Best rope for towing a boat on water, as in behind a houseboat?

[Artemetra]

When we tie up the little boat behind the big boat for cruising down lake, I think a floating rope of about 75-100' length would be good. I'm wondering what would be the best rope. We take houseboat trips on Lake Powell, and often cruise for a few hours to quieter zones. In fact, most of the houseboat cruising will have the speedboat trailing behind. We have used climbing rope (but it sinks) and ski rope (not a good choice). Little boat is a Chap 220 SSi. (Not that little, I know.) So far the best I have come up with is 5/8" solid braided poly (Home Depot has it). Maybe an anchor rope? Thanks.

 

[brian4321]

The only experience I have in towing boats is the several times I've towed broken down boats back to the ramp , but in those cases my 50' anchor rope worked fine

 

[rallyart]

You can get a tubing rope with 4000-6000# load rating that should be fine.

 

[brian4321]

That's a good suggestion...you definitely want a rope that floats

 

[Ned L]

There are more important characteristics than ' one that floats'. Line that floats is typically Polypropylene, which is quite low stretch (what you want for skiing and tubing, but not necessarily what you want for towing a boat). Lines with low stretch (Polypro, Dacron, Polyester) will give more severe jolting as the slack is taken up. Line with more stretch (Nylon) will give a softer 'springier' action as the slack is taken up.
In any case, be careful around (in front of, and behind) the towing line when under tension, and I wouldn't recommend letting people ' lounge around' directly in line with the towing line. If the cleat (or whatever) on either end lets go, think of it as a slingshot with a pound or so projectile. People have been killed by flying cleats when towing boats, or on larger boats killed by the towing hawser alone if it snaps.

 

[SkaterRace]

What ever rope you choose make sure you have a second line or the main one is in great shape. A tubing rope would work well depending on the rating.

 

[Ike-110722]

Ned's advice is the best. Towing a boat is unlike towing a skier or tube, and is an inherently dangerous operation. Here is a quote (rather a long one I admit) from my web site on boating safety and seamanship.

Towing is a very dangerous operation. It is best left to professionals. But if you find yourself in a situation where you must be towed, or must tow someone else there are some things you need to know, and equipment you need. The first thing you need to do is put on lifejackets and insist that the people on the vessel being towed put on theirs. Have everyone move as far forward, away from the tow line on the towing boat, and on the towed boat they should move as far astern, away from the tow line as possible. Tow lines can snap like a giant rubber band. When they do they will fly violently toward the boat. This has the potential to cause severe bodily harm or death and can damage the boat as well. So when the line is under strain stay as far away from it as possible.

Your tow line needs to be as long as possible. On small boats even 100 feet may not be long enough. It also needs to be a large diameter. A 1/2 inch line may not be large enough. A 3/4 or 1 inch line is better for towing boats in the 20 to 30 foot range and should be much larger for boats longer than that. Do not use nylon line. Nylon will stretch, but when it reaches its maximum stretch it will snap and fly like a rubber band. Use Polypropylene. It floats and that helps to keep it out of your props. If the boat is too big to tow with your poly line then you should not even attempt to tow it.

You need to have something on the boat to secure the line to that will stand the strain without pulling out. My boat has two U Bolts on either side of the transom. They were put there for towing skiers, but they are through bolted and have backing plates so it would take a lot of force to pull them out. Most cleats and fittings on recreational boats are not strong enough. Cleats should be through bolted and have metal backing plates. Other wise they will just rip right out of the fiberglass or wood. The best method is a tow bridal that wraps around the boat and is fastened at at least three points, but most boaters don't have this. Most small power boats have a bow eye that has a backing plate. This is a good point to fasten the tow line to on the boat being towed. On sailboats you may need to use the mast to tie the tow line to, but only if it extends down to the keel. A mast that is stepped on the deck or cabin top, or in a pulpit will not take the strain.

As I said the tow line needs to be long enough that when you take up the slack the line still sags in the middle. This is called a catenary and allows the line to stretch without snapping. If the line is straight it will have no room to stretch. Along with this you need to go slow. Five miles per hour may be too fast. You need to keep a lot of slack in the line to be safe.

Start at a very slow speed, with the engine just idling over and take up the line, Have someone slowly paying out the line to keep it out of your props. Make sure you and the person helping have a large and very sharp knife. On big boats have an axe handy. This is to cut the line if things go bad. Make sure you don't get tangled up in the line.

As I said this is a very dangerous operation and should be left to a professional. I strongly suggest you read the links below. They explain in greater detail what is involved in towing.
http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/towtip.htm
http://www.wikihow.com/Tow-a-Boat
http://www.thefishingline.com/towinga.ht

 

[Ned L]

Yes,... Good advise.
I do see we disagree on the type of line to use ( stretch vs non stretch). They both have there merits, and we both have our preferences for valid reasons it seems. Bottom line is use caution.

 

[fhhuber]

A 100 ft 1/2 inch nylon line stretched to breaking point can potentially break through 1/2 inch plywood when it snaps back...

I've seen the result of an aircraft carrier mooring line (low stretch 6 inch diameter line) snapping... it cut an armored hatch in half.

Very simply.... you want some sort of indicator that you are approaching max stretch for the line so you can back off power before the line breaks and kills you.

