Where to tie for tow - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

Rocketfish · 10-15-2016, 08:45 PM

Hey BWE homies. My friend has a seadoo jet ski, and wanted to do some fishing at a distant breakwall. He plans to tow me real slowly from the boat launch. I have a 2015 Hobie Outback. Can you guys recommend the best location on my kayak to tie the tow line? Do I need to worry about the type of rope or anything else to minimize damage to either vessel? I was planning on looping a line through the mirage drive opening in the hull and then have maybe 8 or 10 feet distance between us. I did NOT want to tie it on one of the handles or anything like that.

The key is we plan on going SLOWLY. Do any of you see any potential problems with this?

jruiz · 10-15-2016, 09:33 PM

If it's a 2 seater, just hop on board and tow an empty kayak from the bow handle. Remember to whisper in his ear as you make your way

King Saba · 10-15-2016, 10:50 PM

Not sure if you can do a tandem ride. On more than one occasion I've seen jetskiers get stopped by the sheriff when riding tandem.

Rocketfish · 10-16-2016, 04:58 AM

LOL jruiz! No tandem, I just need a tow

jruiz · 10-16-2016, 06:18 AM

I tried to get my brother to tow me upstream at Laughlin one time. I found that it took a lot of force to pull a loaded kayak, so much so that I didn't want to tie off anywhere on the kayak to risk damaging it in anyway. So we tried towing while I held the rope by hand. My conclusion was that the kayak tended to wander off center and eventually ended up sideways if pulled from anywhere behind the bow handle. This was a hobie adventure.

monstahfish · 10-16-2016, 07:15 AM

What Jruiz said is accurate. If you tie off to the well, it's likely to end up sideways. I would jump on the ski and tie to the bow handle.

Rocketfish · 10-17-2016, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jruiz

...So we tried towing while I held the rope by hand. My conclusion was that the kayak tended to wander off center and eventually ended up sideways if pulled from anywhere behind the bow handle. This was a hobie adventure.

We also ended up doing the same thing. I held the rope by hand and had to steer to stay within the wake. One time i almost flipped sideways and had to let go. Our top speed was 5.3 knots, but man, it was tough to hold on more than a couple of minutes.

I discovered another problem AFTER our trip back. My yak was filled with about 3 or 4 gallons of water! Looking back, I noticed that the entire back hatch of my outback was underwater whenever we went fast. Also, depending on where I was in the Seadoo's wake, water would flow OVER the front hatch. I suspect this is where most of the water entered because isn't the Outback notorious for having a sh*tty seal in the front hatch? It's funny because during the outing i checked my center hatch for water filling up and only noticed a tiny bit of water. maybe it happened on the way back in?

Thanks for the advice guys. I may try this one more time by making a loop through the mirage drive opening, and then HOLDING a rope through the front that i can let go of per some of the advice here. I suspect once the rudder is up, and we pull from the front as much as possible, AND my 225 fat a** isn't bogging the outback down, we should be ok for longer durations.

10-15-2016, 08:45 PM	#1
Rocketfish Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: North O.C. Posts: 156	Where to tie for tow Hey BWE homies. My friend has a seadoo jet ski, and wanted to do some fishing at a distant breakwall. He plans to tow me real slowly from the boat launch. I have a 2015 Hobie Outback. Can you guys recommend the best location on my kayak to tie the tow line? Do I need to worry about the type of rope or anything else to minimize damage to either vessel? I was planning on looping a line through the mirage drive opening in the hull and then have maybe 8 or 10 feet distance between us. I did NOT want to tie it on one of the handles or anything like that. The key is we plan on going SLOWLY. Do any of you see any potential problems with this?

10-15-2016, 09:33 PM	#2
jruiz Large Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: La Verne, CA Posts: 1,008	If it's a 2 seater, just hop on board and tow an empty kayak from the bow handle. Remember to whisper in his ear as you make your way

10-15-2016, 10:50 PM	#3
King Saba Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: SGV Posts: 848	Not sure if you can do a tandem ride. On more than one occasion I've seen jetskiers get stopped by the sheriff when riding tandem.

10-16-2016, 04:58 AM	#4
Rocketfish Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: North O.C. Posts: 156	LOL jruiz! No tandem, I just need a tow

10-16-2016, 06:18 AM	#5
jruiz Large Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: La Verne, CA Posts: 1,008	I tried to get my brother to tow me upstream at Laughlin one time. I found that it took a lot of force to pull a loaded kayak, so much so that I didn't want to tie off anywhere on the kayak to risk damaging it in anyway. So we tried towing while I held the rope by hand. My conclusion was that the kayak tended to wander off center and eventually ended up sideways if pulled from anywhere behind the bow handle. This was a hobie adventure.

10-16-2016, 07:15 AM	#6
monstahfish Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Posts: 419	What Jruiz said is accurate. If you tie off to the well, it's likely to end up sideways. I would jump on the ski and tie to the bow handle.