towing a boat

[booke23]

9 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.

 

Exactly, and C@RT official beam limit on that stretch is 9ft 8, although as discussed in another thread, no one can think of a restriction that narrow until you get to Ellesmere Port. 

@davathehut I think you might be better getting the outboard sourced and fitted, then moving it. If it was a steel boat nobody would bat an eyelid at towing it, but there’s too much scope to smash up a GRP boat on a canal when towing, so I don’t think many would want to risk it. 

[davathehut]

ok

thanks 

[Tracy D'arth]

Have you tried asking the Shropshire Union Canal Society if they can help?

[superasiastore]

 If they help .  I appreciating this thing.I think you might be better getting the outboard sourced and fitted, then moving it.

 

 

[Hudds Lad]

Is bow hauling it using scouts as the power source not an option?

[Jim Riley]

A 2nd hand outboard, bought and sold after the move, wouldn't drop in price. What's to pay for , swapping an outboard? Has no one got an Outboard Fitting Scout badge? 

If you get a 2nd hand one cheap you could keep it as a spare, then you'd Be Prepared if you get a breakdown when it's out and about.

3 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

Is bow hauling it using scouts as the power source not an option?

Just need a pointy stick to get them moving. Break it in half to light the fire in the evening. 

 

 

[Tracy D'arth]

2 hours ago, davathehut said:

would any of you be intersted in helping 

Its not that we are not interested but the practicalities of towing a wider than narrow beam plastic cruiser with a steel narrowboat through bridge holes and locks, and past many moored boats are not something to be taken lightly.

It would be very difficult to to be certain to avoid damage to the boat or to another's moored boat.

[MtB]

15 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Its not that we are not interested but the practicalities of towing a wider than narrow beam plastic cruiser with a steel narrowboat through bridge holes and locks, and past many moored boats are not something to be taken lightly.

It would be very difficult to to be certain to avoid damage to the boat or to another's moored boat.

 

I notice the OP owns a boat of his own. Maybe he is actually asking for a bit of manpower to help him use his own boat towing, for the trip....

 

 

[Barneyp]

5 hours ago, davathehut said:

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 

Curious as to why there is a cost involved in temporarily attaching an outboard.

 

If you are going to replace the existing outboard it will need removing anyway, simply unbolt/unscrew the remote steering, throttle and gear attachments, then undo the bolts clamping it to the transom and lift off, will probably take a couple of people but surely there will be some fellow boaters around who would help.

 

Then put the loaned outboard in it's place, it may not be possible to connect the remote controls if it is a different make or model to the original, but in a worst case scenario you could have some one sitting by the outboard to operate it, and someone else looking where the boat is going to give directions. 

 

It should be simple to rig up a temporary connection to the steering cable, just leaving the person by the remote to operate the throttle.

 

I think this would be a far better option than towing, bow hauling only works if there are not boats tied up along the towpath, trying to get past them is complicated and takes time.

[davathehut]

thers a cost because i have to pay to have the old engine removed befor putting on a tempory one 

[Alan de Enfield]

40 minutes ago, davathehut said:

thers a cost because i have to pay to have the old engine removed befor putting on a tempory one 

 

It is a very simple job - if it is a small (say) 10hp engine it is probably just held on by two 'wing nut clamps' which can be loosened by hand, then lift the engine off the transom.

If it is a bigger engine (say) 25hp then it may have two-bolts going thru the transom - simply undo the bolts (the engine wont drop off as it will be sat in it brackets) and, again lift it off the transom - maybe a two-man job depending on your physical abilities.

 

Installation is just the reverse.

 

If you are unable to even remove an engine and need to call in 'engineers' you may find that boating becomes a very very expensive pastime. How are you going to respond when you get a phone call at midnight from the family to whom you have loaned the boat and they say :

 

Opps, we've :

 

1) broken the prop on some rocks

2) run out of fuel

3) the battery is flat

4) we are stuck in a lock and the boat has sunk

5) the toilet is blocked up and overflowing

6) the gas has "stopped"

 

 

 

On smaller engines simply unscrew the 'wing nut clamps' (shown ringed in yellow)

 

 

 

Edited May 27, 2022 by Alan de Enfield

[David Mack]

7 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

The wide locks will not take this boat with a narrowboat alongside.

