W Fishing Kayak Towing a Motorboat – Massachusetts
Boaters are always ready to help one another. Usually it’s motorized boaters who assist paddlers, but yesterday, while paddling our W kayaks on the Charles river in Waltham, we had an opportunity to help Anthony and Kelley, whose boat’s outboard motor had stalled.
We attached the back of my W kayak with a rope through its carry handles to the front of the motorboat.
From their motorboat, Anthony used my 9 ft long paddle, and Kelley paddled using a canoe paddle they had onboard. I paddled using an 8ft long paddle that belongs to my 9 year old son Yanay who had been onboard my W kayak and moved to the motorboat before we began the operation.
Yadin, my 12 year old son stayed in his own W kayak, and took pictures using a camera he borrowed from Anthony and Kelley.
It was a long and slow process, although the distance we had to paddle wasn’t long. After about 15 minutes we heard thunder and it started raining.
The Charles was already swollen from a previous thunderstorm, but since this part of it flows slowly the fact we had to paddle upstream didn’t seem to change much. The rain grew stronger, and after some 20 minutes more of paddling we made it to this dock in Waltham, where our cars were parked.
Tags: fishing kayak, kayak paddling, motor boat, touring, towing
July 3rd, 2008 at
Weren’t there other boaters who could have helped you?
July 3rd, 2008 at
Usually in summer there are many motor boaters and and paddlers on this section of the river, but yesterday we didn’t see anybody – probably because of the problematic weather.
Yoav
July 3rd, 2008 at
It’s a nice story, but generally it’s not a good idea to be out on the water when thunderstorms are expected.
April
July 3rd, 2008 at
I agree, but in this case there was a powerful thunderstorm that ended about one hour before we went to the river, and the weather was fabulous – blue sky, sunshine and no wind.
We would have easily made it back to the car before it started raining had we not stayed longer for the towing job.
July 4th, 2008 at
That is GREAT! I had a kayaker tell me once that he towed a stricken power boat down here in Florida. I didn’t believe him but I smiled politely. Now I have picture proof that it can be done. Well done, Yoav! Generally power boaters are courteous towards paddlers here–but not always. Tearing up the backsides of manatees and dumping petrol into the water. So, I don’t know, I derive some sort of perverse satisfaction from this picture! But seriously, your efforts got the stranded boaters off the water and that was admirable. If the weather got too bad you folks all could’ve (from the picture) gone to the shore and hidden in some foliage (away from the tallest trees). No?
You just can’t predict the weather. I have taken to carrying a tarp with us whenever we go out and also a small anchor (like a drogue). I am thinking a plan over to anchor when I get “caught out in the middle,” weigh anchor, and cover us up in the tarp. Should work.
St. Charles looks like a pretty place to paddle, by the way.
Tom
July 4th, 2008 at
The Charles river reservation is indeed a nice place to paddle.
In Waltham you can see many early 19th century brick buildings from the beginning of the industrial revolution, which I find interesting.
July 4th, 2008 at
Nice catch!
I imagine it was pretty hard to paddle, was it?
July 4th, 2008 at
It wasn’t easy, and it seemed like our ‘caravan’ was hardly moving at all.
Yoav