A couple more dinghy questions

caguy · May 11, 2009

Manny, here is a pict of one of the 6' bridles that I made up for towing. It works pretty well. It goes from one of the side D rings on the dink to a loop on the end of my spring line. The other end of the spring line is looped to the end of the painter. The spring line keeps the painter from yanking on the raft and stressing the D rings. The other end of the painter line is run through the horn cleat and the bitter end is knotted just in case it comes uncleated. The poly rope is difficult to knot but it splices well. The snap shackles work well at the dinghy landing. The whole setup was put together for less than $15 thanks to Minney's.
Did you get the Baltik, if so I think you'll like it. On the first day a friend tied it to the trailer at the ramp then told me to go park the car. After dragging it about 100 ft. it only scraped a hole in the floor at the transom. The boat still performed well despite the leak. When I got it home I patched the floor and added a ss skid plate to the bottom of the transom.
As far as the 303 is conserned I picked some up to use on my furler cover and never thought about using it on the dink. I think I would try it out on the piece of patch material, that comes with the boat, first.

Benny · May 12, 2009

Manny, use a towing briddle and a safety line as a backup.

sailingdog · May 12, 2009

Manny said:
I ended up ordering an 8.5 ft inflatable dinghy which I should have before this weekend and I am really excited :dance: I went with a pvc model that will spend most of the time in its bag but i'd still like to protect it when out in the sun. A West Marine associate highly recommended 303 protectant. Anybody use this stuff or have a better recommendation?

Very good stuff...make sure you get the Aerospace Protectant, not the fabric waterproofing stuff....

Also, how to tow... The dinghy has three rings. One on the bow and two a little further back on the port and starboard sides where the hull widens. When towing are all three rings used or just the bow? Also is the towing line generally permanently tied to the ring(s) or is a shackle used?

Thanks!!

Manny

The outer two rings are normally used for a towing bridle, and it makes a lot more sense to use a bridle than a single tow line, since it will make the dinghy far less likely to break free...

Ron20324 · May 12, 2009

Manny, I would tie two lines to your transom, then run them through the P & S ring and on to your towing line. This takes the strain off the 2 rings, which are then acting as a fairlead, more or less.

sailingdog · May 12, 2009

Ron's suggestion is a very good one, especially if you tow the dinghy significant distances... however, many do not have any decent points to tie the lines to on the transom.

Sanman · Jan 7, 2010

So How has it held up? I just sold my walker bay, and am looking at inflatables. Has the boat performed as advertised? Did you get the tunnel hull Sport type or did you go with the rounded bow standard "Tender"?

Sumner · Jan 7, 2010

Tow Bar for the Dingy.............

We use the two bow lines on the dingy like the other guys have mentioned. I have them tied to 3 chain links where they come together. Then I hook the tow line to the middle chain link with a carabiner. The two lines attach to the dingy with snap hooks, so it is quick and easy to remove any or all of the lines.

We use to tow on a tow rope with the dingy some distance behind the boat. That was a real pain. If you stopped and didn't pull the dingy up close to the boat it would drift around and tangle the line on the rudder and the outboard if it was down.

Then I used the swim ladder as a ..........

.............. tow bar. The dingy's bow line pulls right up to the tow bar and it can't drift around and run into the back of the boat or prop on the outboard.

To do this I just had to make one......

.... bar that holds the ladder up so that it sticks out horizontal to the water and I made a ..................

....bracket for the bottom of the ladder for the tow line to go through. We don't use that poly line for a tow line anymore. It is too skimpy. We use an older halyard line that we replaced. There can be quite a bit of strain on that line.

If we want the dingy out further just let the tow line out or pull the dingy up to the ladder. We have it up close for most sailing conditions and it works great.

This is a simple mod if you have a ladder like ours and now we never mess with the dingy and it doesn't mess with us. The build is here.....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor/outside-17.html

An added bonus to this is with the swim ladder horizontal it is like a platform and much easier for Ruth to get in and out of the dingy when you pull it along side.

