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But one things for sure. Wind and current boat size all come into play.
Ive been a trailer boater for over 30 years and Im still learning new things and making new mistakes every season.
Towing a boat with another boat. Go slow never put your boat in reverse and plan to make wide turns. Tow the disabled boat to the nearest safe harbor or dock. Make your final approach to the dock or ramp into prevailing wind or current.
Slowly approach the dock secure your boat then use the tow line to pull the disabled boat to the dock by hand. When it comes to towing another boat your immediate reaction to help should be tempered by a strong dose of common sense. There are reasons to say no and there are dos and donts to follow if you say yes.
Before you think of tossing a ski tow line to a boat adrift read on for our suggestions on how to do it safely and effectively. Just check your boats capacity and bring along extra life jackets. Run in buy a jug full of gas or a new charged battery or jump-start pack and head back out.
On lakes without commercial towing vessels check with BoatUS 247 dispatch 800-391-4869 or local law enforcement. Towing another boat can be tricky and is best accomplished when the boat doing the towing is the same size or larger than the disabled boat. Your 17-foot bowrider is not a good candidate for towing a 30-foot cruiser.
In this case you could offer to approach and transport the crew to shore leaving the disabled boat at anchor until professional help can step in. The disabled boat should ride in sync with the tow-boat both boats together in the wave troughs or on the wave crests not one boat in the trough and the other on the crest. That means lots of violent shock-loading and is a good way to pull out cleats and cause other damage and injury.
Tow with a long line in open water then shorten when you get close to the destination. Thats when it gets tricky. Wind and current boat size all come into play.
Depending on the boat size consider tying along side the disabled vessel to get in. Having someone on the dock to catch a line is the best. In really tight spaces a RIB or launch is the ideal tow boat.
In many cases if you tow a yacht into harbour the harbour master or boatyard will be able to come and take over the tow in his launch to put the boat alongside. We borrowed marine photographer Eddie Mays RIB to rig up an alongside tow by motorboat. A good dock line from your stern cleat to the other boats bow eye or bow cleat should suffice.
Bear in mind that pulling from a cleat on one side of your boat is going to make towing a bit clumsy. If you can pull from the tow eye on the center of your boat to the cleat at centerline of the towed boat the tow will go much more smoothly. When youre towing another vessel through large waves you should choose the line length that will keep the boats in sync.
The boats need to hit wave troughs and crests in time with one another. If they dont it could cause damages that prevent you from towing further or potentially injure passengers. Towing is incredibly simple in principle just attach a line between two boats and off you go but it is not always so straightforward and mistakes can be costly.
The weather and sea state make a huge difference changing an easy process into one that can be difficult and possibly dangerous. There are safety and legal considerations to take into account before you attempt to tow a boat. However there are no laws forcing you to tow another boat so if you have any doubts its better not to do it.
If you do decide to go through with it here are some guidelines and tips for towing a boat in the water. How to Double Tow Two Trailers - Triple Towing a Boat Behind Our Fifth Wheel RV - 70 Feet Long. Just be sure that youre with the boat until you can be sure that they have received the help that they need.
When youre towing like it was said earlier you want to make sure that the line has a good amount of tension so its important that you have a steady throttle when youre towing another boat behind you. Towing basically means to pull something using a rope chain etc. In the case of boats one boat will be pulled along the body of water using a rope etc.
Attached to another boat. If a houseboat is said to be towing another boat it means that the houseboat is either pulling or. Never try and tow a boat faster than its hull speed.
A safe tow speed in calm conditions for a 35 yacht is 65 knots. You might need to extend or shorten the length of the tow to get the boats in sync with the waves. Take care that the tow boat doesnt get swamped with waves if the other boat is acting as a brake and there is a following sea.
The boat looks to be in the 24- to 27-foot range on a tandem-axle trailer meaning the typical tow vehicle of choice would be a pickup most appropriately a heavy-duty one. When it comes to towing boat width the great majority of states 47 to be exact do not require a wide-load permit as long as your boat and trailer width does not exceed 8 12 feet 102 inches. The exceptions to the norm include New York New Jersey and Hawaii which have an 8 foot 96 inches limit.
And North Carolina which allows a. Ive been a trailer boater for over 30 years and Im still learning new things and making new mistakes every season. But one things for sure.
Take your new-found knowledge and add in some boat towing practice and real-world experience and youll have the confidence to. As it turns out when it comes to towing a boat you should worry less about how much horsepower a pickup has to offer and more about how much torque it has. According to Boat Test the more torque a pickup has to offer the easier it will be to tow a boat.
Boat Test added If two trucks offer the same amount of torque look deeper. Is a boat owner permitted to tow his boat cross country through multiple states. The answer is a qualified yes.
For boats that are not oversized ie not more than 8 ft. In New York New Jersey and Hawaii or more than 12 ft tall an owner can load up.