Towing a canoe behind a sailboat
Phan...@nospam.invalid
sailboat in open water. I haven't tried it before but I can visualize
a myriad of problems with that.
First, there is no bow eye and no place to atttach a tow line low or
near the waterline. My only option is the carry handle at gunnel level
about 10'-12' aft of the bow.
Second, there's no keel or anything else to keep the canoe from
fishtailing. I'm thinking I'll be constantly having problems with it
capsizing back there, especially in following seas.
Has anyone here had success with towing a canoe in this fashion? I'm
thinking a drogue might help with the fishtailing but, again, the
attachment point would be the stern carry handle, high on the gunnel,
which would increase the tendancy for capsize.
hmmmm...... the more I type, the more I'm talking myself out of the
whole idea. But I hate to just waste all this typing... sooooo....
Anybody have any tips or recommendations?
Thanks,
Rick
Tom McCloud
into details. I don't have experience towing behind a sailboat,
but have towed a canoe behind powered boats. Two answers that I am
aware of:
1. Some people who tow a lot will drill a hole, maybe 1/2 inch,
through the bow of the canoe approx. at waterline or a bit below and
epoxy in a piece of plastic pipe so it is watertight. This serves as
the place to tie the tow rope.
2. A towing harness with rope alone can be made by looping the
rope across the top of the canoe and tieing underneath: pass through
the seat mounts then underneath so that the knot is underneath the bow
a bit under the water level. It has to be tight and stay tight to
work.
In both cases you are pulling from the bow, low, slightly underneath
the water. You want to keep the bow 'high' and the tow rope as short
as possible. Tom McCloud
Phant...@nospam.invalid
bow. I meant 10" - 12", but I'm thinkin' you've already figured
that out lol!
And both those ideas sound a lot better than anything I've come up
with. Although I'd hate to drill a hole in my bow. If I changed my
mind with fiberglass or wood, I know how to patch either one of those.
But I don't know beans about how to work with Royalex (and so far, I
haven't had to learn).
I think I'll try the harness approach. Same thing for a drogue at the
stern.
I knew there had to be a way to do this, someway somehow :-)
Thanks :-)
Rick
On Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:27:31 -0400, Tom McCloud wrote:
> Sounds like you already know something about towing, so I won't go
>into details. I don't have experience towing behind a sailboat,
>but have towed a canoe behind powered boats. Two answers that I am
>aware of:
>
>1. Some people who tow a lot will drill a hole, maybe 1/2 inch,
>through the bow of the canoe approx. at waterline or a bit below and
>epoxy in a piece of plastic pipe so it is watertight. This serves as
>the place to tie the tow rope.
>2. A towing harness with rope alone can be made by looping the
>rope across the top of the canoe and tieing underneath: pass through
>the seat mounts then underneath so that the knot is underneath the bow
>a bit under the water level. It has to be tight and stay tight to
>work.
>
>In both cases you are pulling from the bow, low, slightly underneath
>the water. You want to keep the bow 'high' and the tow rope as short
>as possible. Tom McCloud
(PeteCresswell)
>but I can visualize
>a myriad of problems with that.
One that comes to what's left of my mind is the canoe getting
swamped underway and the sudden heavy load on the tow line.
I'd want the line to part in that situation.
--
PeteCresswell
Phan...@nospam.invalid
>>but I can visualize a myriad of problems with that.
On Wed, 25 Aug 2010, PeteCresswell wrote:
>One that comes to what's left of my mind is the canoe getting
>swamped underway and the sudden heavy load on the tow line.
>I'd want the line to part in that situation.
Yup, and actually that's a hazard for towing a dingy or inflatable or
practically anything else, especially downwind. But I would think a
canoe would be most susceptible to a swamping. Although it wouldn't
be as dangerous for most sailboats as it would be for something like
an outboard powered boat with a low cut out transom.
I live on the Gulf Coast and it seems like every year we hear of a
sinking and drowning when someone tries to pull a shrimp trawl with an
outboard powered boat. It works okay going up wind but when they make
a U turn to trawl in the other direction, even in moderate seas, the
trawl prevents the stern from rising like it normally would and the
waves roll in over the transom. And sometimes it only takes one wave.
At which point, down she goes. And it can happen very quickly.
