Dink Towing

[Dan Mapes]

We currently have an Avon 340 with an 18 HP 4 stroke and it works really well. But I am thinking it is becoming time to get something a bit more substantial after being hung out in the Sea of Abaco with a foot and a half of chop due to an unexpected wind speed change.
I was looking at Whalers, and the older 13s are rumored to be a rough, wet ride in chop. The new Super Sport 130s look as though they might be better in chop but this is not the point.

Given it would be at least twice the weight of the Avon, I am not interested in hanging one off the transome. Nor do I want it on the aft deck lid. We are in a 1985 43 M/Y. So I was thinking of towing.

Are the two read cleats going to be stout enough to attach the tow line through the haws holes? I was thinking a max weight of 1000 pounds of dink weight. We usually run Freedom slowly at around 8 or 9 knots at most. Occassionally we will open her up to blow things out but that would only be on calm water anyway.

Any experience out there on the do's and don'ts of setting up a tow line attachment?

[GJH]

Dan, they certainly are on my 56. We jammed the winch on the davit (I'll spare those details) a few weeks ago and I had to jury rig a tow for our Whaler 130 Sport (2006 vintage). Fortunately we have a giant hank of big yellow polypropylene courtesy of the PO, a bit too giant, but I managed to rig a makeshift bridle from one of the stern lines to provide some stretch and shock absorption, which is critical. I was a little rushed because seas were kicking up into the 4's and choppy, and I wanted to hit the inlet before ebb. I put the Whaler about 30 feet back with the motor about half way down. It worked great and took the seas like a champ and didn't get any water in it, even through some ugly spots. We were making about 9 knots. Pulling it back in for docking was a bit of a hassle, but no big deal, a more purpose made set up would overcome that.

We love our Whaler after many hundreds of hours of use in the last 4 years. We sometimes think of the Hatt as merely the delivery vehicle for the Whaler. When we were living on moorings in Marathon and Westport, Mass, it was like a sport utility vehicle, the extra space it provides over an inflatable is fantastic. The 11 foot model is very nice too, we used to tie up in Marathon with some happy owners of one of those. We have never found the ride to be an issue.

[REBrueckner]

"I was looking at Whalers, and the older 13s are rumored to be a rough, wet ride in chop. The new Super Sport 130s look as though they might be better in chop but this is not the point. "

The older Whalers are very durable, rather bouncy in chop and the vertical and low freeboard makes for a wet ride when it's windy. I've had waves come right over the low bow of a 11 footer......but they self bail with an outboard and don't sink so it's no big deal...Many HB inflatibles do not self bail entirely, due to the "deep vee" hard bottom shape, so during rain they can accumulate a lot of water inside....

Hard bottom inflatables are consideraby drier because the round bottom of tubes tends to flatten down spray,,,,And the deep forefoot seems to enter oncoming waves more sommothly than the older Whalers....but they still seem bouncy as well...And the inflatables in general are more prone to flipping over in violent thunderstroms or squalls ...If at anchor it can help to snug the bow against your swim platform or stern...

Whalers when towed will swing from side to side at higher speeds unless the outboard in at least partially down to create more stern drag....

ANY towed dinghy becomes a hassle when the weather turns nasty and the seas get rough. If you usually have a reliable crew member aboard to handle a dinghy while you run the boat it's not a big deal; but if you single hand, as I often did, trying to run a big boat and assure your dinghy is safe in adverse weather is no picnic....

....

[DLCameron2]

Hi Dan:

I have towed both a 13 Sea Ray Laguna and an 18 Sea Ray Laguna in the past. I towed the 13 behind the 43 DC from St. Clair Shores to Mackinac Island and back (about 500 miles in all sorts of sea conditions). We ran the 43 around 17 knots all the time, sometimes we had to slow down because the 13 Laguna would be "flying" over waves the Hatt did not feel. You will have no problem towing at 8-9 knots IMHO. And you won't get caught again. Try to find a "lil" Laguna it is a cool boat way better than a Whaler from a ride point of view.

