First time tow-er

[ba1335]

I enjoyed the previous thread about types of tubes to purchase and would like to open that thread thought back up, along with towing techniques.
I'm new to owning a boat and recently purchased an 18ft '96 Sylvan with a 3.0 Mercruiser in it. It's rated for 1200lbs, so it's a decent sized boat. It has a tow hook for towing and without taking it out yet I assume it will reach 35-40mph with a few people in it. I understand that 25mph should be plenty fast enough to tow a mid 20's person and have an 'extreme' experience. But what are the best patterns or water characteristics (other boats wakes) that I should look for or perform while towing a tube? Obviously I want to be safe but would also like to jump or sling some of the 'tougher' riders and would like to know how to do this safely rather than experimenting with a rider. I haven't had the boat out yet so I'm not sure how fast I can turn and maneuver, but I plan to have at least 20+ hours of boating practice to get a comfortable feel with the boat and how it handles before I take any riders. (Yes, I am already signed up for the boat safety course)
Also, when towing, or just cruising from one fishing hole to the next, what is the best combination of tilt and trim for an i/o motor? I assume there are allot of techniques I will need to learn. Is there another forum/thread or someplace I can go to learn how to get the best performance from my boat while properly doing so to cause as little wear and tear on the boat and motor as possible?
Thanks much

 

[tpenfield]

Re: First time tow-er

My recommendation would be to practice slowly and get to understand the mechanics. Last year there was a news story about someone who actually ran over the tube that they were towing, killing one of the occupants, a family member.

Anyway, lots of questions about speed and wild ride techniques is worrisome. You might want to Google some of the boating accidents of the past few years and become familiar on the various ways that people unwittingly become marine statistics.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: First time tow-er

Well he is signed up for a boating course, so you can't fault him there.

As far as best cruise configuration: once you are up on plane and have reached your intended cruise speed (be it 25mph, 30mph, whatever), you will trim up in small increments until the boat beings to porpoise. Once it starts to porpoise, lower the trim a bit until it stops, and you have arrived at the best cruising configuration assuming you aren't dealing with major seas.

Towing the tubes: most of the time you can just make s-curves with the boat while following the shoreline a safe distance out. Sharp turns are ill-advised, but a tight-radius 180 is okay as long as you have looked around you to ensure your maneuver will not interfere with any boats around you. You can try figure-8's, but in my experience as a rider it gets annoying. I wouldn't be worrying about other boat's wakes aside from slowing down when encountering large vessel's wakes as they can be violent if crossed quickly or at the wrong angle.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: First time tow-er

My only tip - don't be anywhere near people who are trying to ski/swim/float. If you're in a big lake take the tube to the crappiest choppiest water you can find.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: First time tow-er

One thing to teach your riders (and yourself) are the hand signals . . . I think my kids actually learned them at summer camp.

'Thumb up' means ready or a little faster ( the captain makes the decisions on speed) if my riders want to go faster and I don't think it is safe, they don't go faster.

'Thumb down' means slower

'Flat hand' (as in making a stop signal) means stop/done/real me in

With some practice you will be able to control the tube as the driver and bring the tube outside the wake and then back in again.

If you get the boat turning in a fairly tight radius, the tube will naturally want to go outside the wake and travel a lot faster than the boat. This is where you need to be careful, because a variety of bad things can happen. Water skiers do the same sort of thing, yet they have substantial control over their movement. A tuber does not.

Just remember that some of your tube riders will get bruises and abrasions from the tube, particularly if the water is rougher.

Then there is the loading and unloading . . . it is fairly hard to get back on a tube, depending on the size. We load from the swim platform. Most boat manufacturers recommend (warn) that the engine should be shut off when loading/unloading from the swim platform or being in the water off the back. All it takes is one trip or stumble of a crew member that lands them against the throttle/shift lever and there is tragedy in the making.

Enjoy the boating safety course and be aware.

 

[tfret]

Re: First time tow-er

tubing can be extremely dangerous! I tube my kids all the time and have been boating all my 47 year old life, and it still makes me nervous every time. Your head has got to be on a swivel, constantly aware of everything and anything within the radius of your boat and tow line. People die every year on tubes by being slung into docks, shore, pilings, other boats etc. You must be accutely aware of your surrounds and other boaters and what you perceive their next move to be. And I hope I don't have to tell you that drinking is out of the question! Take it slow on open water and get the feel of things. Low 20's is where I usually tube. 25 max. Beyond that and you're just begging to get someone hurt. Take your time and learn your boat, learn how everything works out there before just going nuts dragging people around. The lake can be a dangerous place but with caution and common sense it can be very fun. Take care.