Tow lines never seem to part when you want them to. Only when you
*don't* want them to. But a properly cleated tow line can be released
very quickly, even when it's under extreme load. It requires constant
vigilance and quick response though, when the situation suddenly calls
for it. I've had to release a tow a couple of times. It's amazing how
quickly one can decide to sacrifice many $$ when the safety of one's
primary vessel is in doubt. LoLl! Fortunately, in my case, I've
been able to retrieve my $$ investment (fishing skiffs) later. At
least so far. That reminds me. I don't have my name and address
written on my canoe anywhere. I'd better remedy that.
Rick
Robert Scott
<Phan...@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
news:hnca76lfks2aqbb2p...@4ax.com...
>I have an Old Town Penobscot 16 that I'd like to tow behind my
> sailboat in open water.
I took my Mad River Eclipse (16' Royalex "Light") on a moose hunt to Canada
once, towing it behind a small outboard-powered fiberglass boat for several
miles each day. I connected a tow line to the canoe's bow loop, which is a
short loop of line run through a hole through the hull that's lined with a
tube as mentioned above.
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww41/desmobob900ss/Paddling/MOOSTOW.jpg
I kept my .300 Win Mag close at hand in case I had to part the tow line in a
hurry... ;-)
The loop is high on the bow though, and the canoe wanted to wander a bit. I
think if the loop was lower, and/or the tow line was attached higher on the
tow boat (not possible in my situation), wandering -may- have been
reduced. Despite the wandering, as long as the canoe is empty I don't think
it would likely capsize, especially if the tow line was attached low on the
canoe. I'd guess adding a drogue to the stern may actually increase the
chance of capsizing if the canoe did get itself into the wrong position.
Just guessing.....
Good paddling,
desmobob
Phan...@nospam.invalid
Nice photo!
And you do appear to be ready to blast the tow line at a moments
notice. And those following seas look ominous ;-)
I'm not familiar with moose hunting. Is the purpose of the canoe to
carry all the dead meese? How many can it carry all at once? ;-)
You may be right about a drogue creating a greater capsize risk.
-shrug- I dunno. I'll be learning as I go. And I'm not sure when that
will be though. My trip this weekend is canceled :-(
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Galen Hekhuis
upside down on your foredeck, you need a bigger sailboat (you know you
want one anyway).
Phan...@nospam.invalid
I'll admit, in my younger years, I had a raging case of two-foot-itis.
So my boats did get larger over time. But the fever finally broke
shortly after my midlife crisis when I realized that the most fun I've
ever had was in *smaller* boats. They may not be as impressive to look
at, but a larger boat can't compete in the
fun/maintenance/time/dockage or storage/worry/ per $$ categories or
the time of use/time of care taking ratio. So my boats have been
shrinking ever since. I'm down to a Watkins 23 sailboat now, thinking
maybe I should be looking at something even smaller. In fact, I had a
Penobscot 17 before I bought this Penobscot 16 ;-)
Btw, I haven't owned many canoes in my lifetime but I'm quite sure I
won't be without at least one ever again.
But your point is well taken. A dingy on the foredeck is definitely
less worry in heavy weather than dragging something along behind.
Another thing about a small sailboat is the reduced draft. I can get
close enough to shore in mine to hop overboard and wade in to the
beach. So a canoe or dingy isn't absolutely necessary for that. It
would be nice to have along on a trip though, just for messing about
in.
Rick
On Fri, 27 Aug 2010, Galen Hekhuis wrote:
>As a former sailboat owner, my advice is that if the canoe won't fit
>upside down on your foredeck, you need a bigger sailboat (you know you
>want one anyway).
Robert Scott
<Phan...@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
news:suhf76pccc5lmutau...@4ax.com...
> I'm not familiar with moose hunting. Is the purpose of the canoe to
> carry all the dead meese? How many can it carry all at once? ;-)
The canoe was for paddling into beaver flows and marshes not accessable by
the bigger boat. Meeses are a hair too large for transporting in our kind
of canoes.
The locals use big freighter canoes. I had heard about them but was still
mighty impressed when the outfitter pulled up to the dock in a huge
squareback canoe with helm and 50HP(!) outboard mounted. No kidding! He
loaded in our gear and food, laid my 16' Mad River across his gunwhales and
zoomed off to the cabin, leaving my buddy and I to follow, droning along in
the little fiberglass boat w/10HP kicker. He probably could have towed the
little fiberglass boat, plus my buddy and I on waterskis, and we all would
have got to the cabin quicker!
> You may be right about a drogue creating a greater capsize risk.
> -shrug- I dunno. I'll be learning as I go. And I'm not sure when that
> will be though. My trip this weekend is canceled :-(
Sorry to hear your trip was cancelled.
Good paddling,
desmobob