Towing a tender

[Claude]

 

If you have the tender on a long line, when turning the tender will tend to come to the side of the boat and it tends to keep out of the way. I've not had issues with the rope going into the prop. I use this method when turning the boat around when I have to reverse. If your near to where the tender is attached to the main boat (I'm not), it may be handy if you can easily adjust the rope length. In addition, if the ropes are short it tends the tender tends to want to go to one side due to the prop wash.

 

I use old carpet layed on the banking to get my tender out of the water so not to scrap the bottom of the tender. It works if the bank is not to high (if more than a couple of feet I would struggle).

 

I think I'll have to go out and practice towing the tender using the short cross lines as others suggested and then using your method and see which works best for me. Flexibility in being able to use various methods for different situations is probably the key, so I'll have to use loops over my cleats to enable quick changes.

[Robbo]

Just be careful in locks! My tender is double skinned so when full of water it doesn't sink.

This was from a brief shower from a L&L lock!

 

A cover maybe useful if you don't have one already.

Edited March 31, 2016 by Robbo

[Claude]

Just be careful in locks! My tender is double skinned so when full of water it doesn't sink.

 

This was from a brief shower from a L&L lock!

image.jpeg

 

A cover maybe useful if you don't have one already.

 

I will take care, thanks. Mine is double-skinned too and it has big hollow cavities along the chines to stop it sinking. I'm not sure if they're foam filled or not but I think it would need to be completely full of water to sink it.

Edited March 31, 2016 by Claude