Want the ladder down. Pull a pin on the bar and unhook the bar and put the ladder down. To run the line through the bottom of the ladder you pull the ladder up to the stern and snap the tow line through the carabiner and then lower the ladder and re-hook it horizontal with the bar. Very simple and quick.

c ya,

Sum

Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID

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Ron20324 · Jan 7, 2010

Sumner, that's a slick towing setup. That's the kind of thing that is good to see on these forums- someone else's brain at work

zeehag · Jan 7, 2010

we sail with ours on the bow--many folks have found free dinks floating in the oceans-some even with engines....goood luck to ye.....

higgs · Jan 7, 2010

Depending on your expected demands, one option for towing is to install eye bolts into the transom of the inflatable on both sides of the transom. Run lines forward from each eye, along the sides of the tubes, through the eyes on each side of the forward tube and into a bridle to the mother ship. This takes all the stain off of the eyes that are GLUED on to the hulls and transfers it to the wooden transom that is now pushing the rest of the dinghy - not pulling it.

Nodak7 · Jan 8, 2010

Walker Bay

Sanford H. said:
So How has it held up? I just sold my walker bay, and am looking at inflatables. Has the boat performed as advertised? Did you get the tunnel hull Sport type or did you go with the rounded bow standard "Tender"?

Sanford, may I ask why you got rid of your Walker Bay? Was there a problem with it?

larryw · Jan 8, 2010

those fabric protectants will make the tube so slippery you can hardly sit on them

Nodak7 · Jan 23, 2010

Ron20324 said:
Manny, I would tie two lines to your transom, then run them through the P & S ring and on to your towing line. This takes the strain off the 2 rings, which are then acting as a fairlead, more or less.

Ron do you have this set-up? I read this and thought it to be an excellent idea. My D rings are showing a little wear from being towed. However, I would have to put a couple of I bolts in the transom to do this? Do you think that drilling a couple of holes in the transom would compromise its integrity? Also, by doing this is it putting to much strain on the joints between the transom and the inflatable tube?

If you do use this system could you give me a little more detail? Is it actually two lines or one going all the way around the dink through the D Rings?

Sumner · Jan 23, 2010

You might also want to read some of this................

http://forums.macgregor.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=115013

..........if you haven't already. Some talk there about routing lines,

Sum

Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID

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Ron20324 · Jan 23, 2010

Nodak7 said:
Ron do you have this set-up? I read this and thought it to be an excellent idea. My D rings are showing a little wear from being towed. However, I would have to put a couple of I bolts in the transom to do this? Do you think that drilling a couple of holes in the transom would compromise its integrity? Also, by doing this is it putting to much strain on the joints between the transom and the inflatable tube? If you do use this system could you give me a little more detail? Is it actually two lines or one going all the way around the dink through the D Rings?

Higgs in reply #12 expanded a little bit more, and is the same idea. We assume your dee rings are on the top of your tubes, whereas Sumner's are down by the waterline. Yes, there are two separate lines from the transom to join at the towing bridle. I thought I posted this reply before, but maybe on a different thread. An outboard mounted on the transom would also torque-twist the transom-to-tube joint, but the joint should be pretty well reinforced- I'm sure all dingies are- so towing should not be a concern... If you drill holes through the transom, use some sealant to keep water from migrating into the transom. There are a few products that transoms are made of, but sealing holes in any type would be a good idea. Though my dingy came with u-bolts thru the transom, I changed one of the nuts to eye nuts. If you're starting anew, use eye bolts on one side, and eye nuts on the other. This gives you some extra tie points. Even if you tie the dingy down on the bow/deck, you'll appreciate the external loops on the outside of the transom. Of course, use fender washers or some type of backing plate on BOTH sides of the transom

sailingdog · Jan 24, 2010

I'd point out that if you're towing a dinghy, it is usually a pretty good idea to remove the outboard from the dinghy first. If the dinghy flips or gets swamped, it would become a rather expensive problem if the dinghy's outboard is on it... rather than just a nuisance if the outboard is safely stowed on the mothership's rail.

A couple more dinghy questions

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