Beware of pulling your dinghy up on transom and then running your heating. It has been done before.....
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 | TMS Poloshirt winner |
17/04/08 18:51
You can still get kevlar if you know where to go- Try Rig Magic In Levington - Suffolk, ask for Big Nige! You will also find that Vectran is similar being an aromatic fibre from the same family as Kevlar, without most of the tendancies to part where it goes around a hard spot! Even better, moor the dinghy the other side!
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
17/04/08 20:58
 Not quite the same but I always tend to store my oars aboard,leaving dingy moored along side.So last summer in Plockton get into dingy to go ashore;forget oars;but it has outboard-seagull with wind round starter cord always tied to transom.Unty and drop over side!!!!Whilst wind was onshore I would have ended up stranded in waist deep mud had not someone from a neighbouring yacht responded to my cries for help! And the other one-I use a small glassfibre pram at my main mooring;board boat two thirds of way to stern and leave dingy alongside;start engine to charge battery and nearly always manage to forget my wet exhaust just above dingy/move dingy a little forward! Phil
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 I have been reminded that Kevlar would not be ideal for a dinghy painter because of its tendancy to part unexpectedly (one reason it fell out of favour for halyards, apparently) which is particularly prone to happen when it is subjected to snatch loads (typical of towing a dinghy). Vectran might be the answer, but it is kinder to both the yacht and the dinghy to have a painter with some stretch in it, to help absorb the snatch loads. So tying it the other side, as David suggests, is probably a better solution than a high tech painter!
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
18/04/08 08:56
My brother who is a bit nuerotic about having his inflatable stolen, has a long wire strop with a padlock on it, that ought to be fireproof with the added advantage that no one can nick it!
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
18/04/08 09:31
When towing our Avon dinghy, I have always used two lines taken from the tow points on either side of the bow to the stern cleats on either side of the transom of our boat. From the photo of the Honda inflatable it appears that they also have the same towing points. The safety of this method is that you always have two lines between the boat and the dinghy. In the situation described even if one line had burnt through the other line would have been nowhere near the Eberspacher exhaust. Finally when towing the dinghy, I tend to keep it close hauled very close to, but not touching, the transom this prevents the dinghy from turning over if the going gets rough and provides the security of two lines and ensures a well behaved dinghy.
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Many years ago I managed to get a passing pigeon to help, but I ended up walking strangely. The old ones are always the best.
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I am very interested in all this but have a solid tender - glass fibre of eight feet length. Does anyone have experience in towing one of these? How do they tow? Much of my cruising in the Irish Sea - (I know - find somewhere warmer!) means I have to moor up to a visitors buoy or anchor looking longingly at the pub and wishing I could walk on water. Despite much practice I keep getting wet...
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
24/04/08 10:58
Have towed a similar dinghy for many miles. 1) when at sea they need to be on a very long painter, or everytime you tack you get mated with a big thump on the transom. 2) the dinghy needs a lot of buoyancy tanks or if it gets swamped it will sink. 3) fit the dinghy with a self-bailer, as fitted to racing dinghies, and remember to put it down, then any spray or waves that come over the dinghy automatically get bailed out - a tight fitting cover can help with this. 4)make sure there are two painters, in case one parts. 5) make sure the painter is attached to a ring bolt on the outside of the stem (bow) then the bow will be lifted rather than dragged down - which happens if led over the top of the bow. 6) When motoring careful positioning of the dinghy can mean that it sits on your stern wave and causes virtually no drag - though you need to make sure it is not on the downhill part or it will continually broach and potentially capsize. Trust this helps you.
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| Edited: 24/04/08 11:01 |
| TMS Poloshirt winner |
24/04/08 15:07
 Confession. I towed my inflatable for ages, then on one very breezy day a slight squall turned it over. This added considerably to the drag and it broke free from its bridle. Eventually it was rounded up but with conditions worsening, it was very difficult to hold onto over the starboard quarter of my boat. Having nearly succeeeded in making it secure, it suddenly swung round to the stern, only to be harpooned by the upslung blade of my Monitor. It went off just like a toy balloon. With conditions worsening I called the coastguard and reported it as being adrift and lost. I gave my insurance company a full report with the details of time, place, GPS position and quoted the report that I had made to the coastguard and they paid in full for a new replacement . I don't tow my dinghy anymore!
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