boat around, and had there been
only two of us, we came up with the idea of taking a paddle, sticking it
through the back deck lines so it would hang out about equally on either
side, and putting a paddle float on each end -- sort of a field expedient
sponson arrangement. Given a little time to set it up, probably some extra
lashing to keep the paddle in place would have been worthwhile.

Of course, with a larger group, it probably would have been better to raft
up a second kayak, possibly using paddles under deck lines front and back
to stabilize both boats, and then towing with one or more of the other boats.

-- Wes

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Received on Tue Feb 06 2001 - 12:19:46 PST

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