Towing a tender

I'm finishing up a rebuild on a 16' Wahoo side console boat that I intend on dragging behind out bigger boat when we go to the Abacos next year.

My current plan is to get used to towing it behind the boat between now and July when we cross over.

I don't want to sound cheap but I am looking to track down what would be the most reasonably prices tow rope to use.

My thoughts were to make a bridle out of a 3/4" nylon rope and then use another 3/4" or 5/8" section that is about 50-75' long.

I'm looking at using poly rope for the longer section since it's bright and floats.

Any thoughts?

k9medic said:

I'm finishing up a rebuild on a 16' Wahoo side console boat that I intend on dragging behind out bigger boat when we go to the Abacos next year.

My current plan is to get used to towing it behind the boat between now and July when we cross over.

I don't want to sound cheap but I am looking to track down what would be the most reasonably prices tow rope to use.

My thoughts were to make a bridle out of a 3/4" nylon rope and then use another 3/4" or 5/8" section that is about 50-75' long.

I'm looking at using poly rope for the longer section since it's bright and floats.

Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

We have towed for about 800 miles worth each year for maybe 15 years and really think you want to make sure there are no potential problems with the tow bridle.
I would guess that there are not too many more concerning things than getting into some bad weather and looking back hoping you don't lose the tow.
Our tow bridle was a "V" on each end with the towing boat having the V made out of 3/4" line with chafe guards and floats. The "V" on the other side was made of Dyneema as well as the center section between the two V's. The Dyneema was light, floats and is easily payed out and collected.
At the towed boat side we had 2 asymmetrical snap clips which allowed quick and easy deployment and reattachment of the dinghy. The tow rings on the dinghy were backed up on the inside and sufficiently low on the boat so that it was always towed with a bow up attitude.
The entire tow bridle was a bit over 85' which allowed the tow to ride just behind the 2nd wave when running between 15-18 knots.
A little extra time and thought here will help make sure that there are no problems which grow in size later on.

One of our tows at about 16 knots or so....

You can tow like smitty above in good weather, but crossing to the Bahamas won't always be that smooth. I have a friend who swamped his dinghy while towing it just offshore on the Texas coast when a thunderstorm came up suddenly. He kept towing it slowly and when the storm passed was able to pump it out and keep going. That won't be so easy to do in the Gulf Stream.

If this is an heirloom type of dinghy, I wouldn't do it.

David

Weather will be the key to towing crossing to Bahamas, so provided you have plenty of schedule float and have it setup correctly you should be ok.

Marlinmike said:

Weather will be the key to towing crossing to Bahamas, so provided you have plenty of schedule float and have it setup correctly you should be ok.

Click to expand...

FWIW - I have been in at least 5'-8' seas with RIBS between 18' and 24' with no issues. Also towed numerous times up thru hells gate and past BI.
We towed in some pretty torrential downpours as well - just made sure we had self bailing hulls and adjusted speed/direction accordingly.
I would be really careful with smaller dinghies that are not self bailing - we did sometimes tow a 12.5" RIB and it was much more delicate in the sea states than the 18' - not even comparable.
The 12.5 normally was carried up top on those chocks on the picture above, otherwise we would not have brought it along.

I tow a 13' Boston Whaler with a 40hp Merc 4-stroke on it.


I had this company (mooringlines.com) make up my bridle for the tow boat end using 5/8" line with chafe guards where it attaches at the stern cleats. They put a stainless snap shackle at the apex of the bridle. That snap shackle attaches to the tow line (they did a 50' and 75' line for me) with a stainless ring at the boat end and another snap shackle at the towed boat end.


They made up a 3-legged bridle at the dinghy end that attaches to my two bow cleats and the bow eye. I wanted to do it that way to spread the load out between the 3 attachment points. I sent them the measurements for this bridle and they made it to my specs.


They do good work. They ain't cheap but everything they have done for me has been very good quality.


