Towing my 15 behind my 45C

[Gina Marie]

I have plans of traveling appox 70 miles up the intercostal. I would like to take my 15 foot whaler with me for the holidays is there a procedure to tow the smaller boat. Since I do not have to worry about the seas can I travel at 17/18 knots with this boat in tow???.

Happy Thanksgiving

Tom/Gina Marie

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I have towed a 13' Whaler all over the Great Lakes. I have towed at speeds up to 17kts with no problems. I made a tow harness to tie to both aft cleats and then let the Whaler ride on the second wave of the wake. I used all 3/4" line which may have been overkill, but I never lost it. I was a bit concerned once when we got caught in 8-10 footers, but it came through fine other than having to bail out about 6" of water once we got to our anchorage.

 

[Mike36c]

Every year for lobster season I tow my 20' flats skiff to the Bahamas (150nm) behind my 36 at 23kts in 2-3' seas, no problem. In the Intracoastal its a piece of cake, just make a good towing harness (75-100') and leave the outboard down when in tow(out of gear). It only gets exciting when time to dock.....

 

[seacolt]

I agree (75 to 100) feet and leave the engine down but, tie it so the engine wont turn to one side.

 

[jim rosenthal]

Mike, do you leave the outboard down to make sure there is always some drag on the towline? just curious. I am looking into this as I would really like to be able to tow a dinghy, there isn't much room on a 36C to put one up on the boat.

 

[Mike36c]

Jim, I have never tried towing with the engine trimmed up, I'm afraid the engine would suffer damage or possibly break off. Outboards we not designed to take loads in the trimmed up position, or the transom either for that matter. I hit 5' seas a few years back and even at 9 kts the skiff took quite a beating, actually shook the engine cowling loose. As for keeping tension I think there would be plenty either way, my tow line stays TIGHT. My only other suggestion would be to add large towing hardware to the skiff, I use a 1/2" ring. 1/4" hardware or that crappy chrome plated zinc junk is not acceptable.

 

[Paul45c]

You should have no probs, Tom. If you were towing a RIB or something, I'd suggest you make a Y-bridle to tie to the lower towing rings -- gives it more directional stability. Your Whaler won't have those tie-points, though. Does it have two fwd cleats? If so, you could do something similar, just with less separation, that's all.

 

[NAN-PO 41]

We have towed our 11' whaler behind our 41'tc without any problems. I do use a 3/4" line that I shackle to the bow ring with a swivel in line. ( over kill maybe but I won't lose the whaler to the towline parting. ) I also rig a bridle from both stern cleats so the Whaler will tow on center. I tow with the outboard tilted up but it is blocked in position so that any strain is not just being absorbed by the lock pin on the tilt mechanism. The whaler is self bailing so I leave the plug out and it doesn't gain any water from spray. ( It will if the seas build at all. )
I must admit that if we are going any distance I am happier with the Whaler on stern davits though. That way I am not constantly looking over my shoulder.
If you are in the ICW you should not have any probs whatsoever. Make absolutely sure that someone on board is assigned the job of tending the tow line any time you slow down for any reason and don't give that person any other tasks to do. It is incredibly easy to foul the line. ( been there done that. )
Have a great trip, Fred

 

[egaito]

I've had no problems towing either my 13' Whaler, nor my 17' inflatable. Most has been covered here, but one thing I have switched to that has not, is poly line, which floats. It becomes much more difficult to run over the line if it's floating behind the boat, rather than hanging under it.

Got the idea from a Tow-Boat captain....one of those "well THAT makes sense" things.....

 

[SeaSwick]

...towed at speeds up to 17kts with no problems. I made a tow harness to tie to both aft cleats and then let the Whaler ride on the second wave of the wake. I used all 3/4" line...

THAT'S THE SECRET!

