: I'm just looking for ways to go out crabbing (with rings or pots) from a
: kayak in or near Chuckanut Bay near Bellingham, WA. I would be interested
: in hearing any opinions on a single, possibly retractable, pontoon or any
: other ideas for stabilization while pulling up the pots. One of the kayaks
: that I would attach such a devise to is my nearly completed strip decked
: Chesapeake 16. I hope to have some photos up soon. Thanks.
: Scott Ferguson

Without knowing anything about crabbing and not living near the ocean this is what I envision. Two crude pontoons shaped like a V and easy to build. All flat sides , flat stern, flat bottom and top. The top would have a hinged lid that is water tight but opens to put your crabs in. The two pontoons would be fastened together by two by 2 " aluminum conduit so the pontoons extended about a foot on each side of you kayak so you could pull up the small crab trap between pontoons and your kayak to lift you crabs out of, but you would only have a small reach to put your crabs into the pontoon storage. To fasten the pontoons to you kayak would be two half sliding rings slots that slide on your aluminum conduits that match your coaming slot. They slide together and lock into your coaming slot to hold the pontoons to your kayak securely without any other fitting sticking our of our boat. This way you would have stability and at the same time a place to store your crabs.

John