Thought I'd mention our experiences after towing a dinghy for many hundreds (thousands?) of miles. When we started our cruise we had heard stories of boats towing there dinghys and arriving at their destination towing the bow fitting. The common notion was better to tow with a bridle attached to the stern and led to the bow. It worked out well for a long time. Eventually though the strain on the transom caused it to start seperating from the tubes. When we talked with an inflatable repair shop about repairs we were told that it couldn't be done to factory standards. Our dinghy was a PVC boat and the fitting for the transom was heat welded to the tubes. We were able to do a repair with PVC fabric and glue but it doesn't look good. If we can get a few more years out of it I'll be happy. In the future if towing it I'll glue tie downs to the dinghy sides and tow it from a bridle over the bow. We did see one boat that was towing a dinghy using a line through a piece of PVC tubing to keep it from running up on the transom. It seemed like a good idea.
We towed the dinghy if it was going to be a day trip. If it was going to be more than a day we deflated it and stowed it on the cabin top. We had the dinghy flip while being towed a couple of times. Once with the outboard attached. After that we always removed the outboard.
It's a good plan to tie anything in that you're going to keep in the dinghy. It's also a good idea to carry a knife and at least basic survival stuff in it. I met a guy that was on an Islander 36 that hit a shipping container. They were towing a Zodiac and were in it in 30 seconds.
As an aside Lyric's repairs are just about completed. We had her surveyed last week. I'd like to quote the surveyor. This vessel is impressive in every respect. S/V Lyric has been entirely refitted and is in like new condition throughout. It was a pleasure to survey this vessel and it is of this surveyor's opinion that S/V Lyric is a a good insurable condition. Estimated Replacement Value: $38,000 and Present Market Value: $17,000. Waters Navigated: Open - Unlimited.
We hope to be back in the water shortly. Walt
To:
AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
From: rogerefairest@...
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 07:23:29 +0100
Subject: Re: [AlbinVega] Dinghy towing with outboard on vega transom
with a lot of care, in calmed water, on the other side than the outboard is in
and most of the time we dont tow it.
must dangerous part is reversing, as you prob found out.......just think about
the storing of if as the excersice you need that you dont get the time to do and
it just cruises by, just think that people pay to do that kind of excercise in
the gym.
________________________________
From: k_setchfield kristopher@...
To:
AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thu, 30 September, 2010 1:34:47
Subject: [AlbinVega] Dinghy towing with outboard on vega transom
Hi everyone,
We just launched on our trip! We finished installing the outboard on the vega's
transom, and now we're a little perplexed about how to tow our dinghy so as to
minimize the possibility of fouling the tow line in the outboard's prop.
Lots of you have outboards on your Vegas, so how do you tow?
Kristopher
SV WeeHappy
