How to tow a boat safely
As a boater, you’ll eventually have to learn how to tow. Whether you’re at the helm of the towing boat or the boat being towed, safety should be your top priority.
The wrong way to tow a boat
Simply tying a line from the towing boat’s stern cleat to the other boat’s bow cleat would make steering the towing boat difficult, if not impossible, and cause the towed vessel to yaw. Even worse, the towing boat’s stern cleat could rip loose and shoot back into the towed boat, or the towing boat’s stern could dip underwater, swamping the rescue boat.
The right way to tow a boat
Before getting started, plan the tow with the other boat and stay in touch on VHF.
First, you’ll need to make a tow bridle for each boat. Tow bridles spread the strain over two or more attachment points and minimize yawing, or back-and-forth swinging. To make the tow bridles, tie the spliced eyes of two dock lines to each end of the towline. (Use bowline knots if you want to untie the lines later.)
Attach the ends of one bridle to the towing vessel’s stern cleats and the ends of the other bridle to the towed boat’s bow or midship cleats, as illustrated below.
In rough water, take a couple of turns on the cleats and run the lines aft to more attachment points, e.g., the midship cleats, stern cleats or mast.
When transferring the line, don’t toss it to the disabled vessel unless the water is calm. Instead, tie a fender or life jacket to the end and another approximately 50 feet up the line. Then, approach the vessel from behind and run parallel, bringing the line to its stern.
As you’re towing, make sure everyone stands clear of the towline; if it snaps, it could injure anyone in its path. Also make sure the vessels stay in rhythm, riding up and down the waves at the same time. Don’t go faster than 7 knots.
In protected waters, shorten the towline for better maneuverability, and slow down even more. –Jim Sever
What type of towline should you use?
The towline should be strong double-braided nylon, slightly stretchy and long enough to maintain a catenary, or dip, during the tow. The longer the towline, the easier the ride and the less stress on the hardware. The bridle should be even stronger than the towline; if anything breaks, you want it to be the towline.
More knots to know
Want to gain knowledge and hands-on experience about the most useful knots, bends, and hitches? Take our Knots and Line Handling seminar.
A few more things that should be mentioned and they are: Ensure the rudder of the towed vessel is straight, recommend a minimum length between vessels during the tow, ensure all passengers of towed vessel have PFD’s on, observe passenger placement in towed vehicle so weight is balanced and not bow heavy especially in pleasure craft, have a knife available to cut lines in the event of an emergency, ensure cleats are sound enough to hold a working line strength, if another craft is available, have them shadow to help observe for issues and warn off other boaters especially in heavy traffic. Last, ensure YOU have enough fuel to make the tow and return to your home port/dock. All lessons learned over time!
This is perhaps the worst explanation I’ve ever read, accompanied by poor figures to boot.. Photo shows two boats which aren’t attached for towing, so cleats and lines can’t be seen. Diagram does not show how lines are actually attached to each other and the boats . Verbiage requires five distinct lines – one very long “tow” line, plus an additional four dock lines with spliced ends – which most boats are NOT carrying with them every time they are out on the water. Even so, the least one could do is to show a drawing which actually illustrates how they are to be connected!
Thank you great information