Mothership Meanderings: Mothership Paddling Partners

December 2003 - January 2004

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
To download a pdf copy of the magazine click here: > DOWNLOAD

by Alan Wilson Photos Laurie MacBride

Our ‘twins’ tied to the stern of our elderly double-ender.

When you see a kayak aboard a private power or sail boat, it’s almost invariably accompanied by another kayak, often its twin. The two may be lashed to the lifelines on either side of the bow, or resting on the cabin top like a pair of seals up on the rocks.

If this sight has tweaked your interest, you may be ready to trade in (or supplement) your dinghy for some ‘twins’ of your own.

Deck space on all but large vessels is limited, but on most boats there is some creative way to carry a pair of compact kayaks (8-14 feet long). You’re not going to cross any oceans in these kayaks—they’re more for putzing around the shoreline, exploring reefs and shallow estuarine waters. Compact kayaks also aren’t the speed demons that touring kayaks often are—in fact they have a distinct tendency towards tubbiness. But then they won’t set you back as much as a couple of glass touring kayaks either.

Once you’ve chosen your cute little kayaks and geared up with required equipment, you and your partner should learn the basics of paddling—like rescue scenarios— and should practice them together. Your local kayak shop can help you out with this, likely offering pool sessions.

When buying compact kayaks, be sure there’s adequate flotation in bow and stern, as compact kayaks often come without it and you sure don’t want to experience that sinking feeling. Above all, as you’ll hear over and over for very good reason, wear your PFD, even if you’re not planning to go far.

Once geared and trained up, you’re all ready to head off with your chosen paddling partner into a whole new world of experience. Even longtime boaters can develop a new relationship to the water through kayaking.

While solo paddling has its own special thrills, paddling with another person is sharing on an intimate level. When you’re wowed by a low flying eagle, or a spyhopping whale, by a baby seal which seems to want to climb on your kayak, or the sweeping panorama of wilderness, what better than to share a joyful smile with your partner?

One of many schemes for carrying a pair of kayaks.

Equally, when you’re challenged by weather or sea conditions, it’s great to have someone with you. You have two brains to observe and assess, two sets of skills and experience to draw on. You can discuss situations and strategize. In the event of a capsize, your survival is much more likely with a partner at hand. She or he can assist you to re-enter quickly by stabilizing your boat in a way no paddlefloat ever will.

If you paddle with one main partner most of the time, you’ll probably develop skills in sync with one another. Your paddling styles and rhythms will adapt. Side by side, or single file and periodically switching lead, you’ll nose your boats together in and out of coves, around headlands, through shallows, to land on distant beaches, taking small journeys together in the much larger life journey.

There can be some potential downsides to paddling together,however. Paddling with a chatty or directive partner can interfere with the meditative aspects of gliding over intertidal areas, or can challenge the freedom of self-direction, which is one of the core reasons people paddle. Differing rhythms or speeds can be hard to adjust to, or you could even be coerced into taking risks beyond your capabilities believing you’re safer in the duo— when the opposite may be the case.

Fortunately, my main paddling partner (my wife Laurie) and I both enjoy quiet. With two matched kayaks we find our pace is equally well matched—yet another reason to buy twin kayaks so that one person isn’t laboring while the other jets along.

If you’re paddling with someone new, though, you really need to know something about their skill level. It’s helpful to have an idea how they’ll cope with adversity— if the weather turns, the sea whips up, or the current is stronger than anticipated.

A couple of Feathercraft folding kayaks resting on a swim grid..

Above all, you must recognize which of you is the more experienced. Unwittingly you may find yourself thrust into a leadership role. Are you, in fact, equipped to lead? Your partner is relying to some degree on you and your judgement. (Gulp!)

I remember vividly when this hit me, not long after I started paddling. I was out on the water one evening with a close friend when the wind came up and he capsized.

I suddenly realized he probably didn’t how to exit his kayak. I hadn’t thought of it as my responsibility to show him—I was only a novice myself. Nor had I any idea how to perform an assisted rescue. Fortunately, I managed to get him to shore, but it was a very close call and left me with a commitment to safety training.

Another fundamental rule of paddling in groups (even just a pair) is that you go at the speed and within the limits of the slowest paddler. While this might sound boring for stronger paddlers, what it means is that you have an opportunity to dawdle more than you might otherwise, to take a longer look at each creature you encounter. Your experience deepens. The slower you go, the more you see.

If you want to go far and fast, find a friend with these capabilities, perhaps someone even more skilled from whom you can learn. But if you’re heading out with someone even slightly less capable or experienced than yourself, just remember to adapt. Maybe you can teach a thing or two when the time is right. Maybe you’ll even learn a thing or two.