One form of indicator is to whip/splice an appx 5 ft line on the side of the towline with slack calculated to be appx 10% to 20% less than snapping stretch of the towline. When that side line is tight you are in danger of snapping the towline.

 

[Ned L]

One form of indicator is to whip/splice an appx 5 ft line on the side of the towline with slack calculated to be appx 10% to 20% less than snapping stretch of the towline. When that side line is tight you are in danger of snapping the towline.

I like that,.. Simple and accurate.

 

[fhhuber]

https://www.coastguard.net.nz/sartr/modules/Towing Techniques.pdf

Note page 10 RE the stretch indicator I described.

Lots of good info about towing procedures.

There are some aspects of boating where you need to be paranoid.
Doing it wrong CAN kill someone.

 

[Scott Danforth]

My a boat on lake Powell is different than other areas.

First, the tow point on the houseboat should be as high as possible to keep the nose of the ski boat above the chop. Tow in the center of the wake, Mott off to the side

Stow any life vests, etc in the event the wind changes and you find yourself in a 70-100 MPH gust.

Don't tow through narrow channels. The houseboat wake and the wakes from other boats often bounce off the rocks and swamp the towed boat.

Plenty of swamped boats end up at Wahweap marina from being towed.

5/8 braid will be more than strong enough to pull the boat both above and below the surface

Here is an article on a Mastercraft towing incident on lake Powell. https://www.mastercraft.com/teamtalk/showthread.php?t=40024

 

[Ike-110722]

Ned's technique for measuring stretch is good and I have seen it used. And by the way Ned, the USCG uses nylon for towing small boats, but they are professionals and train constantly. Even then they occasionally get a line in a prop or part a tow line. I could tell some really hair raising stories. Anything much bigger than 60 feet or so they use hawsers that don't stretch so a long line, syncing to the waves and keeping a catenary in the line is crucial. I too have seen big hawsers break, and the damage is awesome. That is why I recommend polypropylene for amatuers. It keeps it out of their props and it is more forgiving if it breaks. But it is not as strong as nylon.

There is a vast difference between towing in calm water and in waves and wind. In waves the boats need to be synced so they are both on the same part of the wave at the same time. This means adjusting the length of the tow line. Plus that anyone towing anything much bigger than 20 feet should rig a bridle that goes from the bow to the stern on both sides of the boat. It gives you three points of strain rather than one. The cleats on most recreational boats don't have adequate backing and will easily rip out of the deck. Towing in a high wind is really fraught. Twoing up wind means simply go slower and keep control. The toed boat will tend to veer away the direction of the wind so it is important to keep the wind on the bow if possible. Downwind is even more difficult because the toed boat may catch up to you so you have to actually increase speed to keep control.

As I said on my web page it's something best left to professionals. I see so many boats being towed with the line way to short and taut as a rubber band, and some fool standing on the bow of the towed boat straddling the tow line. No one has on lifejackets and children are milling around near the tow line. Yikes!

By the way if you ever get towed by a professional, the first thing they will do is make everyone put on lifejackets. Everyone not handling line will be moved as far away from the tow line as possible. In some cases, if it is safe, they will take all non-essential people off the boat being towed.

 

[southkogs]

I can't find it now, but there used to be a product that was like a fixed arm for the stern of a houseboat to tow. It was really kinda' cool because it was fixed and put the craft being towed right in the direct line of the boat keel. If I recall correctly, you ran spring lines back to the stern of the boat in tow to control sway.

Peter and Ned, any advantage to rigging up the boat in tow to the side of the towing rig? Kinda' like the packet boats used to haul light barges downriver?

 

[BWR1953]

I can't find it now, but there used to be a product that was like a fixed arm for the stern of a houseboat to tow. It was really kinda' cool because it was fixed and put the craft being towed right in the direct line of the boat keel. If I recall correctly, you ran spring lines back to the stern of the boat in tow to control sway.

Peter and Ned, any advantage to rigging up the boat in tow to the side of the towing rig? Kinda' like the packet boats used to haul light barges downriver?

Is this it?

http://www.theboathitch.com/

 

[southkogs]

Not the one I was thinking of (i recall an "A" type frame), but yeah ... close enough.

 

[Ned L]

Peter and Ned, any advantage to rigging up the boat in tow to the side of the towing rig? Kinda' like the packet boats used to haul light barges downriver?

You are talking about two different methods that are really for two different situations, not an either/or kind of a thing. For 'towing' in close quarters or where maneuvering is required (rivers, harbors, docking, etc) tying up alongside is required. When towing in open waters, towing behind is the way to go.
The 'preferred' method is to tow behind, but when maneuvering is required along side is required. Commercial tows will tow alongside until they get into open water and then drop the tow off behind. Everything is much gentler with no banging and crashing back and forth when towing behind. When towing alongside you really want to cinch the two vessels up to each other as tightly as possible so they act as one unit.
By the sounds of Lake Powell, behind is the way to go. If here is as much chop and reflected wakes as it sounds, along side would really bang both boats up. Just be careful of the tow line (there was a reason the USCG 41 ft patrol boats (and old 40 footers) had big heavy 'cage fences' between the coxswain and the towing bits. They didn't want people decapitated).

 

[Ike-110722]

Good advice Ned