Towing a Dinghy

[diver dave]

I see scads of 32 to 36’ dinks in the islands that are towed across. They seem to have this figured out. Being worth $400k at the end of the line i’m sure accelerates the learning process.

 

[Art]

I see scads of 32 to 36’ dinks in the islands that are towed across. They seem to have this figured out. Being worth $400k at the end of the line i’m sure accelerates the learning process.

Really?? Towing 32 to 36' boats [as dinks] worth $400K...

I see the tow as not too much problem... with a large enough towing boat.

However, it's the stopping of both vessels without a bang-up regarding bow of towed boat into transom of the tow boat that makes me wonder.

 

[psneeld]

Really?? Towing 32 to 36' boats [as dinks] worth $400K...

I see the tow as not too much problem... with a large enough towing boat.

However, it's the stopping of both vessels without a bang-up regarding bow of towed boat into transom of the tow boat that makes me wonder.

That's why pros need a special license for towing.....not for everyone.

Occasionally all sorts of boats lose all sorts of "dinks", even the 30 foot plus center consoles. They just don't flip as easy as a rib.

 

[diver dave]

Reinforced bow eyes. Connecting parts are metal on metal. Filled with 300 or 400 gallons of the cheap US gas. Yes, the dinks.
I have not tried trolling off the back of a hundred footer, but those towed 34’ yellowfin look doable.

 

[Art]

Reinforced bow eyes. Connecting parts are metal on metal. Filled with 300 or 400 gallons of the cheap US gas. Yes, the dinks.
I have not tried trolling off the back of a hundred footer, but those towed 34’ yellowfin look doable.

Instead of multi million $$$, enormous sized, multi hundred foot yachts... towing... 36' $400K tenders; and, the like...

These photos display the "well-buffered" nose of our tow behind, 1975, 15', 50 hp o/b, Crestliner runabout. I put the fender on her so that when we are in extremely slow travel, close quarters... with purposefully very shortened [6' long] tow line... she can bounce gently off transom making no mark - at all!

Easy Is as Easy Does!

 

[Group9]

I see scads of 32 to 36’ dinks in the islands that are towed across. They seem to have this figured out. Being worth $400k at the end of the line i’m sure accelerates the learning process.

One of my more memorable experiences of my first Bahamas cruise (1987) was seeing a hundred foot plus yacht, towing a 42 foot Sportfish.

 

[diver dave]

This guy showed up in the anchorage yesterday. We dinked past in our 3.10 RIB
His dink had trips and a marlin tower
Somehow its attached to his stern. Will try a better shot tomorrow.

 

[thedeltaskipper]

Bow Fender

Where did you get that bow fender? I tow a 16' Sea Ray and something like that would make life easier.

Instead of multi million $$$, enormous sized, multi hundred foot yachts... towing... 36' $400K tenders; and, the like...

These photos display the "well-buffered" nose of our tow behind, 1975, 15', 50 hp o/b, Crestliner runabout. I put the fender on her so that when we are in extremely slow travel, close quarters... with purposefully very shortened [6' long] tow line... she can bounce gently off transom making no mark - at all!

Easy Is as Easy Does!

 

[Art]

Where did you get that bow fender? I tow a 16' Sea Ray and something like that would make life easier.

West Marine. It's a small corner fender that I forced [bent/screeched] into position 13 years ago. Four stainless bolts with washers and nut fasten it to the rub rail via holes I drilled. It has not given me a moment's trouble since. Saves the heck out of out of transom. I also have used it to push a couple of relatively small disabled boats up against side slips after towing them in due to their engine quitting... always in calm water though!

 

[Shrew]

OK, so I've just spent the last 3.5 weeks towing. We went from:

Westerly, RI -> Block Island, RI -> Cuttyhunk, MA -> Vineyard Haven (Martha's Vineyard) -> Edgartown (Martha's Vineyard) -> Hadley Harbor, Ma -> Onset, Ma -> Provincetown, Ma. -> Onset, Ma -> Vineyard Haven -> Cuttyhunk -> Block Island.

We learned quite a bit along the way.

1) The tow package I detailed earlier is absolutely worth the money. It is in no way overkill. This is including the heavy duty towing eye we had installed by Boston Whaler.

