Pulling a Boston Whaler?

[Owen Christensen]

Does anyone here do this ? I’m starting to try. I built a pulling yoke that hooks to my swim deck about five feet apart. Line runs through two pvc pipes to a latch that hooks to the Whaler tow eye, like a V. This seems to keep the Whaler a couple feet back and stops it from bumping. I expect this will only work a low speeds and I’ll need to drop it back on a long tow line above hull speed.
I’m also trying to use side lines to keep the Whaler straight behind when pulling into the fuel dock. ideas?
Owen

 

[Bmarler]

Hard yokes are only ok to use in calm water. Imagine a large wave from the stern and what might happen.
When I tow, I use a bridle on the tow, and a snubber line on the mother attached on centerline. At speed drop the skiff back so it rides on the leading edge of a stern wave.

 

[jgwinks]

The loads towing a dinghy, especially one as large as a whaler, can be enormous. You're apt to lose not only the whaler, but the swim platform as well. Use the mother ship's stern cleats, they're built for that kind of force.

 

[Comodave]

The loads towing a dinghy, especially one as large as a whaler, can be enormous. You're apt to lose not only the whaler, but the swim platform as well. Use the mother ship's stern cleats, they're built for that kind of force.

Agree. Unless you have a really stout swim platform and hardware on it.

 

[psneeld]

Having towed a lot of things with all kind of boats.....

Are you towing in fair weather and short distances?

or all kinds of weather (not Nor'easters or Hurricanes) and/or long distances?

for fair weather and day trips between ports that aren't truly all day, your towing gear can be downsized quite a bit (not saying light though) from what you would use for overnight and longer trips or ones that expect heavy thunderstom activity or anything producing high wind/waves.

The other big factor is mother boat speed....I would be able to guestimate gear a lot better if I knew the size of the whaler.

In other words, my trips down the ICW and around the Fl Keys required mot much more than the normally attached painter.... if I was headed offshore for overnight or crossing to the Bahamas (or similar)....I would step up the towing rig. But hard to say to what without knowing mother boat speed,Whaler size and intended cruising habits.

 

[Owen Christensen]

My plan is to put along sub 8 knots and travel in good conditions. 15’ Whaler with 50 hp four stroke, on Lake Superior for 5 to 10 hours at a time. That being said, rerigging the tender may come up if conditions warrant. The big boat has the potential to get up and travel at 25 mph if needed. In such a case, I assume a 3/4” line would be required to a comfortable position back a ways.
On a additional note, canI run the Whaler behind the bigger boat on a tow without the drain plug in, since it seems to be above water level when empty?

 

[psneeld]

Without seeing and feeling the rig..... which means I really hate being specific....

A 15 Whaler with a 50hp outboard is one step up from most dingy towing. So a well thought out tow rig with some shock absoption is preferred.

Mothership cleats, even ones on a swim platform if heavy duty (both platform and cleats/backing plates) should be OK at 8 knots, not much faster though in anything but glass and few wakes

3/4 line should be good for up to heavy weather and maybe 15 kts, we had 7/8 or 1 inch on the assistance towboat and that I would feel better at speeds above 15. For really sloppy conditions, I would want at least 100 feet of 7/8 and prefer 150 feet. The shock absorption with that much line out is really nice.

If the Whaler still sheds water at rest with the plug out, then I would probably run it with the plug out, but would still make sure the bilge pump and float switch work every tow.

 

[Flatswing]

My plan is to put along sub 8 knots and travel in good conditions. 15’ Whaler with 50 hp four stroke, on Lake Superior for 5 to 10 hours at a time. That being said, rerigging the tender may come up if conditions warrant. The big boat has the potential to get up and travel at 25 mph if needed. In such a case, I assume a 3/4” line would be required to a comfortable position back a ways.
On a additional note, canI run the Whaler behind the bigger boat on a tow without the drain plug in, since it seems to be above water level when empty?

Not sure about the newer models, but the older, unsinkable versions were self bailing. A lot of cottagers bought them cus you could pull the drain plug, get out if the boat and the water would drain leaving only a little in the well around the drain plug. Rain would just drain out. No need fir bilge pumps, flat batteries … so pull the drain plug and see what happens.

If you are going to tow, consider setting up a proper towing rig. So many trips start out in perfect weather then go South. You really don’t want to be changing rigs in snotty weather. Chafe at the attachment points of your nylon tow line on the mothership will be your biggest concern. I now routinely use a backup line of Amsteel/Dyneema which is thin, light and incredibly strong, so I never have to worry looking back to experience that Oh Sh*t feeling of a missing dinghy.

