Unless you are faced with an immediate and life threatening situation during your sailing holidays, under no circumstances would you offer or attempt to use your charter bareboat to tow another vessel.

What seems a fairly simple operation when you first take stock, can develop into a damaging and expensive situation... risking cleats and bollards being ripped from your bareboats deck because the tow was not correctly secured.

Contact your charter boat operator, then stay on station to monitor the situation and wait for the rescue authorities or your charter operator to arrive.

If you are called to the assistance of a distressed boat, don't go alongside it. The natural tendency is to try going alongside to take off the occupants and secure a towline. Do not attempt this because the chances of damage to both your boat and the distressed boat are increased considerably as you try to move alongside...and this is particularly the case if sea conditions are not ideal.

You cannot damage anything or anyone if you stay a few metres from them, but attempt to come alongside and you risk crushing a person in the water to say nothing of inflicting all kinds of damage on both boats. Lie off a few metres and get a line aboard. The intervening gap of water between your bareboat and the other vessel will act as a safety buffer during the operation.

If you are a chartered 'bareboat' responding to the call for assistance make certain to call up your bareboat charter company before attempting any assistance. There are insurance and maritime law considerations that have to be taken into account. So only act under the instruction of your operator.

Before you throw the line, move your bareboat upwind of the distressed craft.

This has the twofold effect of providing the other boat with a lee and also of assisting the throw.

Try to throw across his bow so that the weight goes right over and into the water on the other side. This again prevents damage either to persons or boat, and drapes the throwing line across the boat where there is a fair chance that someone will grab it.

From the upwind position you are better able to manoeuvre your bareboat and keep it under control.

Keep your stern up into the wind and let the bow deliberately fall off until it is directly downwind and pointing at the distressed vessel.

In this position you will find your bareboat more manoeuvrable under power and you will be able to hold her stern to the wind with little or no tendency to wander around. You can ease slowly towards the swamped or disabled boat, with a crew member on the bow to throw the line across...you will find this a more comfortable and easier position from which to make the rescue.

Towing becomes necessary

This can be one of those times when a little knowledge is not always a dangerous thing...but it would need to be stressed that a 'bareboat' skipper would never take a vessel under tow without the express permission of his bareboat charter company.

If your charter boat has a 'towing bridle', use it...this is a short heavy rope that has been properly prepared to loop over either the bow or stern cleats after passing the loops through the fairleads (as you would when mooring), this bridle has a ring in the centre to which the tow rope can be attached... using either a Bowline or a shackle. Refer to Basic boat knots, hitches and bends.

Use your spare anchor rope making sure that you have sufficient length... not so long as to touch the bottom, but long enough to act as a buffer against sudden surges. A short line has no such built-in 'spring' to it... if you as the towing bareboat is sliding down a sea while your boat under tow hits head-on into a wave, the forces generated may be enough to break the line or tear away a cleat, taking some of your boat with it.

When towing in open water, with plenty of depth under your keel, lash a weight such as your spare anchor halfway along the towline to further increase its shock absorbing power - but remember to remove the weight before reaching shallower water.

If you propose to take in tow Boat (A) that is aground on a lee shore, be careful you don't end up in the same undignified position.

Anchor your bareboat upwind and float a line down, using a life jacket or anything else that will float and has wind resistance... alternatively use your tender to make the transfer.

Towing tips

But any time you put your boat's fate in the hands of another skipper (which is the case in a tow), you take a risk. Even in smooth water and ideal conditions, things can go wrong. We have already warned you about a few of the dangers of towing. Here are more tips to make your towing experiences as carefree as possible:

Don't take a tow during the course of your bareboat charter unless you need one and have spoken to your bareboat charter company. Attach your towline securely. If the loads are moderate (you aren't in heavy weather and you're not aground), tie your towline to a secure object. The mast is usually best. Tie it as low as possible around the mast, just above the cabin top or deck. If you're concerned about stress, you can spread the load on the towline to several places, such as the mast and two cockpit winches, as shown in Figure A. Make sure that the rope isn't chafing anywhere. Use good knots. A bowline is always acceptable, and two (or three) round turns and two half hitches are really good. Refer to Basic boat knots, hitches and bends Make sure you can get free in a hurry. You want to be able to free your boat quickly. A sharp knife works. You may be able to untie the round turns and half hitches in a hurry even when they're under load, but a bowline isn't going to budge. Stay away from the towline. The line can break and whip back. Don't tow too fast. Arrange a comfortable speed with the towboat ahead of time and fine-tune that speed with hand signals if necessary. Slow down in waves. Big waves can add tremendous load, so watch for ones that can surprise you, such as the wake of a ship. If practical, the towboat should slow down and turn toward these temporary waves to minimise their effect on your boat. Adjust the length of the rope. When you get to a comfortable towing speed, you may want to extend the towrope to its maximum length to make it easier to steer your boat and to let the stretchy towrope cushion your ride. Fine-tune the rope's length so your bow is riding on the towing boat's wake. This little trick really eases the load on the towline - always a good thing.

Figure A. Many skippers prefer to pass the towline through one fairlead, around the mast, back through the other fairlead and then tie it off out in front of the bow. The mast absorbs the strain of the tow, while the two fairleads keep the towline well centred.

• When in sheltered and calm waters, shorten up on the tow rope until the two vessels are a little more than 1½ boat lengths apart, and be ready to cast off the tow. If your bareboat is doing the towing, slow gradually, if you suddenly stop short the other craft may slam into your transom... remember the vessel behind doesn't have brakes

Towing alongside

Sometimes a boat needs a tow in close quarters where more control is required than the usual towing method permits. One solution, shown on these illustrations is called alongside towing; - this would never be attempted by a 'bareboat' skipper unless under the direct supervision of his bareboat charter company.

Though recommended for use only in calm waters, this technique is an easy and efficient way for a small boat to manoeuvre a much larger one by pushing , pulling , turning and nudging.

In alongside towing, two towlines are tied to a stern cleat in the towed boat; one to the towboat's stern, the other to its bow. These do the work, while bow and stern lines keep the towed boat from swinging away. Fenders hang from the boat with the higher freeboard.

The key to the manoeuvre is the arrangement of lines used to secure the two boats so tightly that, no matter what direction the boats turn in, they move as one. As shown in the diagram at left, two lines take the strain of forward and reverse towing, while bow and stern lines help to keep the vessels properly positioned. All run diagonally from one boat to the other; the reverse towline and stern line act together when the towboat is reversing; the forward towline and bow line come into play when it is going forward.

Nearly as important as the lines are the fenders, which make it possible to hold the boats close together without damaging their topsides. The word fender (a shortening of defender) covers a variety of buffers used to keep a boat from banging into or rubbing against another object to the detriment of paint and hull.

The air-filled plastic fenders used in this case are specifically made for the job; but many fenders are improvised from old rope, and a pinch almost anything - buoyant cushions, bunk mattresses, even bundles of clothing - will do.