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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.
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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.
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- 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. |
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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. |