Welcome Dale: It sounds like you are a prime candidate for the "don't take these guys too seriously" club. As we've mentioned here before, while we grind away on every little nit and bit of the mechanics of boating, it would be easy to run screaming from the room, and back to your row boat <G>. I think most of us really enjoy digging into every arcane and alternative scenario and system as part of the fun of owning a beastie, but it's certainly not mandatory. I see more and more mid-size powerboats towing a pair of sea kayaks up there. I don't know about mounting them aboard a trawler but I'm sure it is possible with a little thought. For your stated requirements, you don't need a big vessel or one of the massively seaworthy types you will read about on the list. A nice base camp for touring all the way to Alaska could be found in a 35 foot range vessel and it doesn't need to be a "trawler" either. Have a ball out there! Joe & Debbie Engel Marine Computer Services & JRE Consulting, Inc. MV Freda Fly - 40' Tollycraft Tri-cabin Portland, OR -----Original Message----- From: Dale Anderson [mailto:daleandr@gte.net] Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2001 12:45 PM To: Trawler World List Subject: TWL: Newcomer to list (and boating) Hello new boating friends! I just joined the list, and per George Kolesnikovs' suggestion I'm introducing myself. My fiance Joanie and I are thinking seriously about buying our first boat, signing the papers right after the wedding. We are active sea-kayakers here in the Pacific Northwest, and we want to load our kayaks on top of a "mobile base camp" from which we would like to explore in our kayaks. <snip>