2) a 13 foot Boston Whaler will tow through an amazing amount of crappy weather and seas.

3) Reports of ribs flipping while being towed seems completely doable. We had a very rough ride through 4+ ft standing waves where the current in Buzzards bay was flooding against a 20 mph wind. We watched the 1,100 lb whaler stand straight-up, several times.

4) We appeared to loose about .5 - 1 kt towing.

5) shortening the two hawser to enter channels and inlets, extending the hawser in open water after exiting can be cumbersome. most other boats seem to care less that we line handling a two vessel as they pass on plane.

6) We have to transfer my wife into the Whaler after we enter a harbor and I have to either anchor or grab a mooring solo. Dropping moorings and picking up anchor is a bit easier.

7) side-tying he whaler only works in calm anchorages and mooring fields. In high winds or rough weather it was actually easier to leave it on about 20 ft of painter.

 

[jbinbi]

Sounds like a great cruise! Assuming that since you have the dink, you were anchoring almost all the time vs. moorings (figured if you had moorings, most marinas have pretty reasonable launch service)?

Thanks for the towing real world info.

 

[Slowmo]

We've towed our dingy always. Sometimes we've towing two of them. However, we're in the relatively protected waters of the Pacific Northwest. They've never been a big problem, you just have to be aware of it when docking. We actually removed the davit system from our current boat, it blocked the swim platform which was a big negative.

Seas up to about 3-4' have not presented a problem. That said I would not tow if I was in areas where we could get caught in really heavy seas. The last thing you'd want to be dealing with is a flipped dingy and 6' seas. So it depends on where you boat.

 

[Art]

OK, so I've just spent the last 3.5 weeks towing. We went from:

Westerly, RI -> Block Island, RI -> Cuttyhunk, MA -> Vineyard Haven (Martha's Vineyard) -> Edgartown (Martha's Vineyard) -> Hadley Harbor, Ma -> Onset, Ma -> Provincetown, Ma. -> Onset, Ma -> Vineyard Haven -> Cuttyhunk -> Block Island.

We learned quite a bit along the way.

13 foot Boston Whaler will tow through an amazing amount of crappy weather and seas.

Shrew! You outlined many of the stopovers we frequented in mid thru late 1960's. 1962 13'3" Whaler with 1964 40hp Johnson was always our tow. Often as a teenager I'd hop in her and speed ahead to harbors.

Ain't those little Whalers a great runabout!

 

[Shrew]

Shrew! You outlined many of the stopovers we frequented in mid thru late 1960's. 1962 13'3" Whaler with 1964 40hp Johnson was always our tow. Often as a teenager I'd hop in her and speed ahead to harbors.

Ain't those little Whalers a great runabout!

They are truly amazing! It really is a equally a large dinghy and a small skiff. It greatly broadened our cruising radius. We were able to anchor in places that were simply too far for our previous slat-floored dinghy with a 4HP OB.

We were able to get through a lot of white caps while staying dry. In the old dinghy we'd wear bathing suits in, then change in the bathroom to go to dinner.

 

[diver dave]

I have some whaler 13 ocean time; with a missing spine disc to prove it [emoji15]

 

[MYTraveler]

I was surprised to see that the insurance policy for my 19' bass boat excludes coverage caused by my boat towing or being towed by another. I have not had a chance to review my big boat policy, but if it has similar language, I may not be able to tow my dinghy. You might confirm that your policy doesn't have a similar exclusion.

 

[Art]

I have some whaler 13 ocean time; with a missing spine disc to prove it [emoji15]

Yup... Them flat, gloss varnished, mahogany-slab Whaler seats were a back breaker... when pounding into waves! But Fun!!

 

[twistedtree]

I was surprised to see that the insurance policy for my 19' bass boat excludes coverage caused by my boat towing or being towed by another. I have not had a chance to review my big boat policy, but if it has similar language, I may not be able to tow my dinghy. You might confirm that your policy doesn't have a similar exclusion.

I was going to bring this up as well. My insurance is a bit different, and cuts the dinghy coverage in half if it's being towed. I don't recall about damage to the mothership if it is towing.