 

[psneeld]

Doesn't take much to clog a one inch drain hole. Yes its a great feature, but while towing ....depending on what's in the boat or if you went through an inland canal or narrow section of the ICW, something simple like even just a few leaves can change the equation.

In my whole life of boating, I have seen the ability to know when a trip is gonna go from fair weather to bad change dramatically through the availability of many external weather inputs beside just using my own senses. If you don't have those...sure.... rig a dingy for everything that can ever be expected. Me I just go simple when towing, anchoring, battening down the boat, etc...etc... for the type of coastal cruising I did (and I suspect a huge number here do too (at least East/Gulf coasters that use a mix of short ICW and ocean passages). When bad weather forms quicker than anticipated, it only takes a couple minutes to throw on another rig as long as your mothership/dink is set up for it.

I look at it from the perspective of all the amateur towers (good sams) that seem to do it just fine (sure the coneheads have their place to but I hope most here aren't one of those)..... not everyone has a top notch assistance tow vessel plus towing rig and surely doesn't need or want one.

I am not advocating being sloppy or stupid.... but how many days do you travel and go through storms and bad seas? If more than a handful every years that yes, be prepared. But in a decade of ACIW travels (over 3000 hrs and 20,000 miles)....the times that I needed more than a simple tow rig were few, If needed I could rig one...but if I needed a rig that big and complicated.... I just brought the dink aboard or if I couldn't do that...probably stop towing and yes like others have said...it becomes a major PIA for simple coastal cruising with nightly stops or as in congested, inland waters.

 

[Circumnavigator]

Without seeing and feeling the rig..... which means I really hate being specific....

A 15 Whaler with a 50hp outboard is one step up from most dingy towing. So a well thought out tow rig with some shock absorption is preferred.

3/4 line should be good for up to heavy weather and maybe 15 kts, we had 7/8 or 1 inch on the assistance towboat and that I would feel better at speeds above 15. For really sloppy conditions, I would want at least 100 feet of 7/8 and prefer 150 feet. The shock absorption with that much line out is really nice.

I completely agree. One additional thought -- if your tow is 100-150' back, you must keep a very careful watch for people crossing astern. Every year we read of idiots going between large tugs and huge barges. A Whaler is much more likely to be ignored than a barge. Make sure the Whaler's running lights are on at night (note that you probably should black out the forward 225 degrees of the all around light). Adding a towing light under your masthead light is also a good idea.


Jim

 

[jgwinks]

I completely agree. One additional thought -- if your tow is 100-150' back, you must keep a very careful watch for people crossing astern. Every year we read of idiots going between large tugs and huge barges. A Whaler is much more likely to be ignored than a barge. Make sure the Whaler's running lights are on at night (note that you probably should black out the forward 225 degrees of the all around light). Adding a towing light under your masthead light is also a good idea.


Jim

Rigging a spotlight of some sort shining back on the tow helps a lot too. The big guys do that often. It's in the Rules so completely legal. To be completely compliant, you should have a second masthead light above or below your regular one and a yellow sternlight above your white one. That's actually called the "towing light". I don't think anyone actually expects a pleasure craft to do all of that but it can't hurt.

 

[Selidster]

A friend of mine gave me good advice. “ When I’m towing my dinghy I always use two lines, unless I use 3.”

 

[Comodave]

Also maybe get an Apple tag to stow on the dinghy in case it comes loose. Not sure what the tags are called exactly but do a search and you should be able to find them. Don’t know about range or really much about them but something like that may help if it comes loose. It may be Bluetooth so short range but still may help if someone recovers the dinghy.

 

[Flatswing]

Perhaps we are talking about the same thing. To me; a simple but serious rig involves some type of bridle attached to two, properly installed stern cleats with chafe protection at the mother ship hull/hawse holes rather than the OP’s original suggestion just off the swim platform. A 15’ whaler has a significant overhang to negotiate to get a line attached to the towing eye. Working off the swim platform to do this without getting hurt in even mild wake or chop can be a challenge, I certainly wouldn’t want to try to attach a new line to a whaler’s bow if the wind comes up as it seems to each day with passing storms on the SE & mid Atlantic coast this summer.