DC

[Dan Mapes]

The Sea Ray idea is a good one since ride is going to be important to us. I think I will be into re-enforcing the bow ring regardless.
I started with Whaler because of the floatation. Originally I was looking at another RIB only larger. When I saw it was 17K for a Nautica new, I thought there has to be better than that for the money.
I mean, I'd like to fish it. Why would I want to consider another RIB when a hook or gaff could ruin my day? So now I am thinking there are plenty of used boats out there that I could tow even though I'd love to get a cuddy like a Shamrock 26 with a single inboard Yanmar. I'm thinking that is over the limit of sensible towing.

George I am glad you brought up the subject of shock absorbing. What are the generally accepted practices?

[Docs Holiday]

Do you have to put a bottom job on the tender if you are towing it all the time?

[Dan Mapes]

Do you have to put a bottom job on the tender if you are towing it all the time?


I was thinking of getting one. By the way, I am thinking of changing over to a hard bottom paint instead of ablative.

[BUSTER]

Dan I have extensively towed my 20' Aquasport CC behind BUSTER just about everywhere at 15-16 knots from the stern cleats and through the hawse pipe. Of course the Aquasport has a tow eye made to be towed.I use a 100' 7/8" poly towline on a bridle and have never had a problem.The best thing about it is the Hatteras cruises like nothing is behind it. I have also towed my 23'Mako from New London to the Vineyard and back several times as well with the same rig.

[BUSTER]

I was thinking of getting one. By the way, I am thinking of changing over to a hard bottom paint instead of ablative.

Before you leave for home,consider a run over to Calcutta and get a couple gallons of Seahawk Islands 66.That's the stuff Ainsley,Bill and I used on BUSTER. It is hard plus has the "goodstuff" in it. You can scrub it though they say you never will and Bill swears it will last 4 or 5 years minimum in the Bahamas. Bill's Seacraft has had the same coat of Seahawk paint on the bottom for 7 years and it still clean,but wearing through on the chine.

[REBrueckner]

"The best thing about it is the Hatteras cruises like nothing is behind it.."

Likely the handling is virtually unaffected but there must be some additional HP and fuel consumed....roughly whatever it takes the Aquasport to move at your cruise speed under it's own power ....minus the helmsmen weight.

One way to save a bit of fuel is to tow whatever boat it is behind your big boat on the downward (near) side of your wake wave....If you tow on the far side of a wake wave...uphill...likely you can feel the difference versus towing on the downside (front) of the wave...

On those few occasions I towed my 11 foot Whaler.... with a 15 hp tilted up on it.... I could pull the Whaler by hand down the front of the wave easily...but could not pull the Whaler up the backside of a wake wave despite my best efforts....

[Dan Mapes]

Rob a couple of 903's in a 43 footer helps also :D

We're still wondering what we're going to do. Like do we buy a CC over here or tow one over. The duty on a CC will add quite a bit to the cost for sure, but I'm thinking a tow over will justify storage for a couple of years at least.

[ron6785]

Have you ever heard of a NewZeland tie, which is to tie the boat you are towing right up next to the swim platform, ( in my case a 53my ) it acts like and extention of the boat but it does have some caveat's let me know if you want more information. I've towed my center consul over 7000miles this way.

[rsmith]

My 13 super sport


http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af224/endless50/P4290447.jpg
http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af224/endless50/P4290445.jpg

[Canuck Dennis]

We towed an 18 ft Zodiac 2000 miles last summer and it was about 8 ft from the swimgrid, worked really well with a good bridle and chafing gear, even ran in 6-8 seas. We kept the 13 ft sport on the upper deck the whole trip. This was in our 70 ft.

[jim rosenthal]

Cool dog, too, Smith, is that your fishing companion?

[kjaanbutt]

Well we hadn't, my son drives a 60 mile route throwing 100 to 150 plus rack papers every day and the day he drove the good car (2004 Blazer that we owe $10,000 on) fell asleep and wrecked on a gravel road

[Dan Mapes]

As far as the New Zealand rig, if you have a link or photos I'm interested to see how it looks.
I like the dog in the dink, it looks like a youngster in that photo.

[Dan Mapes]

We towed an 18 ft Zodiac 2000 miles last summer and it was about 8 ft from the swimgrid, worked really well with a good bridle and chafing gear, even ran in 6-8 seas. We kept the 13 ft sport on the upper deck the whole trip. This was in our 70 ft.

How fast were you running?