Make sure the Whaler (or any tow) is clearly riding on the BACK of the following wake. If near or surfing at the top, it can race down the face of the wake & that's the kind of excitement (and destruction) nobody needs! You don't want the tow in the trough between the wakes either! When you change speeds, the distances of the wakes changes too so adjust the tow.

The farther back you can tow, the easier it is on all the gear & more stable the tow, but always ride on the back of a following wake. However, the closest you should tow is the second wake.

I don't tow with the engine down because of the rudder effect & the Whaler transoms are extremely stout. But you do need to put on the trailoring latch (or block of wood) to take the load. If you use a block, tie it in place!

When I get into the harbor or other no-wake, crowded area with lots of maneuvering necessary, I'll put someone on the whaler and have them drive instead of towing (um... did I need to mention "and cast-off"??). When that isn't do-able I side-tie her at the cockpit from a spring cleat forward and the cockpit cleat at the transom. That way I can maneuver normally, if a bit sluggishly, remembering that the lower unit is sticking out past the stern of the Hatt.

I do have a bilge pump on the Whaler (for rain on the mooring) that I make sure is in the "automatic" position, but a full cover works great as well. Take everything that's not screwed down OFF. On Whalers, only tow using the bow-eye. She'll stick her snout way up in the air under tow, and love every minute of it!

But ya'know the worst thing about towing? THE G*D D*NMED JET-SKIERS!!! I lost a Dyer Dhow when one landed in it.

But I digress...

 

[egaito]

THAT'S THE SECRET!

Make sure the Whaler (or any tow) is clearly riding on the BACK of the following wake. If near or surfing at the top, it can race down the face of the wake & that's the kind of excitement (and destruction) nobody needs! You don't want the tow in the trough between the wakes either! When you change speeds, the distances of the wakes changes too so adjust the tow.

The farther back you can tow, the easier it is on all the gear & more stable the tow, but always ride on the back of a following wake. However, the closest you should tow is the second wake.

Excellent points....reminded me of another detail....the tow eye on mine was low on the hull, so the line had soem upward tention on it as well as lateral. I think that helped keep the bow up.

I don't tow with the engine down because of the rudder effect & the Whaler transoms are extremely stout. But you do need to put on the trailoring latch (or block of wood) to take the load. If you use a block, tie it in place!

I tow engine up for the same reason. Also, I think the towing load on the transom would be greater for a couple of reasons:

First, the engine is creating a pulling drag on the transom when it's being towed, vs. a pushing force when it's doing the work.

When engines are up, they are generally fairly well balanced over the transom, so most of the force is up/down motion, something I think the transom is able to take more easily.

I do like the idea of an outboard jack or something to support the weight. I use one towing on land, though I haven't tried it on the water.

But ya'know the worst thing about towing? THE G*D D*NMED JET-SKIERS!!! I lost a Dyer Dhow when one landed in it.

But I digress...

Gotta agree with that one. I call them horsefly's as they always seem to be hanging around my rear end in packs. When they get too close, I drop to idle, which generally gets me the one-finger sulute. I've also had a few that were so focused on my wake, that they didn't see the tow line, or the tow, until it was almost too late.

 

[Paul45c]

Dittos on the floating poly line -- the only drag about it is that you really need to do some braiding for either loops or shackles, since it's really difficult to tie a good secure knot without it wanting to bow out and loosen up unacceptably. No big deal, though, to braid it.

 

[Genesis]

No matter how you rig it guys make sure there is a weak link SOMEWHERE in there between the boat and the tow.

Weak link meaning something that will let go at less than a 3/4" line will! A 3/4" line has a parting strength of some 5+ TONS.

The problem here is that if you ever get unlucky enough to stuff the bow of the towed vessel you WILL rip hardware out - probably from the towed vessel (rather than the Hatt, since we know how they build Hatts!) and you definitely DO NOT want a bow eye coming back at your boat and whoever might be in the way!

A weak link helps prevent this; something that will part at a ton or so of force is good, and my preference is to put it at the bridle on the towing vessel end. This way the line snaps BACKWARDS away from your towing vessel and towards the empty one!