 

[psneeld]

Perhaps we are talking about the same thing. To me; a simple but serious rig involves some type of bridle attached to two, properly installed stern cleats with chafe protection at the mother ship hull/hawse holes rather than the OP’s original suggestion just off the swim platform. A 15’ whaler has a significant overhang to negotiate to get a line attached to the towing eye. Working off the swim platform to do this without getting hurt in even mild wake or chop can be a challenge, I certainly wouldn’t want to try to attach a new line to a whaler’s bow if the wind comes up as it seems to each day with passing storms on the SE & mid Atlantic coast this summer.

Well not really.

To me simple means no bridle. But this is where I meant not seeing and feeling the rig is SOOOOO important as tow behavior is everything. With that comes a much better understanding of what ultimately becomes the best overall setup.

As far as the bow eye being inaccessible, that's where a 2 part painter comes in. Bow eyes on blunt nosed skiffs are always a pain to get to. I would permanently shackle a just long enough super heavy line with an eye and thimble to go inside the Whaler and long enough to reach it from the mother boat where ever you would normally do it from. To that, attach/clip on a 15 foot or so normal weight painter/bowline that would live there and be used for short tows or fair weather. When anchoring the dink, just unclip the painter and clip on the anchor line.

One thing with a larger, heavier dink, I would probably rig a "mooring whip" on the transom to hold the dink back when on a short tow or maneuvering in tight spaces. Not positive it works but those that use them swear by them and the ones I have seen in person look like they do the job.

 

[TBill36]

I used to pull a 14ft Twin Vee. I didn't like the bow towing eye so installed another one with a large backing plate. Had a 2 part painter as PS mentioned. It is literally dangerous to access the towing eye in anything but perfectly calm waters and that includes no wakes. The bow moves up and down with wave action and if you are under there fooling with it, you could get crushed.

Also bought a rear view mirror off amazon with a suction cup. Positioned it on the helm so with a quick glance I could see the dinghy was still back there. Turning around and looking is a literal pain in the neck and you will quit doing it often enough.

 

[Serene]

Have a look at the first 3mins of this vid and then again at about the 12min mark. Might give you some ideas;

https://youtu.be/YpA_UQIjUwg

 

[Xlantic]

I’m also trying to use side lines to keep the Whaler straight behind when pulling into the fuel dock. ideas?
Owen

I have towed a 13' Whaler for years. While at anchor, and when I need to tie to a dock side-to, I tie the Boston Whaler "on the hip" of the mother-ship.

I use spring lines to the front and the back of the mother-ship attached to the hand-rail in the inside corner of the bow-rail and a stern line across the stern of the mother-ship.

With this rig I can move and manoeuvre the mother-ship at slow speed, forward or aft, and dock it without difficulty.

 

[guy with a boat]

I have towed a 13' Whaler for years. While at anchor, and when I need to tie to a dock side-to, I tie the Boston Whaler "on the hip" of the mother-ship.

I use spring lines to the front and the back of the mother-ship attached to the hand-rail in the inside corner of the bow-rail and a stern line across the stern of the mother-ship.

With this rig I can move and manoeuvre the mother-ship at slow speed, forward or aft, and dock it without difficulty.

This is the right way to manage a larger towed tender in/out of a marina or while anchoring and at anchor. Any other setup of which I am aware leaves the concern of banging into the boat or eating the tow line with the big boat. This becomes more true as the tender size increases.

Two tips on this: 1. Use 3 large fenders, larger than you would use for the tender alone. The tender will get hit by a wake or wind waves at some point and will do damage if not fendered correctly, and 2. I have had better results with a spring line roughly as drawn, but connecting to a mid-point cleat on the tender. That connection point gives the bow and stern lines more leverage and less strain.

Set up this way, we can move at 5-7kts and the tender actually doesn’t touch the mother ship, it rides along several inches off the side and parallel. Mark and pre-rig all lines so you can quickly attach with correct line lengths.

 

[Xlantic]

Two tips on this: 1. Use 3 large fenders, larger than you would use for the tender alone. The tender will get hit by a wake or wind waves at some point and will do damage if not fendered correctly, and 2. I have had better results with a spring line roughly as drawn, but connecting to a mid-point cleat on the tender. That connection point gives the bow and stern lines more leverage and less strain.

Good tips.

I use three fenders from the mother-ship and less than that would be inadequate.

When you connect the springs to the mid-point cleat do you also tie the bow of the tender somehow?

