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Re: Off Topic: towing with a tandem
By:John Enyart
Date: 8/23/2012, 4:56 pm
In Response To: Re: Off Topic: towing with a tandem *PIC* (Malcolm Schweizer)

: I have never towed a single with a double, but I have towed injured
: kayakers and it's not easy! With a double and two good paddlers
: a single with some gear in it wouldn't be too bad. The biggest
: issue will be if it rolls. Even with a little gear in the bottom
: it will still want to roll. I am not sure your conditions. For
: me it's ocean paddling so when I envision this it's more
: difficult than what it may actually be if it's just fairly flat
: water. You mentioned following seas, so I would assume you are
: paddling in ocean with swells. One thing for sure, you need to
: put a cockpit cover on so that it doesn't get waterlogged if it
: rolls.

: For a line you should tie off just behind the second paddler. Use a
: caribiner and put it where they can grab and release it quickly
: in case of trouble. Tie the line to the bow of the kayak in tow.
: I assume you are doing this only because you need to deliver a
: kayak to someone or some place and it's not just for added gear
: space. If you are just trying to get added gear space i would
: say you are carrying way too much gear!

: Here is a pic of us arriving at shore after towing two 46' wood
: sailboat masts from an offshore island. We had two guys in a
: tandem Hobie with those silly foot pedal things (which by the
: way work surprisingly well) and two paddles, and myself lashed
: in-between paddling with a GP. One guy rode on the masts and
: used a piece of wood as a rudder. I was amazed at how easy it
: was to tow these monsters, especially after I had towed the
: mizzen boom about 5 miles by myself and it took hours. The third
: kayak in the picture was just in case to warn boats, push, pull,
: or whatever but he ended up just following us in and was not
: needed.

we're flatwater paddlers in Minnesota, but we'll be on a larger lake (Rainy Lake) with long fetches and the waves can become rollers, where if you/another paddler are in neighboring troughs, you can't see each other. We're considering towing a single with the tandem not for gear storage, but because one of our group broke his foot, and is unable to brace on the foot pegs, and doesn't want to miss our annual 7 day camping trip - so we're putting him in the front of a tandem, and bringing the single in case he needs to remain on shore for a day or so and the second seater wants to paddle the single. He's tried pretty much every foot/peddle solution, foam pads, different placement, etc and such is the nature of his break that nothing really works. He also has a bad back, which doesn't make it any easier.

We'll duct tape the cockpit cover down, and might work on some sort of water-wings to try and prevent roll -

thanks for your input - advice.

Messages In This Thread

Off Topic: towing with a tandem
John Enyart -- 8/23/2012, 2:25 pm
Re: Off Topic: towing with a tandem *PIC*
Malcolm Schweizer -- 8/23/2012, 3:47 pm
Re: Off Topic: towing with a tandem
John Enyart -- 8/23/2012, 4:56 pm
Re: Off Topic: towing with a tandem
Etienne Muller -- 8/25/2012, 9:08 am
Re: Off Topic: towing with a tandem
Robert l -- 8/23/2012, 4:22 pm
Re: Off Topic: towing with a tandem
Paul Davies -- 8/23/2012, 6:29 pm
Re: Off Topic: towing with a tandem
Robert N Pruden -- 8/23/2012, 10:34 pm
Re: Off Topic: towing with a tandem
Foster -- 8/24/2012, 12:57 pm
Re: Off Topic: towing with a tandem
ancient kayaker -- 8/24/2012, 4:17 pm
Re: Off Topic: towing with a tandem
John Enyart -- 8/25/2012, 6:48 am
Re: Off Topic: towing with a tandem
Foster -- 8/26/2012, 10:52 am
Re: Off Topic: towing with a tandem
Randy Knauff -- 8/26/2012, 11:54 pm
Re: Off Topic: towing with a tandem
Bill Hamm -- 8/28/2012, 1:49 am