Tow rope recomendations

[Fish Slapper]

What do you guys carry off shore for a tow rope in case you have to be towed back or need to provide a tow? size and length?

Thanks for the info!

[LipRipr]

Originally Posted by Fish Slapper

What do you guys carry off shore for a tow rope in case you have to be towed back or need to provide a tow? size and length?

Thanks for the info!

Coasties do 300 ft. Plus a bridle,I beleave,Don't wan't to tell how I know!
Cause boat with no power is harder to stop/less control.Sure you can do less but longer the better

LipRipr

[Irish Pennant]

Tow rope

I carry a 100' 5/8 dia 3 strand nylon with floats every 25 ft and a bridle along with lines for side towing. I also carry a 3/8 dia line with a snap clip that will quickly attach to the tow eye that's on the bow of trailerable boats. The tow eye is the strongest point on the bow.

A few things to think of when putting together a tow rope or taking on a tow.
1) Nylon stretches and will absorb some shock.
2) Nylon sinks, so I added floats
3) 5/8 Dia is about the max size that will fit on small boat cleats
4) put the eye of the tow line on the boat that needs to be towed and adjust the tow length to the swells, this is more difficult to do with a bridle but is worth the effort.
5) never tow a boat that's taking on water
6) keep a sharp knife handy

[Irish Pennant]

I almost forgot, when towing back from the tuna grounds, 7kts is the recommended speed.

[bull285]

That is a very complicated question. The choice of your optimal tow line is affected by a multitude of variables. Let’s start with length since that is more easily determined.

To properly tow a boat the distance between the two should be equal to the peak to peak distance of the swells. This puts the towed boat on roughly the same part of the swell as the boat that is towing is on. This stops you form having the towed boat surfing down a wave while the lead boat is trying to climb the face of the next one causing the tow line to slack. Then when the lead boat tries to surf down the face of the swell the towed boat is trying to climb the face of the swell. This places a lot of additional stress on the line not to mention the hardware on both boats. Since waves move at about 1.5 times their period, on say a 10 sec period that’s 15 knots or around 250ft peak to peak. Most of the time 300ft of line is sufficient for the conditions we see most.

Now to address the size of the towline. Several factors play into effect here. Weight of the tow. Weight of the lead boat. How much thrust (horsepower) the lead boat can generate. Material the towline is comprised of. If the boats are properly synced on the swells then the prospective weight of the boats are less of a factor. So to make it simple I won’t try to factor in weight and speed changes. Not that I was capable. Nearest I can tell (the numbers are all over the place but 50 lbs is the most quoted) 1 horsepower = 50 lbs of thrust so if you have say an engine that is capable of 150hp under optimal conditions (it will be much less at lower speeds) let’s say that you will be towing using a third of that at 2,500 lbs. of thrust. So you need a line with a working load (not tensile strength) of 2,500 lbs. Let’s look at one of the most popular nylon. 5\8” Nylon has a 2800 lb safe working load and a breaking strength of 12,500 lbs.

I would think that 300 foot of 5\8” nylon would be more than sufficient for most of the sport boats out there. However you could adjust up or down to accommodate your boats capabilities. A great point Irish Pennant makes about never hooking your boat to a boat taking on water and when towing keep a sharp knife at the ready in case you have to breakaway in an emergency. Hope this didn’t confuse the issue.

[CATCH AND EAT]

I carry Sea Tow insurance. CAll out on channel 16 and out they come. Worth every penny IMHO.

[Fish Slapper]

Originally Posted by CATCH AND EAT

I carry Sea Tow insurance. CAll out on channel 16 and out they come. Worth every penny IMHO.

I agree, I have their insurance as well but from what I read they do not come out past 40 miles.

[PIR8 Hook]

Not to hijack the thread but this questions occurs to me. Dad told me never to tow another boat with YOUR line. Use their's... because if something happens they can sue you if it's your line......TRUE? or not?

[Pau Hana]

Originally Posted by PIR8 Hook

Not to hijack the thread but this questions occurs to me. Dad told me never to tow another boat with YOUR line. Use their's... because if something happens they can sue you if it's your line......TRUE? or not?

Believe you'd be covered under the "Good Samaritan" statute with regards to the act of aiding the distressed vessel; if your tow rope parted as a result of improper care (negligence), and the parted rope put the distressed into greater potential harm, you could be found liable.....


but I'll leave that to the lawyers!