towing with outboard motor...WARNING

[Paradox111]

I found pushing my Allmand 31 at the transom with the dingy (10hp), worked better/easier than towing in terms of steerage.

[Skipper John]

This is a true story.
A number of years ago I foolishly allowed my 13 year old nephew to use my 9 ft inflatable with an 8 hp Yamaha OB. He claimed to know how to operate small OB motors. I didn't check.

This was in a small marina with a log enclosed area so it seemed safe enough. However, I didn't tell him to clip the kill switch cord to himself.
Right out of the gate leaving the dock he hits full throttle, the dinghy leaps and dumps him out. Now the dinghy is circling and he's in the water. I got him to quickly swim to the dock where I pulled him out.
Meanwhile the dinghy is circling and bouncing off a perimeter log that's not directly attached to the dock. So keeping well away from the circling dinghy I swam 20 ft to the log and managed to grab the kill switch cord the next time the dinghy came around. Lucky as hell for both of us.

There are lots of lessons in this.

1. Don't count on luck!
2. Never let others use your OB boat without proper instruction. Particularly young people.
3. Wear a life vest even for short trips.
4. And ALWAYS clip on the kill switch! I do now.
5. If the helm isnt near the motor, add a line to the cord and use it.

[ben2go]

Originally Posted by BugzyCan

I guess you shouldn't be out in a dingy in such weather.

Having owned and been aboard many small boats, it has been my experience that @$$holes have a tendancy to swap small boats, especially kids on g*d d*mned jet skis. I quit fishing because of it. Happened several times a year and nothing was ever done about it.

[Shaneesprit]

If anyone needs reminding how serious a lanyard is

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-29960170

[Skipper John]

Originally Posted by Paradox111

I found pushing my Allmand 31 at the transom with the dingy (10hp), worked better/easier than towing in terms of steerage.

My son used my dinghy securely lashed to the side of our 31' sailboat for a whole week to get in and out of harbour after the boat's folding prop fell off. Worked great.
A friend did this to get his 35' Island Packet from Victoria to Seattle!
You can't tow a heavy vessel for any distance with a light dinghy. Doesn't work.


By the way, that particular folding prop only had a single set screw locking the prop but. Duh.

I now have a better make with 4 set screws into a ribbed nut.

[thinwater]

A law was passed this summer that requires kill switches on most boats that will plane. Since the USCG wants this, I imagine the regulation will be adopted in 2020.


Wireless units are acceptable. They adopted the ABYC standard by reference.


Since outboards have kill switches, expect this to be applicable to all motors larger than 4 HP (can plane). I would also kind of expect enforcement. Only one brand, that I know of, is specifically made for outboards (does not require wiring).



It will NOT apply to docking (below plane) or sail auxiliary (very few can plane... although my Stiletto would!).

[conchaway]

OMG! I can't IMAGINE how anyone got along without a "wrist clip" for a century!

[quahauq]

Thankyou Shaneesprit for: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-29960170 which is a simple example of high speed danger where towing is a slow speed one. The term when towing is girting/girding.

[quahauq]

manual on the subject: https://www.shipownersclub.com/media...de_A5_0715.pdf

[lestersails]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

Sounds like one for US citizens. Like those stickers they have on car mirrors.

Not for US citizens - for US plaintiff's lawyers.

[scareygary]

Originally Posted by Skipper John

My son used my dinghy securely lashed to the side of our 31' sailboat for a whole week to get in and out of harbour after the boat's folding prop fell off. Worked great.
A friend did this to get his 35' Island Packet from Victoria to Seattle!
You can't tow a heavy vessel for any distance with a light dinghy. Doesn't work.


By the way, that particular folding prop only had a single set screw locking the prop but. Duh.

I now have a better make with 4 set screws into a ribbed nut.

My buddy was single handing his big Willard 30 sailboat in Canada and lost his tranny a few years back. I got to Roche Harbor Customs to help him get the boat to Everett, quite a ways away. He had a 12' dinghy with a 2 hp Nissan lashed along side the sailboat, which, btw, had a displacement of 16,000#. It took us a couple of days, and we had to be quite careful with currents, but we made it. That system worked amazingly well, but top speed in smooth water was barely over a knot! Adventure!

[Hardhead]

One thing to consider is - accidents are called accidents - because no one thinks it'll happen to them. Accidents keep happening though.

[Fence Man]

I lost two friends in a similar fashion. They had just purchased a jon boat from, ironically, the local search and rescue. While taking the boat for a test run in cold water, the bowline became momentarily entangled in the prop, turning the boat immediately hard to port. They were both ejected, and the bowline freed itself, keeping the boat running at speed in a circle. Hypothermia set in, and they both drown. Neither were wearing a PFD. I’m now overly cautious with the bowline on our small boats.

[quahauq]

for this and the potential sinking by 'deadhead' forum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqSqnhLHGto

and maybe a new/other forum on navigating NARROWS.

[scareygary]

Yeah, I've been through Dodd Narrows a number of times, at least twice with log tows in the middle of it, just like your video, only one of those times, some guys with poles and caulk soled shoes were climbing all over the raft! Gotta be careful in there! Not lots of room for multiple vessels, especially when one like this takes up most of the width of the pass!