Towing a boat with my boat

[Lepke]

Towing with the line fastened near the stern makes turning difficult. Tugs tow from bitts about 1/3 of the way fwd so they can pivot. Towing bitts are attached to the vessels structure, not bolted to the deck. Any tow line should be fastened to as many cleats as possible to share the load. And a sharp knife or axe ready to cut the line if necessary.

One consideration is the condition of the boat being towed. Should it take on water rapidly and sink, can you get loose in time?

Two large tugs towing the Oklahoma from Pearl Harbor to the West Coast for scrapping were nearly sunk when the battleship went down. If not for their captains slacking the clamps to the cable drum, they would have gone with it. The Oklahoma dragged the tugs about a mile backwards before the last of the cable left the drum. One engineer reported he was amazed when his large diesel engine stopped and then ran backwards from the force of the water on the prop.

 

[jgwinks]

If the wood boat being towed is in excellent condition I guess it wouldn't be any more hazardous than towing a glass or metal boat of that size. Doesn't sound like that's the case though. I'd worry about tearing the cleats out, flooding, etc. And 57 feet is big. The biggest I've done was 47', and that was in training with the Coast Guard motor lifeboat with the CG crew onboard.

 

[jgwinks]

Towing with the line fastened near the stern makes turning difficult. Tugs tow from bitts about 1/3 of the way fwd so they can pivot. Towing bitts are attached to the vessels structure, not bolted to the deck. Any tow line should be fastened to as many cleats as possible to share the load. And a sharp knife or axe ready to cut the line if necessary.

One consideration is the condition of the boat being towed. Should it take on water rapidly and sink, can you get loose in time?

Two large tugs towing the Oklahoma from Pearl Harbor to the West Coast for scrapping were nearly sunk when the battleship went down. If not for their captains slacking the clamps to the cable drum, they would have gone with it. The Oklahoma dragged the tugs about a mile backwards before the last of the cable left the drum. One engineer reported he was amazed when his large diesel engine stopped and then ran backwards from the force of the water on the prop.[/QU

 

[Arc]

The most essential safety gear for towing is a big, sharp knife on your belt or even better an axe stored near the tow line.

Didn’t do the Orca any good.

 

[slowgoesit]

If I came across a vessel that lost propulsion, but was otherwise undamaged, AND it was potentially in harms way, AND the two vessels were such that I could safely tow, I MIGHT take that on.

Obviously there are lots of imponderables that would have to be answered, but if I felt I could take it on safely, and no professional tow service was available, I might attempt it, BUT
If the boat were already tied up to a dock, or moored/at anchor in a safe location, I'd leave it to the pros. As stated previously though, without more info, we're really just whistling in the dark.
Oh, and just because a boat's hull is wood, without any more facts, it's pretty foolish to assume that it's a piece of junk in imminent danger of sinking . . .

 

[garbler]

This thread has essentially condensed to ‘ what if ‘ ‘ but if ‘ so if boiled down equates to ‘ should not ‘. This not about towing a displacement weight cause towing doesn’t work that way. A tow vessel needs good directional stability for a hawser tow meaning a keel type hull of some draught. Good deck fittings and a proper tow line or hawser. The scope or catenary of your tow line should be such that it prevents shock and allows the towing vessel some wiggle room. The length depends on a lot of factors so real towers adjust as necessary by streaming more line as conditions call for. Thirty miles is a significant tow and plenty of distance for conditions to change.

Worst case scenario with any tow vessel is having your tow come up on you and trip or girt capsize the tug or tow vessel. It’s a very common occurrence and nothing goes to the bottom faster than a tug. But regardless of what type of vessel is towing these possibilities need to be fully understood.

Chopping a tow line or hawser is not a knife job, it’s an axe or hatchet job.

Yes as Lipke said two stroke diesels like Detroits can stall and run backwards I’ve had it happen on a spud barge. Weird and scary

Rick

 

[jgwinks]

It was so bad that when they started to get underway with us in a side tow I had to tell them to abort the tow. They never secured the Number 1, or bow line, and so the bows of the boats would drift apart until something broke. It takes training and then practice to do towing safely and efficiently. Lack of either one can cause a dangerous situation.

