towing a boat

[davathehut]

hi all im looking for somebody to tow our charity boat from barbridge to golden nook chester can anyone help give us ? a price 

many thanks 

[David Mack]

Ordinary leisure craft are not insured to tow you if they take money for it. So either you need a professional, or you are looking for someone willing to donate their services to your charity.  And if the trip goes well, I'm sure you can show your gratitude by offering them a beer or two afterwards.

[dmr]

Towing is a grey area and I have asked this question of my current and previous two insurers.

One said its ok in order to save live or property, or when "customary to do so".

My current insurers said something like, its ok to tow once in a while if somebody needs it but don't make a habbit of it, and certainly don't start towing a boat full time.

 

If the boat has broken down then I would be happy to tow it (if I was local) but if its an unpowered boat that routinely requires tows from passing boats as part of its normal operation then I would say no.

 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

I’d probably do it just for the fun and experience.

But I ain’t there so can’t. 

[davathehut]

hi dmr

thanks for reply 

basically its moored at barbridge but need moving to new mooring at golden nook farm chester as the engine is broken and we are currently trying to raise funds to replace it but its taking longer than expected thats the reason i need to find somebody to tow her 

many thanks 

[dmr]

33 minutes ago, davathehut said:

hi dmr

thanks for reply 

basically its moored at barbridge but need moving to new mooring at golden nook farm chester as the engine is broken and we are currently trying to raise funds to replace it but its taking longer than expected thats the reason i need to find somebody to tow her 

many thanks 

 

ok, so from what i've been told an insurer would be happy if somebody oferred you a tow. There was a big boat on the K&A that didn't have an engine for maybe a year and a friend towed them every 14 days or whatever, I suspect this is the sort of thing that insurers might object to.

Last year we pulled off two boats that had run aground, one was quite tricky as it was on a bend on a river, we just did it, I didn't even think about insurance at the time. We did of course refuse their offer of payment but did accept some alcohol later.

[davathehut]

would you be interested in helping us out by towing our charity boat from barbridge to golden nook farm ??? 

its 27ft wide beam cabin cruiser 

[Tam & Di]

I can't help with the tow, but what does the boat do in its charitable function?

 

Tam

[davathehut]

hi tam 

once up and running again the boat will be providing free boating holidays to struggling family's in the UK the will be given a free 3 day holiday on the boat on the Shropshire union canal 

but we are just trying to raise funds to replace the outboard 

our registered charity number is 1018802 

many thanks

[Phoenix_V]

Bebington Scouts?

 

https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search?p_p_id=uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet&p_p_lifecycle=2&p_p_state=maximized&p_p_mode=view&p_p_resource_id=%2Faccounts-resource&p_p_cacheability=cacheLevelPage&_uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet_objectiveId=A11232502&_uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet_priv_r_p_mvcRenderCommandName=%2Faccounts-and-annual-returns&_uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet_priv_r_p_organisationNumber=1018802

[MtB]

17 hours ago, Goliath said:

I’d probably do it just for the fun and experience.

But I ain’t there so can’t. 

 

There's towing and there's towing. 

 

Towing a boat actually designed to be towed (e.g. a butty) is a world apart from towing a powered boat with a busted engine. The latter has a tiny rudder or no rudder and cannot be steered on a long line as it just goes all over the place out of control, so the bow has to be tied closely onto the stern of the towing boat in my experience of doing it just a few times. This makes progress slow as the wash from the tow boat hit the towed and the stern of the towed boat still veers from side to side so it is hard to stop it hitting moored boats or bridge abutments on a narrow channel. Towing any significant distance is a trial and completely different from towing a stricken boat off say some shallows or just up the cut from where it broke down to a safe mooring space. 

 

Towing the large cabin cruiser in the photo a few miles might not be too much of a headache as the canal or river looks really wide.

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

Can you not borrow an outboard to move it

[Tam & Di]

"Be Prepared"

 

Tam

[Jim Riley]

^^^^^this. 

Tam sneaked in, I meant borrow an outboard. A 10hp would cope with it. 

