AckKayak combines cycling, fishing and kayaking on Commercial Wharf

PHOTO ROB BENCHLEY WANT TO GO? AckKayak, at 15 Commercial Wharf (508-332-3394), rents single and tandem kayaks hourly $30 and $40, half-days for $70 and $90, and full days $90 and $110, respectively. Powerboat-assisted fishing trips are $50 per person and, in addition to rental fees, AckKayak can drop off and pick up kayaks almost anywhere on the island. Alec Griswold, self-described kayaker for a living, can get you to where the fish are, into perfect sunset-watching position on the water or help you find views of some the most spectacular yachts and homes on the planet.

He does this with AckKayak, the kayak rental business he started with his brother, Jason, three years ago.

Realizing there was already such a business on the island, the well-established Sea Nantucket operating off the Francis Street Beach, the Griswold boys needed to find a niche not being filled by Sea Nantucket. That niche is kayak fishing.

"We actually have a 27-foot Carolina Skiff, so for people who are more adventurous, we like to take them out to the Bonito Bar or the Flats; we do like to take people out to places where it's difficult to get to with a kayak," said 24- year-old Alec Griswold, a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander, Wyo.

The skiff is large enough to carry several kayaks, fishermen and AckKayak guides who will launch the kayaks and help their clients on board and direct them to the fishing grounds.

AckKayak received Planning Board approval on May 28. As the operation meets the current parking requirements for the area and the requirements of the Harbor Overlay Zoning District for water-dependent uses, Marine Superin- tendent Dave Fronzuto agrees that the kayak rental can safely work in that location. In their second year on the harbor, the Griswolds are enduring a lack luster June because of the weather. They hope for a good summer partnering with the Maria Mitchell Association and one of its summer interns to get students out to explore Coatue's barrier beach wildlife.

What makes it possible for AckKayak to get people easily out onto the harbor and beyond for fishing, sight-seeing and picnics, is a unique style of kayak made by Hobe Kayaks. Bicycle-like pedals topside allow kayakers to use their legs in a seated position to move fins extending into the water from the hull of the kayak. The fins move the kayak quickly through water.

"HobieKayak came out with the design in 2000 and our first thought was that it's great for fishing; your hands-free and you can steer with a toggle; and second of all, it's great for inexperienced kayakers. It's easy to move like a bike and third, is to set ourselves apart from Sea Nantucket and try a new market," said Griswold.

Renting both single and tandem kayaks with pedals and the traditional kayaks without pedals, Griswold said that their customers are pleasantly surprised about how simple and nearly effortless it is for them to explore the harbors and fish from their kayaks.

"It's amazing when you get them back on the beach, you see their smiles and they say 'that was unbelievable,'" said Griswold. I