Not all of the CG guys know what they're doing. We had a real cowboy of a coxswain at Station Grand Haven once. In training he wanted me to tie the towline around the deck stepped mast on my sailboat. No way that's happening, there's only four 1/4" bolts holding it to the deck and the mast would come down in a heart beat. Once we got it hooked up correctly, he took off and got us up to about 7.5 knots. My hull speed was under 6kn. I actually had my knife in my hand as I'm yelling at him to slow down. Well our job as Auxiliarists was to train the Actives on towing private boats, they normally only get to practice on their own and things are different, and never sailboats. I'd like to think he learned something that day, but I doubt it. He got reassigned soon after, was only at the Station a few months.

 

[High Wire]

If the “friend’s” boat hits a deadhead and sinks during the tow, will he say you owe him a boat? My friends all have towing insurance and would never ask me to take such a risk.

 

[Frank60]

There's a section in this article that makes some good points about towing.

https://boattest.com/article/boat-buddies-myths-boating-friends

 

[crusier3650]

Hire a professional, your boat is NOT a Towboat.
There is a reason TowBoat and Sea Tow boats look and are set up the way they are.
I appreciate you want to help out a buddy but when this goes south and it probably will, a lawyer is going to hold you responsible, I would bet, as you agreed which implies "You know what you are doing" Offer to shadow the towboat if it makes you feel better.

 

[Bill Wells]

I've towed a few small boats for short distances over the years, but a friend has asked me to tow his old 57' wooden cruiser about 30 miles to its new home. I have a Bayliner 4788 with twin Cimmins 330's and boe and stern thrusters. I would pick a calm day with no swells and maybe 2' waves and max 5 knot winds. His boat does not run but he would be steering at his helm. Would tow him about 100' behind and keep the speed around 7 knots?? What should I be concerned about or is this not a smart move with a boat like mine?

I would urge him to hire a professional towing company!

 

[timb7734]

That’s best left to professional towing service

 

[PNK]

Towing a Boat with My Boat

I have never towed anything larger than an 18ft sailboat that had lost its mast, but this seems like a really bad idea, with a thousand different things that could go wrong. The biggest, to me, would be; how do you get a 57ft boat with no power to slow down and stop if it is moving at 7 knots, as you propose?
I am sure you would like to do your friend a favor, but maybe the best favor you can do him is to say "sorry, but no."

Peter

 

[MichaelD]

Lots of great comments identifying most all the issues. So, I'll just say


Don't do it.

 

[Shrew]

I would not take on this favor for your friend. After towing our 13 foot Boston Whaler all over New England this summer, I can attest that there is a surprising amount of stress placed on the tow gear.

I would not trust an old wooden boat to be up to towing any kind of distance, especially on open water.

I would not be surprised if some tow operators turned down the job. This is not a rescue tow, they are not morally or ethically compelled to act in this case. The difficulty may likely be reflected in the price of those who decide to take the job.

 

[ronobrien]

Your chosen speed and scope on the towing line will depend on sea state, wave period etc. It's hard to say what these parameters will be until you are out there. The objective is to keep both boats in the same period as any waves (both on the crest or trough simultaneously). Start slow, but I agree with Commodave and others, this is steep learning curve you've chosen. It would be a good opportunity to take someone more experienced along and learn with some guidance. Best of luck.

 

[stanfromhell]

I would not take on this favor for your friend. After towing our 13 foot Boston Whaler all over New England this summer, I can attest that there is a surprising amount of stress placed on the tow gear.

I would not trust an old wooden boat to be up to towing any kind of distance, especially on open water.

I would not be surprised if some tow operators turned down the job. This is not a rescue tow, they are not morally or ethically compelled to act in this case. The difficulty may likely be reflected in the price of those who decide to take the job.