 

[guy with a boat]

Does anyone here do this ? I’m starting to try. I built a pulling yoke that hooks to my swim deck about five feet apart. Line runs through two pvc pipes to a latch that hooks to the Whaler tow eye, like a V. This seems to keep the Whaler a couple feet back and stops it from bumping. I expect this will only work a low speeds and I’ll need to drop it back on a long tow line above hull speed.
I’m also trying to use side lines to keep the Whaler straight behind when pulling into the fuel dock. ideas?
Owen

I’ve given this type of thing a lot of thought in the past. My conclusion after lots of towing and experimentation is that the forces are too great to connect tight to the swim platform or transom. Even if you try to only tow in calm conditions, you will get hit by wakes or other rough water and the tender will bounce pretty violently. The leverage and forces are high and the risk of breaking something, including lines and connection points, are high.

If you haven’t already done this, ave someone else drive the boat and stand at the transom watching the water right behind the boat when running and maneuvering. At any speed above 5 kts or so, the water level changes considerably and that is where your tender would ride.

Traditional towing includes enough line to give everything a chance to move and absorb shocks, and its with good reasons that this setup is most common.

All that being said, I hope you or someone else figures it out and some day I can tow my tender like a Jeep behind a big motorhome.

 

[psneeld]

I’ve given this type of thing a lot of thought in the past. My conclusion after lots of towing and experimentation is that the forces are too great to connect tight to the swim platform or transom. Even if you try to only tow in calm conditions, you will get hit by wakes or other rough water and the tender will bounce pretty violently. The leverage and forces are high and the risk of breaking something, including lines and connection points, are high.

If you haven’t already done this, ave someone else drive the boat and stand at the transom watching the water right behind the boat when running and maneuvering. At any speed above 5 kts or so, the water level changes considerably and that is where your tender would ride.

Traditional towing includes enough line to give everything a chance to move and absorb shocks, and its with good reasons that this setup is most common.

All that being said, I hope you or someone else figures it out and some day I can tow my tender like a Jeep behind a big motorhome.

I looked up the mooring whip trick but was taking to long to find a link or picture...but I believe that is the ticket for short tows with boats up to around 18 feet or so.

Sure they can swing around 180 degrees and hit the mothership...but only if you stop dead in the water.

Worth looking into...I would be if I still had a mothership and largish dink.

 

[rslifkin]

I looked up the mooring whip trick but was taking to long to find a link or picture...but I believe that is the ticket for short tows with boats up to around 18 feet or so.

Sure they can swing around 180 degrees and hit the mothership...but only if you stop dead in the water.

Worth looking into...I would be if I still had a mothership and largish dink.

You could probably use 2 (sufficiently long) whips attached to both sides of the tender a bit aft of the bow to reduce the tendency to rotate into the mothership if you stop.

 

[psneeld]

You could probably use 2 (sufficiently long) whips attached to both sides of the tender a bit aft of the bow to reduce the tendency to rotate into the mothership if you stop.

Could, but that just seems to complicate things which I try and avoid.... just don't stop and not be aware of the possibility from wind/current/etc. I might like the rig so much to add a second whip to hold the boat off the swim platform much like the whips are used on a dock.

But that would only be in the case of much larger dinks.... not sure a 15 Whaler is there yet....

 

[Per]

I have towed my 13ft whaler behind my Blackfin.
When maneuvering and inside traffic areas/marinas I haveit tied on my aft corner with perhaps 4 ft of line, this has worked well - use bumpers as needed. When in open sea i use a bridle tied on the transom cleats.
I typically tow it with the ob engine in the up/lifted position though some people have recommended to have the ob lowered for better stability at speed. I have yet to try that..
I ride it around 10 kts - on a wake it can sit on slightly "downhill" any faster and it seems becoming unstable with lots of skidding and bouncy.

 

[jgwinks]

On the trawler I have a good mounting for the dinghy on the swim step so I haven't towed it. On the sailboat I would tow it right up short, with the tow line actually lifting the bow out of the water. Less drag that way (I think), no problems maneuvering, and no chance of wrapping the tow line on the prop. The bow of the dinghy nested in the folded up boarding ladder, it was very secure. That was a Watertender 9.4, quite a bit smaller than a Whaler.

 

[guy with a boat]

Good tips.

I use three fenders from the mother-ship and less than that would be inadequate.

When you connect the springs to the mid-point cleat do you also tie the bow of the tender somehow?

Yes, I do a lateral bow line.

I have a pre-rigged spring line from the big boat bow to the mid tender cleat and another spring on that same cleat that goes back. The two loops are actually inter connected to make it easier and keep it all together. I take the aft spring line back and once around an aft cleat on the big boat, then across the stern of the tender and that also serves as a lateral stern line. Once I cinch up that last connection, the whole rig is tight.