 

[Shrew]

I'll have to look more closely at my insurance. The Mainship has a different policy with a different insurance company than the whaler. Neither have verbiage (either positive or negative) regarding towing.

 

[bowball]

One of my more memorable experiences of my first Bahamas cruise (1987) was seeing a hundred foot plus yacht, towing a 42 foot Sportfish.

I heard of a 100 meter yacht that lost its Hinckley under tow at night while repositioning. Apparently didn’t feel like bringing it up to the boat deck on a short journey.

 

[TrawlerAJ]

Shrew, or others with Mainships, where do you attach on mothership? 400's have cleats on the transom, with likely decent backing plates, but they're facing backwards. Do you use one or both of your transom cleats for towing, or have a more complicated bridle to pull from further up?

 

[psneeld]

Shrew, or others with Mainships, where do you attach on mothership? 400's have cleats on the transom, with likely decent backing plates, but they're facing backwards. Do you use one or both of your transom cleats for towing, or have a more complicated bridle to pull from further up?

What are you trying to tow and under what kinds of conditions do you expect to be towing it?

 

[twistedtree]

I'll have to look more closely at my insurance. The Mainship has a different policy with a different insurance company than the whaler. Neither have verbiage (either positive or negative) regarding towing.

Interesting. My tender is automatically covered under my main boat policy.

 

[TrawlerAJ]

What are you trying to tow and under what kinds of conditions do you expect to be towing it?

I guess that's part of the question - this thread has talked a lot about 13' Whalers in snotty conditions. Are the stern facing cleats on the transom of the 350 to 400 series Mainships sturdy enough for such duty with a Y bridle between them?



I'm not trying to be evasive, just asking if others are using those cleats for towing, or rigging something else from further forward...

 

[ABfish]

To look at it another way- the Mainship weighs approximately 24,000 lbs. and the cleats will adequately secure the boat to the dock in reasonably rough weather. In a docking situation with crossed stern lines, the cleats could be subject to shear and bending forces.

The Whaler weighs less than 500 lbs. Assume that the Whaler could produce a force of four times its gross weight on the tow line. (that's extremely conservative). That's 2,000 lbs. of pull spread over two cleats on the Mainship.

This is like towing a go cart with your pickup truck. The attachment point on the pickup is not going to be an issue.

 

[TrawlerAJ]

I agree, the stern cleats are adequately robust for securing the boat when side loaded. The forces of towing are straight back, relying on the strength of the bolts, washers, nuts, and backing plate. The hypotheticals suggest a robust attachment for towing. Are there any 400 owners that tow anything from the stern cleats?

 

[smitty477]

To look at it another way- the Mainship weighs approximately 24,000 lbs. and the cleats will adequately secure the boat to the dock in reasonably rough weather. In a docking situation with crossed stern lines, the cleats could be subject to shear and bending forces.

The Whaler weighs less than 500 lbs. Assume that the Whaler could produce a force of four times its gross weight on the tow line. (that's extremely conservative). That's 2,000 lbs. of pull spread over two cleats on the Mainship.

This is like towing a go cart with your pickup truck. The attachment point on the pickup is not going to be an issue.

"The Whaler weighs less than 500 lbs."
Not sure which Whaler you are talking about, but the newer style 13'SS would weigh about twice that with a 25-40hp outboard and some fuel on board.

 

[psneeld]

I think the cleats could easily tow a 13' whaler in calm to choppy bay/ICW situations at speeds less than 8 knots. Increase the speed to 10 knots and it would have to be almost flat and large wakes slowed for or avoided.

Would it be safe to tow faster or in heavier weather? I don't know, I am guessing at what I suggested above based on a lot of small boat towing...but you are correct that the cleats will be used in a manner they aren't really designed or installed for. So yes it is just a guess, but a reasonably educated one.

Like many have done in the past...start small and slow and see what kind of forces are associated with those conditions. Increase till you get a better feel for the forces that would be the max you would have to tow in.

You can also use very lightweight towlines with LONG backups to use their breaking strengths as a guide.

While getting input from other with similar vessels is a good idea, it can still be a roll of the dice for many reasons without some hands on.