Thanks for all your great advice. I'm going to follow it and decline to do the tow for him

 

[stanfromhell]

Thanks for all your great advice, I'm going to heed your suggestions and decline to do the tow.

 

[Comodave]

Thanks for all your great advice, I'm going to heed your suggestions and decline to do the tow.

Good call. I am sure your friend will be disappointed but better to be disappointed than to be suing you for damages…

 

[jgwinks]

Towing with the line fastened near the stern makes turning difficult. Tugs tow from bitts about 1/3 of the way fwd so they can pivot.

One of the guys in my USCGAux unit came up with the idea of a "sliding bridle" to help with that when towing from the stern cleats. One line led from one corner stern cleat to the other, and the tow line connected to it with a shackle, spliced thimble, or even a block so it could slide back and forth. That kept the load on the cleats equal making it easier to turn the boat. Not as good as a proper tow bit well forward, but way better than a fixed bridle that would constantly be trying to keep the boat going straight when you're trying to turn.
He also made the tow line only 25 feet long and the bridle 200 feet (doubled up to 100 feet.) That gave a maximum tow line length of 120 feet and you controlled the length by letting out or taking in the bridle

 

[psneeld]

One of the guys in my USCGAux unit came up with the idea of a "sliding bridle" to help with that when towing from the stern cleats. One line led from one corner stern cleat to the other, and the tow line connected to it with a shackle, spliced thimble, or even a block so it could slide back and forth. That kept the load on the cleats equal making it easier to turn the boat. Not as good as a proper tow bit well forward, but way better than a fixed bridle that would constantly be trying to keep the boat going straight when you're trying to turn.
He also made the tow line only 25 feet long and the bridle 200 feet (doubled up to 100 feet.) That gave a maximum tow line length of 120 feet and you controlled the length by letting out or taking in the bridle

Old, old trick....was in Chapman's back in the day...like pre-1970's and probably longer. Don't think it helps that much with steering, but does split (not necessarily equally) the load on the cleats.

They have them for towing watersports things.....this one from Overton's

 

[Dowd1charles]

At a minimum if you take this on, have a professional there at final.location to get on dock or mooring.

 

[psneeld]

Who knows, the final docking could have been the easiest part...but the tow refusal means we will never know.

 

[Buddy Gold]

You do understand that you would be responsible for the other boat. IF anything happens to it you are libel.

 

[koliver]

You do understand that you would be responsible for the other boat. IF anything happens to it you are libel.

NO NO NO.

There would need to be negligence on the part of the tower for liability to exist.

Helping someone, by towing them home for example, will usually get you a reward of some sort.

 

[Jmarsh203]

Agreed, it's a big boat to learn on. I wouldn't use the USCG 45 footer as a great example though. Those are jet drive, which I can imagine being a giant pain when trying to maneuver something heavy with a side tow. Jets often don't have the greatest low speed thrust, reverse is often poor, and you can't use prop walk with opposed engines to help generate sideways movement to swing the pair of boats around.

Sorry but quite Wrong in every aspect of jet drives. Reverse is amazing, almost equal to forward thrust that’s why you can usually stop a boat in the length of itself from full speed, also on twin engine boats which I’m thinking your talking about you can walk sideways way way easier than any prop boat ever built, while having more control, and low speed thrust is considerably better than a prop boat, also another reason why they can usually be at close to full speed in usueally about two boat lengths sooo your wrong. Only aspect where they lack compared to a prop boat is top end speed, or if you cut throttle and try to turn the boat it does nothing, and that’s a training issue on how to drive a particular style boat.

 

[Comodave]

NO NO NO.

There would need to be negligence on the part of the tower for liability to exist.

Helping someone, by towing them home for example, will usually get you a reward of some sort.

The Good Samaritan laws would, probably, cover a boat in need of assistance if you damage it but likely not if you towed a boat off a dock and damaged it. Since the other boat isn’t currently in danger the Good Sam laws probably will not apply. And even if you were not negligent do you think that would stop someone with a broken boat from trying to sue you and then you would have to defend yourself.