Edited May 27, 2022 by Jim Riley

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

1 hour ago, MtB said:

 

There's towing and there's towing. 

 

Towing a boat actually designed to be towed (e.g. a butty) is a world apart from towing a powered boat with a busted engine. The latter has a tiny rudder or no rudder and cannot be steered on a long line as it just goes all over the place out of control, so the bow has to be tied closely onto the stern of the towing boat in my experience of doing it just a few times. This makes progress slow as the wash from the tow boat hit the towed and the stern of the towed boat still veers from side to side so it is hard to stop it hitting moored boats or bridge abutments on a narrow channel. Towing any significant distance is a trial and completely different from towing a stricken boat off say some shallows or just up the cut from where it broke down to a safe mooring space. 

 

Towing the large cabin cruiser in the photo a few miles might not be too much of a headache as the canal or river looks really wide.

 

 

😂

that’s exactly one experience I have had: towing a small cruiser that would just not stay in line,

luckily only for a mile or so.

And now I’ve seen the OP ‘s boat I’m sorry to say I wouldn’t like to tow it and would leave it to someone with more experience.

[MtB]

57 minutes ago, Goliath said:

 

And now I’ve seen the OP ‘s boat I’m sorry to say I wouldn’t like to tow it and would leave it to someone with more experience.

 

 

That was my first thought too when I saw the photo of it, but the waterway is wide enough to cope with the way it would wildly weave from side to side. Unlike the north Oxford where Coasty and I towed my 45ft NB 11 miles back to base with a hire boat in freezing weather and slashing rain. Took us 12 hours roughly! 

 

Like others here, insurance never crossed my mind....

 

 

Edited May 27, 2022 by MtB
Spellin.

[booke23]

19 hours ago, davathehut said:

27ft wide beam cabin cruiser

 

How wide is is?

[MtB]

24 minutes ago, booke23 said:

 

How wide is is?

 

Looks about 9ft in the photo.

 

On reflection given it is 27ft long, the beam is probably 10ft.

 

 

Edited May 27, 2022 by MtB

[dmr]

32 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

That was my first thought too when I saw the photo of it, but the waterway is wide enough to cope with the way it would wildly weave from side to side. Unlike the north Oxford where Coasty and I towed my 45ft NB 11 miles back to base with a hire boat in freezing weather and slashing rain. Took us 12 hours roughly! 

 

Like others here, insurance never crossed my mind....

 

 

 

A lot depends on which end of the mooring it needs to get to. Golden Nook is notorious, its a huge on line mooring stretching for maybe a mile, maybe two as it keeps growing. Its also quite narrow so it might be a long slow tow past many many moored boats.

[davathehut]

hi guys thanks for replay and yes we are the 8th bebington scout group 

i have looked high and low for somebody to lend us an outboard but with no joy plus its the cost of rewmoving ours then fitting the loaned engine then having to remove that to fit new engine 

so i realy either have to buy a used engine or find a tow 

many thanks 

[davathehut]

i think its roughly 9 ft but the enginears at the marina said its 8ft9 

[Tracy D'arth]

I have towed boats and new un-ballasted un-engined narrowboat shells all over the place but I would not tow a cruiser especially a wide one. 

They wallow behind you and wander even on cross straps. Plus keeping the plastic bow intact when it comes into contact with the stern of a narrowboat is not easy, there is a limit to how you can fender it.

[Alan de Enfield]

I'd strap it alongside - it would not wander about and you keep steerage with the NB's rudder,

(You may need to unstrap it at locks).

 

"Towed" one this way for several miles on the River Trent.

[Tracy D'arth]

14 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

I'd strap it alongside - it would not wander about and you keep steerage with the NB's rudder,

(You may need to unstrap it at locks).

 

"Towed" one this way for several miles on the River Trent.

So would I but its not narrow beam.  There are a lot of moorings on the route requested.

There is the extra working of the locks too. The wide locks will not take this boat with a narrowboat alongside.

[davathehut]

7 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

So would I but its not narrow beam.  There are a lot of moorings on the route requested.

There is the extra working of the locks too. The wide locks will not take this boat with a narrowboat alongside.

would any of you be intersted in helping