STRONGLY disagree. isn't good enough. WHY do you disagree?
May recommend the base of the mast because it is sturdier than cleats that
often are not strong enough or don't have backing blocks to distribute the
stress.


wrote in message
...
On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 18:07:49 -0500, DSK wrote:

BTW- for a sailboat under 30 feet, the best place to secure a towline is
to the base of the mast.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

STRONGLY disagree.

BB

Towing a Boat? Your line or his?
 

Is it more prudent for you to give your line over to a boat you're going
to tow or take his line?
Paul

Paul Schilter wrote:
Is it more prudent for you to give your line over to a boat you're going
to tow or take his line?


An expert answer: it depends.

It's often said that accepting a line from a tower makes your vessel
salvage. OTOH it's often the case that the towee has no suitable lines
aboard.

When I've towed people in, I've always used my own line because
1- my crew had it ready
2- it was both long & stout enough, to my certain knowledge
3- that gives me more control over how it's paid out and the strain taken up

OTOH my experience being towed is rather limited- once in somebody
else's keelboat, and a bunch of times in a fleet of racing dinghies with
no wind. In the keelboat, comditions were extremely rough and the boat
was in disarray, we accepted a line from a USCG 30-footer.

BTW- for a sailboat under 30 feet, the best place to secure a towline is
to the base of the mast.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Paul Schilter wrote:

Is it more prudent for you to give your line over to a boat you're
going to tow or take his line?
Paul



Are you concerned about the quality of the other guy's line or lawsuits?

I used to have a 5/8" towline with a bridle when I fished in
Florida...you'd frequently encounter someone who needed a tow into the
marina or the ramp, and the made-up towline made it easy. Actually, I
made it up after the first stator failure on my outboard, in case ^I^
needed a tow...

Harry,
Thinking more of lawsuits.
Paul

Harry Krause wrote:
I wouldn't want a towline attached to the base of a cabintop stepped mast.

That depends on what else is available to attach it to. On 99% of
production boats, the mast step is going to be *MUCH* stronger
structurally the the bow cleats, whether it's deck or keel stepped. On
an old gaffer with heel bitts or a samson post, then that would
obviously be the way to go.

A point to bear in mind though, the eye around the mast should be
secured in such a way that it stays securely at the base of hte mast...
it must be prevented from riding up with the boat's motion. If the tow
line slides up towards the middle of the mast, all kinds of bad things
can happen from capsizing the boat to buckling the mast (or both).

OTOH if you're only towing a short way at low speed in calm water, then
the bow cleats (both) are probably OK.

I've heard of bow eyes being snatched out of boats, and a heck of a lot
of cleats ripped clean off, but I've never heard of a mast coming out
from being towed.

As always, YMMV

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 19:56:16 -0500, " Tuuuk"
wrote:

PLONK

Another one hits the bozo bin.

==================================

Once again krause

you prove to be a liar,,,

apparently you took some courses recently with the coast guard,, trying for
a captains license for some license,,,lol,,, haven't received that license
yet huh krause?? Not smart enough to pass the test?? lol,,, apparently
krause isn't smart enough to pass the test,,, krause you can always get one
of those certificates online,,, make it look like you have the license.
After all,, a 76 year old senile old fool like you wont be operating any
boating business anytime soon,, lol,,,

On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 20:13:40 -0500, DSK wrote:

I've never heard of a mast coming out
from being towed.

================================

Absolutely right.

I've never heard of a mast coming out from being towed

Harry Krause wrote:
I've seen it happen. On a Pearson, maybe 15 years ago, while being towed
into St. Augustine Inlet. I have no idea of the cirumstances, because I
was anchored there, fishing. But the mast gave way.

OK, now I've heard of it ;)

I bet the skipper was really pleased, too... first whatever problem led
to being towed in the first place, then suddenly CRASH! And problems
usually come in groups of three...

It can happen, sure. But if the mast step, which has to support a LOT of
force just under normal sailing loads, is not strong enough, then what
are the bow cleats going to be like?

BTW another reason to not use the bow cleats is that they are usually
seriously undersized for the kind of rope almost any tow boat is going
to pass over. That USCG boat which towed us in (back when dinosaurs
roamed the Earth) tossed over a 3/8" line... a messenger for the actual
tow line, which looked to be about a foot around but was probably in the
neighborhood of 1 1/2"!

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

I usually rig a bridle with my line that has a clip on the bitter end. I get a
line from the towee, attacherd to something he wants towed, snap it on my clip
and give him the bitter end of his line to secure in an accessible position on
his boat. Then when he decides we have towed long enough, has an emergency or
otherwise needs to break the tow he can just release his end of the line, it
pulls through my clip and he is free. With a very small amont of coaching I
can usually pull them up to a dock, release the tow and be on my way without
any further exchanging of line.
The only trick for me is keeping my line out of my prop but that is really my
problem.