RE: [Paddlewise] Entering and exiting a kayak from a mothership

I have no affiliation, just a fascination with James Wharram's catamarans.
For what it's worth, they tend to have a set of retractable steps leading
off the aft edge of the deck between the hulls. By all accounts they are
ideal for boarding and alighting from dinghies, kayaks, etc.

http://www.wharram.eu/photos/index.cgi?mode=image&album=/Tiki-range/Tiki-26&
image=Matjaz_Chvatal_04.jpg shows the raised steps quite nicely, as does
http://www.wharram.eu/photos/index.cgi?mode=image&album=/Tiki-range/Tiki-30&
image=DSC02294.JPG
http://www.wharram.eu/photos/index.cgi?mode=image&album=/Tiki-range/Tiki-30&
image=DSC02320.JPG shows them in (simulated?) action.

Ralph

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net
[mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net] On Behalf Of Craig Jungers
Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 11:12 AM
...

Mine is a minimalist mothership (a daughtership?) with a small V-berth and
> no galley -- cooking is on a campstove on the fantail -- and the 
> portapotty spends nights on deck in the cockpit, days inside the cuddy 
> cabin.  Our boats will be foldables, stowed in the cuddy when running, 
> assembled on the engine cover (it is an inboard), and gingerly entered 
> off the stern.
>  Still
> working on how to leave the kayaks and hump ourselves over the rail, 
> back into the cockpit.

My Carver has a square stern and swim platforms so getting in and out of a
kayak will be easier than for me than for you from your pointy bartender
stern. Not easy, mind you, but easier.

While we were cruising on Kibitka we had friends who owned a very large
german shepherd dog that was difficult to get into and out of their dinghy.
They contrived a platform that lowered almost to the water with the inboard
side against the hull and two wire-rope supports that ran at 45-degrees from
the outboard corners of the platform up to the gunwale of their sailboat.
This platform was about 3 feet long and 2 feet wide. Theirs was made from
3/4-inch plywood but I think I'd make one from regular wood in the same form
a cockpit sole is built (longitudinal wood strips of about 2-inches
separated by small blocks) so it would better survive the odd wayward wave.

On my mothership I'm planning to have Railmakers in Everett, WA construct a
sturdy rack over the rear cockpit to carry the kayaks (since I'm addicted to
*my* kayaks). In my case, I plan to dangle a thick rope from the top of the
platform so that it will drape over the stern and allow a paddler to use it
for support entering and exiting..

A second method comes to mind. Carry a dinghy and use it to ferry you to
shore dragging the kayak along behind. In my case I'm going to put my little
10-foot catamaran hulled dink on its side on the swim platforms while
underway; secured to the supports for the kayak rack. You really should have
a dinhy anyway, probably inflatable, just in case of trouble.



Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
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