Yes, I realize this means the line will break and now your tow is adrift (or sunk), but that beats ripping the shiz out of one or both boats if that happens.

This is especially important if you intend to tow "on plane".

 

[SeaSwick]

As much as I agree with Paul45c (The Mighty 101) about polypropelyne line (it floats), who knows where to buy the stuff in larger, 5/8" - 1", diameters?

It has no "sling-shot" properties (stretch), which is why it's used in waterskiing tow handles (am I showing my age? Wakeboarding? Air Chair-ing???). My memory is that a 3/8th" ski-line has splices that are about 18-24" long each, it's that slippery. Any poly-splice must have whipping twine/waxed nylon applied with a sail needle through the slice, to guard against slipping.

They (skiers) use braided over 3-strand to get as much "give" in the line as possible. The stuff has NO stretch to it, which is a problem. To get some shock-absorbsion, nylon line needs to be in the tow rig somewhere, due to it's stretch.

Towing a line of six lightnings to a regatta, using their dacron (zero stretch) mainsheets, sent shudders through the whole boat each time some slack snapped taught. The strains "towing stuff" is incredible!

A bridle of nylon, with the poly line to the bow of the tow could be enough. Floats secured at the bridle end to keep the poly/bridle junction afloat, with the bridle length calculated so the unsupported nylon doesn't extend below the transom into the props when stopped (the float touching the transom & the nylon has sunk to its lowest point).

A long bridle of poly, with 20-30' of nylon to the tow, could do it too.

Personally, I've always use straight nylon, having more close calls than I care to think about... 'prop-wrap' wise. But I've also never towed more than about 30 miles at one time...

 

[garyd]

I towed a 15' Whaler from Chicago to Holland Mi. The tow boat was a 43' Wellcraft Portofino. I believe it was about 100 miles. Sea state 3-5' cruise about 22 knots to 24 knots. I simply tied a line between the two cleats to act as a bridle the apex of the loop was about 15' behind the boat. I used a 100' anchor line I'm guessing about 5/8" Most of the time all you could see was the line going into the wave behind the boat. Engine was up. It was really no big deal couldn't even feel it was back there.

Have Fun Boating garyd

 

[Bertramp]

It's funny how many owners of "classic Hatts" own "classic Whalers" !!
aaaahhh .... the classics !!

 

[SKYCHENEY]

As a kid, my first boat was a 9' Whaler, then an 11', then a 13'. I guess I had 2 foot-itis even at that age.

 

[REBrueckner]

I have always worried that an outboard left in the water will spin the prop and wear the lower unit. Is this a concern?

Also, if the outboard is lifted up, trimmed position, you can pass a line from the bow of the Whaler around the back of the engine to hold it in place...I have done that for years and the line takes the strain, not the outboatd bracket.

I always leave my drain plug OUT. that way, if the boat is partially swamped by a wave, I know it will drain....

Also, stern suction CAN suck a floating poly line under...guess how I know?

That said, towing requires caution. I tow only short distances in protected waters. I single hand, and should a problem arise, that's one too many things to worry about.

 

[ADaily3224]

For years when our kids were little I towed a 13' Whaler everywhere we went.
Here's the drill.
1. Tie a line across the stern of the boat to the two stern cleats, leave a little slack.
2. Attach a snap hook to your tow line and snap it around the line across the transom, this keeps the boat you are towing dead center.
3. I used a few swimming pool floats to keep the line afloat for obvious reasons, although the poly line is a good idea.
4. I had to tow with the engine down or the whaler would wonder, I used a couple lines to secure the steering wheel to dead center.
5. Coming into a marina or anchorage we pulled the whaler flush against the swim platform and tied it tight with a couple good fenders. You wouldn't even know it was there, easy to maneuver, and it was fine to leave it tied while docked.

Never had a problem or an issue, did it for years in every kind of weather.

Tony D