Nor I imagine will the bridges, of which there are rather more than the locks.

[ditchcrawler]

How about this from 3min 30 sec in, all things are possible 

 

 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

How about this from 3min 30 sec in, all things are possible 

 

 

Was that the Soho loop they broke down on 😃

 

[Rob-M]

17 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

How about this from 3min 30 sec in, all things are possible 

 

 

That I believe is @harrybsmith

[Quattrodave]

Is this cheap enough?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284833053610?hash=item42515f7baa:g:9xIAAOSwQBtikhb4

 

Plug in fuel, pull and away you go... if it runs well I'd keep as a spare.  You could even fit a drop bracket (I assume it hasn't already got one)....

 

Edit:

Even cheaper one....

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134120829171?hash=item1f3a3970f3:g:w9EAAOSwC1ZicDKh

Edited May 29, 2022 by Quattrodave

[Tony Brooks]

This may sound off the wall but what does the team think about towing the cruiser backwards with tight non-crossed lines, so it is sitting tight on the tow boat's back fender. I think the rope geometry may stop the bow swinging from side to side. The downside is that the prop wash may hit the deepest part of the cruiser, thereby slowing the tow considerably. Like Goliath, I would give it a try if I had a boat and was local.

[Jim Riley]

49 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

This may sound off the wall but what does the team think about towing the cruiser backwards with tight non-crossed lines, so it is sitting tight on the tow boat's back fender. I think the rope geometry may stop the bow swinging from side to side. The downside is that the prop wash may hit the deepest part of the cruiser, thereby slowing the tow considerably. Like Goliath, I would give it a try if I had a boat and was local.

What about forwards but with timber and rope to make it rigid?

[Tony Brooks]

Just now, Jim Riley said:

What about forwards but with timber and rope to make it rigid?

 Or even as a push tow .

[harrybsmith]

That is indeed me in the video above.  (Diesel vent moved end of last year for BSS, had clearly been letting water in the tank, thus my diesel is now full of water...) 

 

Easy enough tow, easy enough ti pull by hand. I could probably pull my boat 5 or 6 miles in a day by hand should the need arise, not sure I'd want to though...

[Tracy D'arth]

1 hour ago, Jim Riley said:

What about forwards but with timber and rope to make it rigid?

Rigid tows and push tows are fine if you can control the vertical movement between the two hulls but it very hard to do.  I have some experience doing this with steel hulls but would not entertain it with one steel and t'other plastic.

[MtB]

9 minutes ago, harrybsmith said:

Easy enough tow, easy enough ti pull by hand. I could probably pull my boat 5 or 6 miles in a day by hand should the need arise, not sure I'd want to though...

 

Not past lines of moored boats though, surely? 

[Barneyp]

2 hours ago, MtB said:

 

Not past lines of moored boats though, surely? 

I ended up bow hauling my new to me Norman 23 about 3 miles when the temporary outboard I was using to l

move it gave up the ghost.

On a clear towpath I could easily do 2-3mph, but with moored boats it got very difficult. I was pulling the boat using the stern line and using the bow line to keep it aiming slightly away from the bank so it went in a rough straight line. 

If a moored boat has a totaly clear roof it is possible to slacken the tow lines and allow the towed boat to go round the moored boat. In reality every boat I had to pass had some or all of the following on the roof - aerial, chimney, solar panels, washing line, logs, bags of solid fuel,roof box, or other random objects,so I had to pole my way round which is slow. I think I would have given up if I encountered a line of moored boats.

[davathehut]

if we tow a boat with a non running outboard can it still steer with the broken outboard 

[jonathanA]

I don't think you'd get much effect from the non running outboard as a rudder. You'd probably be better with a paddle of some sort.