Long distance kayaking... Post your solution, please. Hauling kayaks on a normal boat.

[impulse]

Anyone come up with a good solution to popping a couple or 3 kayaks on the boat and hauling them miles and miles to deploy them offshore or way far down the bay?

Or is towing them behind the boat an option? The towing idea gives me the heebee jeebees given the odds that they'll turtle in any wake at all. But maybe someone's done it?

Suggestions (especially those with photos) welcome... I know there are outfitters who do it with dedicated boats, but I'm looking for something for a normal bay boat.

[SWFinatic]

I've seen a bay boat in Corpus with a custom stainless fabricated rack (I'm assuming it was custom it didn't look stock at all) on the back deck. The rack had j-bars and could hold 2 kayaks which sat perpendicular to the boat. Was gonna take a pic of it but it was gone when I came back out of the store.

I guess you could stack a couple of kayaks on top of one another across the boat just in front of the center console if you had a way to tie them down while underway.

As far as pulling them behind a boat that might work if you didn't get over 5 mph but even then you can imagine what could go wrong.

[Ron Mc]

Anyone come up with a good solution to popping a couple or 3 kayaks on the boat and hauling them miles and miles to deploy them offshore or way far down the bay?
Or is towing them behind the boat an option? The towing idea gives me the heebee jeebees given the odds that they'll turtle in any wake at all. But maybe someone's done it?
Suggestions (especially those with photos) welcome... I know there are outfitters who do it with dedicated boats, but I'm looking for something for a normal bay boat.

Doubtful you'd want to tow them behind the boat at anything except a chug, but on the deck using the same ratchet tie-downs you'd use to strap them in your pick-up bed.
You can also use foam cradles in strategic spots to protect the kayak hulls when you load and strap them.

We've mothershipped kayaks across Aransas Bay to fish the barrier island lakes - Fence Lake, Allyn's Lake.
When Josh and I fished East Flats last April, two kayakers beat us in there by mother ship, while two other guys in the bay boat were fishing the passes.
On my list to do from Arroyo City is mothership kayaks to the east side of Green Island, also Stover Cove and Rattlesnake Bay - could use the prevailing wind to set up a really nice drift, while the bay boat fishes the other side or across the ICW, stay in touch by VHF, and regroup for pick-up at the lee end.

Don't have a photo of the boats strapped to the mothership, in this case my dad's 17' McKee Craft.
3 kayaks, 13-14'
Dad fished St. Jo shore while we paddled the lake

and a better photo of most of the boats - Whit is probably headed back to Lewisville with his when this photo was taken.
the rails on this boat are good tie-down points, but most boats have cleats, etc where you can tie down.
It's not hard to hop the kayaks to center riding spots in the mother boat.

Smaller, lighter kayaks are probably a better choice than the X-factor, etc. we used above.
I bought my 39-lb Kestrel with the intention of using it this way - just haven't done it yet.
Also have a 10' Redfish at under 50 lbs, another good choice.

[TexasJim]

I'm planning to build two kayak "holders" that will stab into flush-mount deck rod holders on my flats skiff, to carry my kayak. I'll use schedule 80 PVC, with a tee and elbow, to "cradle" the yak upright on its side. My yak only weighs 61 pounds, so I think I'll be able to load and haul it, without too much grief. I'll make pics as I build it, for a DIY post. This would be a great project, while I'm "homebound".
Like Ron, I wouldn't want to tow a yak at over maybe 5 knots.

TexasJim

[Ron Mc]

Jim, when all of this breaks, summer is a great time to fish the St. Jo lakes.
If you think your skiff could cross Aransas Bay with me and my Kestrel added, would love to join you.
If you can start the morning in the back of Fence Lake, especially with a fly rod, often will get redfish shoaling mullet into your feet.