We haven't towed in any strong winds or big waves, but the towing we've done has been a piece of cake.

Pick you weather, if a t-storm threatens, put the motor down.

Have seen a lot of skiffs with the motor up that get squirrely.

If I was going to tow that boat with regularity, I would put huge scuppers in where for normal ops, they could be blocked off, but dump a lot of water if towing.

The advantage of not using floating line is when it gets wet, the catenary is good for shock absorption. So using bridles at either end with floats that are chafe resistant is great and stetchy or heavy when wet in between is great too.

This is towing a 19' at about 17 knots with the 12.5 on the boat deck....

https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/se...8/media/73146827930/medium/1170622177/enhance

This is nothing fancy as far as the boat goes. I've got about $1800 in the boat all together.

Would a 5/8" bridle ans a 1/2" rope to the "tender" work?

I have no plans to tow at anything above 15kts since the boat won't go that fast and most likely it will be between 6-8kts.

We have plenty of time for the trip which is why we are bringing a 16' boat along with us. We plan on staying 16 days in the Abacos.

I e towed a flats skiff to the Bahamas on numerous trip, last one weather got nasty in the stream with six foot seas. I almost lost the skiff as it flooded and couldn’t get close to it in those seas to try to fix towing problems. Slowed down to a few knots and finally hit Cat. Towing lines suffered lots of chafe. Save the skiff but won’t do it again.

$1,600 is a riskable amount. Check with your insurance if you are covered if the tender is being towed.

I put in a back up camera (cheap) so I could watch the dinghy when it is towed (as well as backing up when docking).

k9medic said:

This is nothing fancy as far as the boat goes. I've got about $1800 in the boat all together.

Would a 5/8" bridle ans a 1/2" rope to the "tender" work?

I have no plans to tow at anything above 15kts since the boat won't go that fast and most likely it will be between 6-8kts.

We have plenty of time for the trip which is why we are bringing a 16' boat along with us. We plan on staying 16 days in the Abacos.

Click to expand...

Depends on the break strength of the weakest point and your ability to make sure chafe guard is in place wherever needed.
Is the dinghy self bailing? Are there really good attachment points for the bridle? Does it ride bow high and with good manners in heavy seas?

Let me also add that you need to have an easy way to adjust the length of the tow line so the boat being towed is being headed up the wave produced by the towing boat, this should eliminate all yawing.

I realize you are on a budget but you're putting a good bit of effort into the renovation, so...

Aside from the bridles/tow line, you might consider strapping in a couple of air-filled buoyancy bags in the Wahoo for longer open-water passages. This substantially reduces the chance of swamping and adds no weight. It's not easy to deal with a swamped tender especially in the kind of conditions that caused it in the first place.

May have to Google. I think Seaerboat makes some big ones.

Bigsfish is right...you will have to experiment with the length of the tow line until you find the sweet spot. Then mark it.
Night time always made me nervous as I couldn't easily see it back there even with an LED "running" light on it.

But it's nice to have when you get where you're going!

Correct me if I'm wrong ..... but should the dink not be towed as close as possible to the transom of the big boat ? My way of thinking .... less stress on the rope, dinghy wondering etc. etc. F

In calmer conditions, say narrow ICW, and going slow..... sure close might be OK.

But usually only for inflatables ot tiny dinks with light motors.

Bigger hard dinks with heavier motors will ride forward and slam your transom when you slow down. Sure you can pad everything, but usually better to just use a longer towline and reel it in when necessary.

If referring to sailboats with inflatables tied right to the transom or upside down being towed with only their bows in the water....never did it, it may work spectacularly......but I bet it would take a bit of experimentation for each boat its tried on for angle, etc....

If the tow is a good bit smaller that the big boat, no need for a bridle on the big boat. Just a single line to one of the stern cleats. Asymmetric drag not a big deal. That way you can adjust the length of the tow line to get it into the most favorable spot of the wake.

