RE: [Paddlewise] Towing kayaks behind motor boat

Tom,
	There are local outfitters that run one-way trips to the Isle of Shoals.
You may want to check things out with them.  An alternative is to ask the
folks at North Shore Paddlers Network.  The trip out to the Isle of Shoals
is only about 7 nm one-way and many people from NSPN do that trip
(round-trip) with some regularity. You do need to be careful since it is
open ocean, the boat traffic can be considerable, fog is not uncommon and an
off-shore wind can turn it into a real slog but other than that it's not a
bad paddle. I find open crossings boring but before I had paddled out to the
Isle of Shoals a couple of times I couldn't stop thinking about it. In calm
weather the Isles are not particularly interesting we've done the round trip
version in less than 5 hours taking our time. At any rate the address for
North Shore Paddlers Network is www.nspn.org
One more option is to paddle out and back but with the motor boat within
radio calling distance as a safety.

Good Luck,
Jed
Goffstown, NH

-----Original Message-----
From: Tom LeTourneau



Two friends and I are planning a one-way paddle to NH seacoast's Isle of
Shoals. This is only an eight mile crossing from the coast, but weather can
get "iffy" in the afternoons, and over-nighting is not possible. So we plan
to leave early in the morning, and have a motor boat carry our kayaks back
to the coast. As you can imagine, hiring a lobster boat to stow our kayaks
for the return trip can get pricey.

Is there an alternative? Has anyone experience with towing three kayaks
behind a powered boat? I had been thinking there might be a way to rig the
three kayaks together as one unit... perhaps with padded 2 X 4 board across
the bows and sterns... then tow them (reasonably slowly) a good 50 to 75
feet behind a 25 foot Grady White 180 hp a family member owns. Is this
remotely possible without damaging the kayaks? I hesitate to ask the
skipper of a pleasure craft to tie three kayaks atop and perpendicular on
his stern. Total weight would only be 150 pounds, but the kayaks are 14 to
17 feet in length.

Thanks for your feedback!

Tom LeTourneau
Wells, Maine

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