Towing

[doggypaddle]

Originally Posted by m chappelow

nylon is ok when towing another boat but yes with the stresses of towing a heavy boat there is a possibility of serious injury ,,i agree with the roumoured amputation theory but i was also present when a young lad lost an eye when trying to recover a swamped speedboat[ new first time boaters ],.that was being towed up a beach with nylon rope and the bow cleat broke out of the boat and whipped back hitting him the face .

theres a lot of energy stored in rope, I once withessed a d shackle and towball off a stuck landrover fly through the towing Rangerover rear window, and out the windscreen, taking some of the passenger side headrest with it.
the passenger had just got out to hook the rope on.......Lucky escape!

[Poly]

Originally Posted by m chappelow

dont forget to show the correct signals when towing .

Do the RNLI showing towing shapes?

[Leapy]

Originally Posted by m chappelow

and dont forget to show the correct signals when towing .

Remind me please...

[m chappelow]

diamond shape on towed and towing vessles in day time ,and at night 3 white mast on towing vessel if the overall length is 200 metres and just 2 lights if on a shorter tow line .and if posible a yellow light on the towing vessel.and side lights and stern on towed.,,,,i have not known anyone get into bother not displaying ,,,though if another boat decided to run in between the 2 boats and an accident occoured i dont know what the legal outcome would be .

[Leapy]

Originally Posted by m chappelow

diamond shape on towed and towing vessles in day time ,and at night 3 white mast on towing vessel if the overall length is 200 metres and just 2 lights if on a shorter tow line .and if posible a yellow light on the towing vessel.and side lights and stern on towed.,,,,i have not known anyone get into bother not displaying ,,,though if another boat decided to run in between the 2 boats and an accident occoured i dont know what the legal outcome would be .

Does kind of beg the question of where you're supposed to gather all that lot from when you're trying to do someone a favour

[m chappelow]

Originally Posted by Leapy

Does kind of beg the question of where you're supposed to gather all that lot from when you're trying to do someone a favour

i know where your coming from,and the vast majority of towed craft are gratefull for any help , but if the whole lot was to come to grief for some reason or there was an accident on the towed boat is the towing craft skipper /helm then held responsible and then the towed boat going to claim damages from him ,

[Leapy]

Originally Posted by m chappelow

i know where your coming from

Then, like a lot of things in life, it'll boil down to doing the right thing and hoping for the best. I guess I'll mentally assess the risks, manage them as best I can with what's at my disposal, and get on with it.

Better that than simply passing folks by and leaving them to it.

[Poly]

Originally Posted by m chappelow

i know where your coming from,and the vast majority of towed craft are gratefull for any help , but if the whole lot was to come to grief for some reason or there was an accident on the towed boat is the towing craft skipper /helm then held responsible and then the towed boat going to claim damages from him ,

Rule 24 - allows for flexibility, especially for those coming to the aid of others:

Originally Posted by IRPCS Rule 24

(h) When from any sufficient cause it is impracticable for a vessel or object being towed to exhibit the lights or shapes prescribed in paragraph (e) or (g) of this Rule, all possible measures shall be taken to light the vessel or object being towed or at least indicate the presence of such vessel or object.
(i) Where from any sufficient cause it is impracticable for a vessel not normally engaged in towing operations to display the lights prescribed in paragraph (a) or (c) of this Rule, such vessel shall not be required to exhibit those lights when engaged in towing another vessel in distress or otherwise in need of assistance. All possible measures shall be taken to indicate the nature of the relationship between the towing vessel and the vessel being towed as authorized by Rule 36, in particular by illuminating the towline.

[Leapy]

Originally Posted by Polwart

Rule 24 - allows for flexibility, especially for those coming to the aid of others:

Thanks. Appreciate the info

[MIRO Stewart]

Leapy,suggest you do a level 2 course. Teaches you how to tow. I know someone said it is covered as theory but I always do practical.

Lenght of tow - Recomendation is min of 2 wavelengths but maske it as long as you can as long as there are equal number of wavelengths between boats in order to reduce snatching. You need to be able to adjust the lenght on a long/astern tow.

Alongside tow - Theory says you need 4 ropes , bob to bow, stern to stern, bow spring and stern spring. You can often get away with3 ropes because of the angles. You can do it with 2 or even 1 but this makes it harder and you have no reverse. The vessel being towed should be well forward of you engine and toed in at the bow. Your boat should be just as easy to maneuovre with a boat strapped to the side. You really only want to use this in a close quarters situation as it is not ideal for a long distance.

One of the reasons for handing then your rope is that you know the condition of your ropes but theirs might be wrecked

[m chappelow]

if you have to tow alongside in confined waters a much larger deeper keeled boat than your own and the other boat has a working rudder you can sometimes get better steering if you use the disabled boats steering and your boat just for propulsion ,as we did on this broken down fishing boat for a 100yds or so though a load of tight moorings with my little s.i.b .and an 8hp engine after it had been towed in with the larger lifeboat .

[wavelength]

and dont forget to show the correct signals when towing

how many lifeboats ever do that? or indeed have a full set of towing lights-particularly a yellow stern light.

[m chappelow]

Originally Posted by wavelength

how many lifeboats ever do that? or indeed have a full set of towing lights-particularly a yellow stern light.

as powart just posted ,seems like you can be exempt for emergencys ,,

[wavelength]

xactly - and a lifeboat is going there for a job that in reality often involves towing although the rnli will say that is not their purpose. The Tamar prototypes I saw in poole a few years back actually came with a yellow towing light, p'raps as recognition of what really happens. So there is little chance of any other boat having the shapes let alone the lights. The coded 50ft cat I am running at the moment has only n.u.c. / anchor shapes onboard.
As far as towing lights are concerned we dont have a yellow stern light available and we only have the one forward facing steaming light. It had to tow a fairly big boat in the other week in the dark when daughter was skipper and she made a good effort with the all round whites to indicate what was happening as well as informing the other boats in the area by radio. Shocking thing was the number of wild suggestions from the master of the towed vessel what the correct towing lights were!

[m chappelow]

Originally Posted by wavelength

xactly - and a lifeboat is going there for a job that in reality often involves towing although the rnli will say that is not their purpose. The Tamar prototypes I saw in poole a few years back actually came with a yellow towing light, p'raps as recognition of what really happens.

think some are or were fitted with a yellow light on the mast for when moored up and its connected to the bilge alarm ,so that if left on a mooring and it starts to sink it can put out a vizible warning to those on shore ,

[wavelength]

but not a towing light.
The yellow flashing light on one side of our estuary means a container vessel is due to move in or out of the river. However when the one over t'other side of the river flashes it means the cess pit is full at the sailing centre.

[m chappelow]

even for the big boys though you may have the space and facilitys for carriing and displaying a diamond shape,,,,but can you see it ,,lol ,,,, yellow arrow showing diamond shape above pilot,,,,regards mart