And at night, you want a light on the tow. That way if you lose it, you can find it. Been there, done that. We did lose it and we did get it back under tow. Twice. LED won't kill the battery.

Tow speed is an issue. At 6-8kts the skiff will be plowing, might get over the hump at 8, depending on its weight. A heavy skiff plowing is a LOT of drag. That's why I like a light inflatable. But those can flip with enough wind.

My dad pulled a 13' Whaler from time to time. The one with the side console. He always tied one of those cheap folding radar reflectors to the steering wheel in case it got loose at night. Even down low it made a pretty clear target on that old radar.
We lost a dinghy in a blow down in Roatan once. Heavy little sucker that CSY provided with their sailing charters. We had chartered two CSY 44 sailboats so we had two dinghys. We eventually found it but what a PITA.
Anyway the tow line was pretty long...I'd say 35'.

That was 1983. I guess today that thing would have been stolen within about 10 minutes. (Another problem with towing)

psneeld said:

In calmer conditions, say narrow ICW, and going slow..... sure close might be OK.

But usually only for inflatables ot tiny dinks with light motors.

Bigger hard dinks with heavier motors will ride forward and slam your transom when you slow down. Sure you can pad everything, but usually better to just use a longer towline and reel it in when necessary.

If referring to sailboats with inflatables tied right to the transom or upside down being towed with only their bows in the water....never did it, it may work spectacularly......but I bet it would take a bit of experimentation for each boat its tried on for angle, etc....

Click to expand...

You are absolutely right ..... I was referring to an inflatable only. In any event, I would never tow an inflatable by it's D rings ! ..... bridle or not ! A friend had a sailboat and had the set up you are referring to .... it was a " dinghy tow " F

Ex Sailor said:

You are absolutely right ..... I was referring to an inflatable only. In any event, I would never tow an inflatable by it's D rings ! ..... bridle or not ! A friend had a sailboat and had the set up you are referring to .... it was a " dinghy tow " F

Click to expand...

Funny, but my inflatable manufacturer says d rings only for towing.

Not sure if that is for failsafe ......say if the inflatable swamps they will pull off instead of pulling the trailer loop through the hull or what?

fwiw ... I have discovered a few things over the many years of towing RIBS and hard bottoms.

- The "V" made of nylon rope at the towing boat is a great shock absorber for waves and spreads the makes the chafe problem much more manageable

- Towing back about 75-85 feet should put the dinghy on the backside of the second wave which will limit its tendency to 'wag' and go bow down. That is a guess based upon a 42 AC Sea Ray anyway.

- If you tow off of center the 'wag' is more pronounced.

- Heavy rain is not a problem with decent self bailing hull. A moderate rain can be a problem for a hull that does not bail.

- Larger sized, wet, and sun weathered nylon tow ropes can be heavy, hard to handle and becomes impossible to coil in a season or so.

- Heavy seas , passing large boats and other weather challenges are really not an issue if you have prepared ahead of time.

- Towing at 6 knots is not so bad but towing at 7-10 knots is very hard on the tow bridle , the towed boat and the towing boat. We would travel under tow at either 6 knots or at least 14 knots or more for that reason.

- The smaller RIBS do not tow anywhere near as steady and safely as RIBS just a few feet larger in length/size.

Whatever you do ...good luck and have fun.

psneeld said:

Funny, but my inflatable manufacturer says d rings only for towing.

Not sure if that is for failsafe ......say if the inflatable swamps they will pull off instead of pulling the trailer loop through the hull or what?

Click to expand...

LOL .... Having paid my dues & time in this boating thing, I often think that some manufacturers are full of sh*t .... I see torn D rings on inflatables all the time. I lost my zodiac in an anchorage during a blow a few years ago, the few surges that came through tore them right off .... but what do I know .. FB

I have seen way to many inflatables destroyed being towed so I tip them up on the swimstep or put them on a deck for travel.

