towing

[MauleOne]

Does anyone use an electric winch to pull in their tow line when the dingy gets too close?

[dwhatty]

MauleOne wrote:
Does anyone use an electric winch to pull in their tow line when the dingy gets too close?

*I use my two legged wench.

[FF]

Folks that cruise , and like marinas will frequently install a pair of discarded sheet winches on each stern quarter.

Helps loads in docking when the bride can pull 1200lbs with ease.

[koliver]

In measuring my dinghy painter, I calculate the maximum that will be just too short to foul in my props. That is 15 ft. The 750 lb 12' RIB rides nicely that far behind. When manouvering, I can safely forget the dinghy is there and never need to worry about fouling.

[Nomad Willy]

Towing sucks but having a nice big dinghy is really nice. I almost towed my 16' skiff behind Willy this summer but changed my mind. Wish there was a remote to raise and lower the OB leg from the mother boat so I could use the OB as a drouge in following seas. One thing about a towed dinghy is that as a lifeboat it's already launched. Here's a pic of a big trawler w an 18' Diablo skiff alongside. He towed it to Petersburg from Puget Sound. 2nd pic is my skiff.

The third pic is of my friend Ed w his Willard in the background and our skiff just barely visible just to the right of Ed's hat. Ed lives by himself on Marble Island and commutes to Craig (pop 1800) for mail and supplies usually once a month. He always tows his 14' heavy aluminum skiff w 15hp Mercury OB. Was handy. When I was out w him once I wanted to check out a small inlet he didn't want to enter with the Willard so I just buzzed on in w his skiff and back out. He just made a cup of coffee in the 10 minutes I was gone.

Dude, You must live in the wrong part of Alaska. We just leave our car keys in the car ..almost always. Unless I need money I don't even take my wallet w me. Sure is nice not to have that rock on my but.







-- Edited by nomadwilly on Tuesday 6th of September 2011 10:16:18 AM

[yachtbrokerguy]

I have towed a couple of different 21' center consoles on different higher speed yachts, actually would tow at 20 knots with the tender riding on the second stern wave.
You may not plan to run at night but I would suggest a portable set of towing lights that can be mounted on the tow boat. If you ever had a problem without legal towing lights your insurance may not pay off.

[Dream Trawl]

What are some of the hazards and concerns of towing behind? How does the dinghy behave in following seas and when encountering big passing wakes?

[Keith]

If you tow a lot, you can make an adjustable bridle. Run one long towing line to the dinghy, through a block attached to a second line. This will form a "Y" and make a nice bridle. You can lengthen or shorten the long line to bring the dink to where it rides best. You can also adjust the line with the block on it.

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. Tucker raises a good point about mounting lights on a towed vessel. Insurance issues aside, it would make finding it in the dark easier if it ever went adrift.