Towing another boat

[MarkHez]

I have 2 boats, a 27ft Creighton with a prop and rudder, and a 23ft Shetland with a Z drive.

 

I need to be able to shift the 2 boats together, single handed - I have in the past strapped the Shetland solid to the front of the Creighton and motored them this way, but it's not brilliant as you have to look both around and over the Shetland to see where you're going (wider beam and taller air draft)!

 

For ease of use I was thinking of mounting a tow ball on the back of the Creighton and a tow hitch on the front of the Shetland, then 2 short (straight) straps to stop it jack knifing too much under deceleration, would this work well enough steering? Would cross straps be better, if so can someone draw a diagram as how to rig them?

 

Thanks very much in advance.

 

Mark

[Tim Lewis]

Check your insurance re towing

 

Tim

[MarkHez]

Insurance allows the use of a Butty, so I'll interpret that to fit the situation!

 

I should add, I can't breast them due to narrow bridges.

[bizzard]

Cross straps or a V tow line will be ok if the Shetland has no bow Fairleads. The V lines bottom bit tied to the central bow bollard on the Shetland and the two top bits of the V to the port & starboard stern bollards on the Creighton.

A long oar or better still a scaffold plank lashed to the stern of the Shetland to act as a big fixed rudder will keep it directional and almost stop any

jack knifing. If the Creighton has a bow pullpit, cross straps can be fixed up, X fashion.

Edited May 11, 2015 by bizzard

[Mike Tee]

If you find the butty still 'wanders', tie an old tyre to the back of it on a short (5 - 6 foot) line and this should keep it fairly straight. Don't do what I did - towed an old work flat for a mate, left it where he wanted it, but forgot to either remove the tyre or tell him about it! In your case, the first time you fire up the 'butty' and put it in gear, you'll find the tyre!

[MarkHez]

Thanks for the advice gents, are cross straps as simple as this, or do the ropes need to be "intertwined" ?

 

[IanM]

That's pretty much it.

[Liam]

Two single ropes, or if you use a single rope make sute its tied off at each point.

[MarkHez]

How much of a gap should be between the stern of the towing boat, and the prow of the towed boat when the ropes are taut?

[springy]

AIUI with a working pair the cross straps would be made up to exact length - the fore end of the butty would rest on the motors

fenders, with just enough slack so that you could flip one off to get round tight turns. This also means you can exchange cups

of tea and bacon sandwiches etc. between the two boats as appropriate (a butty on cross straps doesnt need a steerer so they

can perform other tasks).

How applicable this is to your situation i'm not sure.

Also cross straps would normally only be used if the butty was unladen - and therefore far enough out of the water as to have

minimal detrimental effect on the prop thrust from the motor, singlehanding a laden pair when you can't breast up would

occasionally be done by "stemming" i.e. push the butty from behind.

 

springy

[bargemast]

Wouldn't it be a lot easier to push instead of tow, evenmore because they're only short boats, I find that pushing is much easier anyway.

 

When I was younger there was still a lot of commercial towing going on in the Netherlands, but nowadays it's only pushing you'll see.

 

Here's a photo of me entering a lock with a small boat strapped in front, which made the trip very easy as it handled like just 1 boat.

 

 

Peter.

[MarkHez]

As I said, I've pushed before now and found it handled brilliantly, it's just awkward that the front boat would be taller and wider. Towed her off last night and it went perfect on cross straps with a 1ft gap, I've just got the issue of it jack knifing whilst slowing down to deal with - I don't want that at a blind bridge hole. It was certainly good fun though!

[bizzard]

As I said, I've pushed before now and found it handled brilliantly, it's just awkward that the front boat would be taller and wider. Towed her off last night and it went perfect on cross straps with a 1ft gap, I've just got the issue of it jack knifing whilst slowing down to deal with - I don't want that at a blind bridge hole. It was certainly good fun though!

Lash a plank on the back of the Shetland as a fixed rudder, it will keep it in line in the wind and help a lot to stop jack knifing.

[MarkHez]

I sorted a scaff plank after your last post but haven't got it down to the boat yet, I'm going to do that tonight. Cheers for your help.