 

[sethjon]

Re: First time tow-er

And to me, most important is speed. 25 is more than enough and anything higher is potentially DANGEROUS!!

 

[docster]

Re: First time tow-er

when i pull, the boat rarely exceeds 20mph, and never 25, when swing a tube back and forth behind the boat, if the boat is going 20, the tube can exceed 35 mph going across the wake in a tight turn, so just remember that, boat speed does not equal tube speed! i hate when i see people going 40 mph in a boat. they dont realize how hard water is at that speed, let alone when the tube is going 150% of that speed!

 

[inthedirtagain]

Re: First time tow-er

When I'm out with my kids, I know what their tolerance level is. When they bring friends, I always make a point to ask them what their comfort level is and if they want a "wild" ride, or something more mellow. Depending upon the tube, the weight of the boat/occupants, and the person being towed, you may not be capable of towing over 25mph. Flat-out, my boat will run around 35mph, but dragging a multi-person tube around slows me down significantly (16ft bow-rider, 90hp Merc). Remember, when the tube flips, it not you getting hurt. Think of others first. As the Captain, its always going to be YOUR fault.

 

[capecodtodd]

Re: First time tow-er

Hello
The best advice is to take it slow and gain speed as conditions and experience of rider and driver advance.
When a rider falls off they have nothing to float on or if the lake is busy nothing to stick up in the air to make their silhoutte more visible to other boaters who might not be paying as much attention as they should be. If someone does fall off get back to them quickly.
Most of the time when towing I set the engine to the full down and leave it there. When towing a tube I do tilt it a bit in a attempt to cut fuel costs. Out of all the things i have towed over the years a tube eats the most gas. I have a 20' Stingray with a 3.0 IO and trimming is a matter of feel. With engine all the way down and you up on plane tilt the trim and you will feel it lift the bow a bit. Hit it again and it will lift a little more. It is neat how just a little lift will trim the boat up. Don't go too much, mine has a dash gauge and a stop.
Your speed at 20mph should be good, the faster you go the harder that water gets when you fall.
Try to keep tension on the rope when you are pulling I wrecked a tube once when I let the tube stall and then when the rope went tight again it ripped right out of the tube cover. This can also happen if you hit some big waves and the tube dips under.
when towing usually with a 75 foot rope give the boat a little wiggle "S" move to get your rider outside the wake if he won't get out on a tight turn.
Take it slow be safe have fun.

 

[spdracr39]

Re: First time tow-er

When pulling a tube I keep the motor trimmed almost full down as it helps to keep up speed when turning hard.
Do watch the speed and try to keep it constant so as not to jerk the tube.
Always ask the rider how hard they want to ride so you don't scare off any newer riders.
When turning turn sharp but not so sharp as to lose speed.
Let your spotter do their job don't try to watch the riders just watch for other boat, people , and obstacles.

We were cruising the other day at about 30 mph ( no tube ) and a boat caught us and begen to pass pulling three people on a big round tube. As they passed all went in the water. The tube was left floating so I thought the rope must have broken. My wife says " wasn't that tube red?" and sure enough they had been pulling so fast it ripped the cover off and left the inner tube behind. Tubes are not designed for over 25 mph so don't go faster than that (people aren't really designed for it either).

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: First time tow-er

When pulling a tube I keep the motor trimmed almost full down as it helps to keep up speed when turning hard.
Do watch the speed and try to keep it constant so as not to jerk the tube.
Always ask the rider how hard they want to ride so you don't scare off any newer riders.
When turning turn sharp but not so sharp as to lose speed.
Let your spotter do their job don't try to watch the riders just watch for other boat, people , and obstacles.

We were cruising the other day at about 30 mph ( no tube ) and a boat caught us and begen to pass pulling three people on a big round tube. As they passed all went in the water. The tube was left floating so I thought the rope must have broken. My wife says " wasn't that tube red?" and sure enough they had been pulling so fast it ripped the cover off and left the inner tube behind. Tubes are not designed for over 25 mph so don't go faster than that (people aren't really designed for it either).

First off, driving with the trim down doesn't help you do anything, and just makes steering tougher as well as dealing with possible bow-steer. For skiing, it will create a bigger wake which isn't what you want. The trim issues will be different for different types of boats, but I can't think of any boat that steers well when on plane with trim full-down. There's also no reason to turn sharp unless you want to, it's solely dependent on the ride you are trying to give the tuber.

The cover on the tube you saw was likely deteriorated or the tube itself was under-inflated which allowed the cover to separate. Even when pulling a tube @ 20mph in a straight line, the tube will reach speeds close to 40mph when swinging them outside the wakes. Tubes are made to withstand plenty of speed, but I don't think towing them much over 25mph is necessary even for experienced riders.