dinghy towing

[timkil]

I've got plans to build either a 6 or 7 foot lightweight plywood rowing dinghy. Has anyone out there ever tried towing a small craft behind a 16? I'd like to find a way during the cooler months to get to shore while overnighting that won't leave me with wet shoes and soggy pants. Thanks..Tim

[Craig Weis]

Timkil, not astern of a C-P 16 but astern of a C-P 19 we towed a modest 10 foot fiberglass Dink without mast or rig. But only with ores.

Anyway a smallish light weight plywood dinghy should be of little trouble if...

1-It [the dinghy] is kept light. A good place to carry less then five gallons extra fuel, or a cooler.

2-Is towed by a 'painter' [line] that is attached to the dinghy very close to the dinghy's water line.
Keeps the dinghy bow from riding high.

3-Tow painters separate often. Use a very good line, three stran nylon perhaps with a float that the line pass through about mid-line, knotted. Or a polypropylene line that floats. I can't really stand this material...it really bugs me to handle it.

4-Tow far enough away from the stern that the dinghy will not ride up on a wave created by the hull's wake. I see this all the time. A dinghy right tight up against the stern. Looks...well un-natural.

5-The dinghy is going to bang your boat so have a rub rail 360 deg around that bugger for loading and off loading.

6-Oh BTW, I slip the painter line under the center of the stern cleat, as my cleats have a little arch above the deck and tie a figure 8 knot in the bite of the line...that's my last line of defense if the painter uncleats it's self form my stern cleat, the figure eight knot gets jammed in the cleat's void.

At the dinghy I use a bronze 'pull to release' clip that goes to a ring that is tied to a lead with an anchor bend knot.
The lead is tied with another anchor bend to the dinghy's eye at the waterline and this lead is long enough to store in the bow of the dink when not attached to the C-P 19.

That's about it. How about a cover so if your sailing in the rain she'll not fill up with rain? But that's a pain to un fasten to use. You decide. skip.

[Crabcop]

Tim,
All Skip's points are good.  To elaborate on his point #4:  when towing with any boat, but especially with a sailboat, make sure you adjust the tow line so that the dink and your CP16 are spaced so that they ride the waves equally. That is, don't have the CP16 going down the face of a wave while the dink is climbing the back of another wave. they should climb waves together and ride down the faces together. This saves drag on the towing boat (drag slows you down, of course), and it lessens the strain on the tow line. 
Oh, one more point: (as you may have noticed from my user name) I used to work in maritime law enforcement  and i can't tell you how many dinghies I recovered because the owners didn't use good knots to secure the tow line.  Use a good knot, a bowline will do, if properly tied, and constantly monitor the tow.

Good luck,
Joe

[Craig Weis]

Thank you crabcop, that was a fine post and point #4 about 'timing the waves' is right on. Again thank you for a more clear understanding of the art of towing.  I had thought about a rubber thingy to lessen the shock on the painter. However rubber comes apart. A stretchy nylon line works fine I guess. skip.

[timkil]

Thanks for the input guys. I've decided to build the dinghy and give her a try. It's hard to find an informative website that reacts so fast to questions. About an hour and a half for this one. Thanks again...Fair winds.   Tim

[GrFa]

Which dingy were you looking at building? I have been considering one as a summer project for myself as well. I have my eye on a Bolger Nymph.

[timkil]

I found some free plans from Hannu Vartiala for a 7 1/2 foot "Portugese Dinghy". I found his website through the "Mother of All Maritime Links" website under "free plans". Here's his web address..http://personal.eunet.fi/pp/gsahv  He has quite a few different boat designs available there with fairly detailed instructions. I didn't know guys from Finland could be so funny. It's an entertaining website even if you're not building a boat.   Tim

[GrFa]

Wow that Portugese dighy looks great, I may just have to try that one instead. Great website too, just spent a good while on there.

[B.Hart]

Thats a great site! I wish I was more handy with wood working.