There is a great after-market check-valve that goes over your existing transom drain on the outside. I think it's FlowMax. West Marine carries them. You can leave the plug out of the drain hole all the time, even when using the Wahoo. I have two on my Aquasport. Stays dry in rain, splashing, and on the trailer. (Self-bailing cockpit floor)

CD

I think that is the one that uses a ping pong ball to seal the opening. I have seem many sunk boat due to trash not allowing the ball to completely seal the silicone opening, even mono leader.

Much like anchoring....many variables.

Slow speed, short term, fair weather towing is easy.

Higher speeds, longer tows and foul weather bring many more variables into the tow.

Each time the mother and the tow may have charachteristics that change tbose variables....practice in ever worsening conditions is the only real teacher for your setup after each of the problem elements have been addressed.

Bigsfish said:

CD

I think that is the one that uses a ping pong ball to seal the opening. I have seem many sunk boat due to trash not allowing the ball to completely seal the silicone opening, even mono leader.

Click to expand...

Many boats? That's weird since they are for drains that are above the waterline, unless weight submerges them temporarily (as with a self-bailing cockpit). My '76 Aquasport could sit at a mooring forever and it wouldn't fill up even if the drains were left wide open without the FlowMax's. The boat would, however hold water in the cockpit if those drains were plugged closed. But they really should never be closed.

So when the boat's empty they are above the waterline, but if three people are standing near the transom - and especially in the case of sitting in the back of a small dinghy - the cockpit drains will go under water temporarily. Or if a wave comes from behind such as when coming off plane quickly. Or hard reversing, coming off the trailer, etc.
In any of those cases the FlowMax ball closes the drains instantly...no water comes in. People move around, the boat levels back out, transom comes back up. Any water drains right out....rain, spray, spilled beer, etc. Simple and effective. I've had them installed for 10 years.

In a towing situation I cannot imagine a scenario where any significant water would come in through the transom drains...only out.
But then when you get in your dinghy (without the FlowMax's) you have to quickly plug the cockpit drain. Any water can't escape.

Note: obviously the FlowMax's are not to be used over a hull drain, or below the typical waterline. But do people really need to be told that? I guess nothing should surprise me in boating world.

ps - I have nothing to do with the FlowMax company...I'm just a fan.

CDreamer said:

Many boats? That's weird since they are for drains that are above the waterline, unless weight submerges them temporarily (as with a self-bailing cockpit). My '76 Aquasport could sit at a mooring forever and it wouldn't fill up even if the drains were left wide open without the FlowMax's. The boat would, however hold water in the cockpit if those drains were plugged closed. But they really should never be closed.

So when the boat's empty they are above the waterline, but if three people are standing near the transom - and especially in the case of sitting in the back of a small dinghy - the cockpit drains will go under water temporarily. Or if a wave comes from behind such as when coming off plane quickly. Or hard reversing, coming off the trailer, etc.
In any of those cases the FlowMax ball closes the drains instantly...no water comes in. People move around, the boat levels back out, transom comes back up. Any water drains right out....rain, spray, spilled beer, etc. Simple and effective. I've had them installed for 10 years.

In a towing situation I cannot imagine a scenario where any significant water would come in through the transom drains...only out.
But then when you get in your dinghy (without the FlowMax's) you have to quickly plug the cockpit drain. Any water can't escape.

Note: obviously the FlowMax's are not to be used over a hull drain, or below the typical waterline. But do people really need to be told that? I guess nothing should surprise me in boating world.

ps - I have nothing to do with the FlowMax company...I'm just a fan.

Click to expand...

Yes - I agree. We have had good luck with them as well in that application and when towing a RIB. You can see it in the center of this picture above the water line....

CD

Your expierece does not mimic mine, to each his own. I took a set off a boat I owned because mono leader would not allow the ping pong ball to complete seal the opening and water came in. No proble, jump up on a plane and let the water drain then plug from the inside.