Towing my inflatable tender - concerned about the prop

[Sumner]

...I tried towing my tender for the first time yesterday. I decided to tether it to the side of the boat with a couple of lines. It was as far back as I could get it without it being able to interfere with the sb rudder or obm....

I tried once towing the dinghy on the lee side of the boat on one run in the Bahamas and it worked out pretty well for the most part, but I had it tied to tight to the side and ran into problems when there was a sudden wind shift with a squall. The Mac heeled over pulling the bow of the dinghy under water and it filled quickly.

Here is a video pulling it just before that happened. At the end you can see the storm that overtook me.

https://youtu.be/qQaFKv4cRXk?t=78

I have a better descripion of all that happened here....

http://1fatgmc.com/boat/mac-1/2015%20Ba ... ge-31.html

I'll try this again at some point if I'm ever in heavier seas again as with it on the lee side of the boat it doesn't take much of a pounding. I'll go have the dinghy bow line run up closer to the bow of the Mac so that if the Mac heels over suddenly the dinghy won't be trapped along side of it.

Towing a dinghy is always a risk but I also like the fact that it is in the water just in case a real emergency arose and we had to abandon ship. Also the lager one we have is really nice for hauling the two of us along with water, fuel and supplies from shore like we usually do with both boats. It rides on the davits on the Endeavour,

Sumner

============================
1300 miles to the Bahamas and back -- 2015

The MacGregor 26-S

The Endeavour 37

Trips to Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[paula_ke]

could not have said this better. This is exactly how I tow my dinghy.

here is what i do: many points mentioned before!
1. floating rope( polypropelene- it floats, is cheap, and it has a bit of stretch in it too, but does sunburn, so inspect it regulary)
2.if there is any weight in the dingy- you can tie up a bridle for the tender- kind of like a net around a fish float- so you are pulling on the actual tubes, not a 'd' ring. personally i dont like the sliding bridle to be on the tender.
if the tender is heavy, you will need a sliding bridle on the tow boat- otherwise you will struggle to turn the tow boat( but your dingy shouldnt be that heavy). you need to be towing from a position on the dingy, that lifts the bow of the dingy slightly, to prevent it from burying itself, it has lots of floatation si it wont actually bury and pitch pole, but by lifting it a bit just lowers the frontal area- and reduces resistance
3.when i tow, i let out some line, and when i am up to the speed i want, i adjust the tow line so that the tendy is actually surfing on the front face of a wave in your wake, not on the back side of a wave- this reduces the pressure on the whole towline.i usually like to be back about 30' to 60' or so, to avoid as much propwash as possible,- but wavelength will dictate that.
4. when wanting to back up, or dock, or enter a marina , or crowded mooring field- all the same procedure- i simply pull the tow line in- i dont undo it, i just shorten the line and take the line up the side of the boat( outside gunwale, if docking), and simply cleat it up snuggish on a side cleat, maybe with a few feet of scope, - and pull all excess line in the tow boat- that way i cant damage anything, and the tender is out of the way for all maneuvers.
5. always a good thing is to have a snug cover for the tender- it protects it from the sun, it keeps water out from splashing when under tow, and if by chance the dingy did flip( not likely, but possible) it will keep the boat from being a great big bucket and ripping the d rings off. it will also keep all things in the dingy nice and ship shape!

towing can add significantly to your fuel consumption, and obviously effect top speed, try to make it easier- by reducing the resistance on the dingy, keep the dingy light,keep it surfing, not dragging, keep the dingy's bow up a wee bit, and be back enough so that the dingy is not fighting the propwash right at the boat, but rather dealing with it, where it has dissapated for he most part.

towing requires paying a bit of attention to your "trailer" but its not a big deal.