Tender towing set up

I'll 2nd or 3rd using 3 strand instead braid for better shock absorber effect. I'm not sure how similar you hull form is to that of our 13 but I have to say it towed beautifully in some pretty crappy rough seas. Getting it positioned on the second or third wake wave back made a difference.
We tilted the engine so that the skeg was just in the water which helped with tracking. Don't worry if the tow horses around a bit.

Floating line can still be sucked into a prop when the boat is in reverse, as I once learned first hand.

No twisting or hockling on the 3 strand?

diver dave said:

No twisting or hockling on the 3 strand?

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I do not know if you are asking me but we have two bridles that are almost identical except for capacity (weight ratings).
Each one has been used for more than 6-7 seasons with the heavy one at about 10 seasons total- that's the one in the picture.
The pics are taken at season 32 and the bridle looks just about the same now as it did then - given the anti-chafe looks like it has been working.
It has pulled many different dinghies between 16' and 24' over the years with never a problem - right about 800 miles under tow each year. Towing legs are typically at 100 nmiles or less with destinations like Block Island, Pt Judith, Mystic, Kingston NY etc - some pretty rough areas in between these spots.
The RIB you see in the pictures is the heaviest we towed a 24' RIBCAT with twin 150HP 4 stroke Yamahas , held 95 gals fuel, 15 gallons water, had a hydraulic lowering ramp at the front - a heavy tow.
When we towed our 19' Rib with a 115 Yamaha we could hardly tell it was even back there - towed real nice as well.
The bridles are in the garage hanging on the wall and they look more or less like new except for the aforementioned chafe gear wear.

Towline after the last season used....

https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/se...8/media/73680360203/medium/1515534505/enhance

Picture of RIB under tow ....

https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/se...8/media/73149395850/medium/1349139922/enhance

We towed a 18.5 Key West, center console last year around/from the Berry's to Vero Beach via Lake Worth. No problems towing. The tow line was 75 feet plus the length of the bridle that probably added another 20'. Once in the ICW, we shortened the tow line to 50'.

I probably wouldn't do it again only because we're full displacement. We couldn't go fast enough to get the Key West on/out of the water and to maintain 6.5-7 knots our fuel burn went up 50%.

It was nice in the Berry's though, the additional mobility/access to other (skinny) waters without having to move Hobo pretty cool.

No issues with 3 strand for this purpose or anchoring or as a spring line.

Larry M said:

We towed a 18.5 Key West, center console last year around/from the Berry's to Vero Beach via Lake Worth. No problems towing. The tow line was 75 feet plus the length of the bridle that probably added another 20'. Once in the ICW, we shortened the tow line to 50'.

I probably wouldn't do it again only because we're full displacement. We couldn't go fast enough to get the Key West on/out of the water and to maintain 6.5-7 knots our fuel burn went up 50%.

It was nice in the Berry's though, the additional mobility/access to other (skinny) waters without having to move Hobo pretty cool.

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Larry,
I'm interested in knowing why you have the tow so far behind the mothership? Is it because you tow at a fast speed?
I have my tow closer - riding the wake from Nimiane - as this affords my towed vessel a smoother ocean surface - less chance of being smashed from side on waves.
But hey my boat is a minnow and only going 6Knts. (dinghy 3.7 mtrs and all up 100 kg)
Regards.

bogranjac1 said:

Larry,
I'm interested in knowing why you have the tow so far behind the mothership? Is it because you tow at a fast speed?
I have my tow closer - riding the wake from Nimiane - as this affords my towed vessel a smoother ocean surface - less chance of being smashed from side on waves.
But hey my boat is a minnow and only going 6Knts. (dinghy 3.7 mtrs and all up 100 kg)
Regards.

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This was a first for us towing such a big tender and with it back at around 95’, it still looked close. Also, when we were crossing the Gulf Stream, I thought I might need the extra distance if the seas turned bad, which they didn’t, fortunately. Mostly, just from my lack of experience.

Larry, I run a KW1720. In the keys for a week with no bottom paint, and does OK. How long did you run in the islands? Looks like urs is a clean bottom too.

diver dave said:

Larry, I run a KW1720. In the keys for a week with no bottom paint, and does OK. How long did you run in the islands? Looks like urs is a clean bottom too.

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It was there for almost 5 months. We had it for 2 of those. Part of the deal was the usage and we tow it back to the States for the owners. A pretty good trade for us. I cleaned the bottom in the water usually about every 2-3 weeks and there wasn’t much. It’s amazing how little growth attached it self to hull.

The KW lives on a trailer in South Georgia for day use so it didn’t make sense to paint it for just one season.

I’ve noticed that there are not a lot of boats in the Bahamas with bottom paint. Perhaps this is just the smaller boats that I’ve come across. One person told me that barnacles typically do not grow in the Bahamas because the marine life likes to eat them before they get established.

On the towing topic I think I am all set. I made the bridal and total line connections today.

The only issue that I am having now is Saturday’s weather forecast is calling for 3 to 5 with 15kt wind out of the north west.

This would put the wind at our back’s for the trip down but I’m not sure if I want to venture out in that type of Sea state for my first towing trip.

k9medic said:

The only issue that I am having now is Saturday’s weather forecast is calling for 3 to 5 with 15kt wind out of the north west.



This would put the wind at our back’s for the trip down but I’m not sure if I want to venture out in that type of Sea state for my first towing trip.

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Same forecast as here. Oh, is that 3-5 feet or degrees[emoji23]

Well we finally got a nice day to try the setup out.

I took the 100' dyneema line (synthetic winch rope) and attached it to two pieces of 5/8" double braided nylon rope. I had to tie a bowline in the dyneema to attach the shackle to since one end of the dyneema was a "free end."

We took the little boat out in the bay and attached the boats together. I tied the ends of the nylon rope to the cleats using a modification of a cleat hitch where the rope pulled on both ends of the cleat at the same time.

Moving forward very slowly it was evident that the whole setup was just the right length. At 8 kts. the tender was riding the back side of the third wake. When we accelerated to cruise speed, the boat was tracking great and riding smoothly.

We did notice that at 8kts. the tender was really trying to get up on plane though.

Of course this was in the protected waters of a river so in the ocean there might be some changes.

Sounds good so far, but I'd really encourage you to get some more stretch built into tha set up, perhaps by subbing 3 strand for that double braid. But before doing that, a few more sea trials and observation should better inform the decision to do that or not.

Have fun out there!

What is the benefit of the three strand?

k9medic said:

What is the benefit of the three strand?

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Three strand has a lot more stretch then double braid. Is much easier on the attachment points.