Ski/tubing rope attatchment question

[karma_2@charter.net]

New boat owner. I have a 18' 99 Sea Ray OB with a Merc 115 outboard. There are no tow rope attatchments anywhere for skiers or tubing. What do people do? The outboard is obviously in the way so I can't mount anything to the transom unless it's off to one side. I don't think I can mount a pole to the floor anywhere because the ski storage cover goes right up to the front of the back seats.
Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[AguaSki]

Re: Ski/tubing rope attatchment question

Get one of these.

http://www.iboats.com/Airhead_Tow_H...93440041--list_time.1183778864--view_id.38989

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: Ski/tubing rope attatchment question

....ok, here a local guy (Craigslist...Vancouver) with a 96' Searay/outboard w/ a tow bar and near identical motor. Check it out and see if there is anything here that is applicable to your 99'. It all looks pretty straightforward here. I don't know where you buy it from...but it is obviously out there for sure.
Good luck.

http://vancouver.craigslist.org/boa/367208073.html

(ps: if the link doesn't take...just search Craigslist Vancouver for Searay bowrider...and you'll hit it)

 

[AguaSki]

Re: Ski/tubing rope attatchment question

Pylon's like that boat on Craigslist are also available here on iBoats. Just do a search for "pylon". I used a tow harness for a long time and switched this season to the pylon. The pylon is much nicer, but they also cost a lot more than the tow harness. I kept an eye on Ebay until I found a pylon for a good price. Be careful on Ebay as I saw a lot of used pylon's go for more a new pylon would cost. I took me 6 months to get my pylon for $35 instead of the usual $200.

 

[The Flying Dutchman]

Re: Ski/tubing rope attatchment question

Do you use the pylon to tow a tube? I heard they are not designed for that.

 

[karma_2@charter.net]

Re: Ski/tubing rope attatchment question

I bought the tow harness. Should do the trick nicely. Thanks guys!

 

[AguaSki]

Re: Ski/tubing rope attatchment question

Do you use the pylon to tow a tube? I heard they are not designed for that.

I have also read that, but everyone on the lake uses the pylon to tow tubes. I have done it without any problems, but I have never tested with more than one adult on the tube. I have all three legs of the pylon thru-bolted so it is really sturdy.

 

[QuadManiac]

Re: Ski/tubing rope attatchment question

I use a Water Devil tow harness (that i got at Walmart). It consists of a 8' or so sheathed steel cable with latching hooks at each end, and a floating, plastic encased pulley in the middle that the tow rope attaches to. THe cable is long enough that, at idle, the pulley floats in the water well behind the outboard.

I attach the latching hooks to the two rear cleats on my 91 Capri 18' and have had no trouble with it at all pulling tubes with two people. The pulley slides around on the cable when the tuber/skier leaves the wake, and pulls them quite well while somewhat evening out the load across both cleats.

If this helps, great. If not, good luck finding what you need.

 

[jrousell]

Re: Ski/tubing rope attatchment question

Did you say that you attach it to your rear cleats?

I ahve always attached ours to the rear tow points on the transom. Problem wityh that is they are relaly low, and teh rope is alwasy in teh water and it woudl eb nice to get it up higher...

If I coudl atatch it to the cleats on teh rear on each side that woudl be awesome.

Does anyone think this is a no-no?


I ahve a aluminum 19' boat. The gunnells look to be 1/4 inch thick aluminum and teh cleats have 4 through bolts each.

I also ahve teh relaly beefy attachment points that were ment for dowbnriggers. They are thiocker than 1/4 inch and ahve 8 screws golding them to teh gunnels on eth rear. They look very very beefy so I ahve half thought of trying to tow with a bridle off those too

 

[PowerAddict]

Re: Ski/tubing rope attatchment question

yeah, could you make a rig from the stern cleats?

 

[QuadManiac]

Re: Ski/tubing rope attatchment question

I've used the stern cleats for awhile with no problems. They keep the rope nicely out of the water, and the nose of the tube pitched up, just a bit. Keep in mind, i use the pulley version in order to distribute the load more evenly to both cleats in any turns. With just a 'Y' of line, in a turn or with the load well outside the wake, only one cleat will be pulling all the load, the other side will be slack.

 

[AguaSki]

Re: Ski/tubing rope attatchment question

I ahve always attached ours to the rear tow points on the transom. Problem wityh that is they are relaly low, and teh rope is alwasy in teh water and it woudl eb nice to get it up higher...

If I coudl atatch it to the cleats on teh rear on each side that woudl be

The tow rope dragging through the wake was the reason why I went to a pylon. I suppose that the cleats are sturdy enough on some boats, but I would guess they are less than sturdy on other boats. You would have to make your own call on using the cleats for towing, but I don't recommend it. If the cleats rip out, you will be left with an ugly mess to repair. I may be overly cautious, but I would not do it. The pylon can be expensive if are not a careful shopper, but if you keep an eye on Ebay, you can eventually get a sturdy pylon for a cheap price.

An added benefit of the pylon is that it creates a high point in my boat cover, and the high point helps to shed rain water that used to pool in the middle of the cover. It rained like crazy last night, and I slept much better knowing that my boat cover was not about to give because of the growing puddle in the middle of the cover. I checked out the cover first thing this morning and found no puddling, and a dry boat under the cover. Anything that assists in keeping the inside of the boat dry is worth the investment to me.

 

[scoutabout]

Re: Ski/tubing rope attatchment question

...If the cleats rip out, you will be left with an ugly mess to repair....

You could have much bigger problems than that. This past weekend a seven year-old kid was killed tubing on a lake near our place due to tow equipment failure. Really sad.

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/lo...bing_accident_070815/20070815?hub=TorontoHome

http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/246569

So, everyone, make sure your lines are in good condition and mounted to something that can take the load.