@HELP Need to use my Yamaha to tow a stranded boat

[Quad]

Ironically, when we got to their lift, the entire area was loaded with surface weeds. Yup, we loaded up the pumps with weeds and overheated.

I untied them, and said, "you have 8 kids on that boat, I would suggest they put on a jacket and swim you into your lift" And then tossed the rope to them. This was after she asks me (lady captain) "can you get us into the lift?" Ya, I will tow you into your lift. Too funny.

Needless to say, I limped my boat out to deeper water and used my cleanout ports for the first time ever to clear weeds. Good thing I rebuilt my cleanout plugs this spring and lube them regularly. I do see the need to inspect these a bit more than just lubing though. There were some weeds wound up in there that may have been causing my cavitation the day before surfing. Hmmm.

Interesting point on inspecting more often. We have our boat moored about 75' offshore in 22' of water and intentionally avoid weedy/shallow areas, but it doesn't mean we always can/do. I check my plugs once a week, should probably do that every outing.

 

[Quad]

So, follow-up. On Saturday, we saw an oil slick periodically forming around my buddy's disabled boat. Turned out to be the bilge kicking in and some leaking oil going all over. That led to working out a plan to tow the boat over to our local launch and get it hauled out. Of course we were fighting timing with yet another major storm, and that meant we didn't get out on the water until 30 minutes before sunset.

The water was glass, and we managed to get the boat through the *very* narrow inlet and nudged onto the trailer, right at nautical twilight. While he hauled his boat home, I got to motor back to our mooring and enjoy a chill evening with the family.

Fast forward to yesterday. We have a small cottage attached to our property that we rent out on for vacationers, etc. Last night I get a call from a neighbor up the road about my current renters having an issue with their boat. The lake had 2-3' swells and they convinced another neighbor to let them use their mooring overnight. (At that point, they didn't options. Despite the size of our lake, we don't have SeaTow or any other similar service. Most stranded boat rescues are helpful boaters.) Later in the evening, said renters shoot me a message asking if I can tow them (for a fee, mind you). We agree to a time for mid-day today, and make it happen.

Right as we set out, water looked great. We took about 45 minutes between prepping for the tow and actually towing to the launch. At that point, I headed back down river and out onto the main body of the lake to find... 2-4' swells. Hooray. At this point, I'm solo on the boat, and still need to get the dang thing moored when I get home. 4 passes by the mooring and I finally snag the pendant and manage to wrestle it onto the bow eye. I've spent the entire summer cursing this dang bow eye, it's like 6" lower on the bow than any other boat I've been on. I can barely reach it myself without falling overboard. The Admiral, being 8" shorter than me? Forget it.

Anyway, it was an adventure. Despite the Admiral encouraging me (jokingly) to start a sea tow business, I'm done. 3 tows in 2 weeks is about 2 tows too many.

 

[Julian]

I've spent the entire summer cursing this dang bow eye, it's like 6" lower on the bow than any other boat I've been on.

If I was doing that on a regular basis, I would connect a short rope to the bow eye, and just flip it into the anchor locker while using the boat, then connect that to your mooring buoy when you pull up to it.

 

[Peelz]

Beginning of this year, I towed a guy 6 miles-took almost an hour! nice guy... out boating with two kids.... but didnt speak much english. Saw him rocking up against the rocks. Looked really worried. other boats around him fishing, ignoring him.... so we pulled up....

I wrecked a prop getting him out(it was a goner anyways really) and tore up my ski rope....

get to his dock...wait for it...


look down into his cockpit.


wait for it....







wait for it.....














kill switch.

 

[Quad]

If I was doing that on a regular basis, I would connect a short rope to the bow eye, and just flip it into the anchor locker while using the boat, then connect that to your mooring buoy when you pull up to it.

I’ve been thinking of doing this and swapping my buoy out with one more aligned with that method for next year!

 

[Dumbassbass]

Sounds like both are fine?

Don't use the ski tow point its meant to pull a few hundred pounds. Dock cleats are meant to hold a boat!

 

[Quad]

Don't use the ski tow point its meant to pull a few hundred pounds. Dock cleats are meant to hold a boat!

Yea, I decided to use the cleats and the tie-downs. All good!

 

[Thunderseye]

Good work! I always say pay it forward.. next time it will be you in need of a tow.

yamahas dont need towed lol

 

[Quad]

yamahas dont need towed lol

2 engines for the win?

 

[Quad]

Beginning of this year, I towed a guy 6 miles-took almost an hour! nice guy... out boating with two kids.... but didnt speak much english. Saw him rocking up against the rocks. Looked really worried. other boats around him fishing, ignoring him.... so we pulled up....

I wrecked a prop getting him out(it was a goner anyways really) and tore up my ski rope....

get to his dock...wait for it...


look down into his cockpit.


wait for it....







wait for it.....














kill switch.

This is amazing

 

[EricE]

I towed a 27' boat about a mile with the tow point. I guess next time I'll use the cleats. It was very slow and very calm.

 

[Crob83]

I can’t imagine 400lbs is right. Our 3 person tube puts a whole lot more force than that when whipping it around.

I pulled my buddies Pontoon that wouldn't start from the ski tow point with an AR195. Probably not the right thing to do obviously but it worked and didn't cause any damage. If I had to do it again, I would def use the tie downs, just wasnt thinking at the time

 

[drewkaree]

Bridle to the two tie downs on the stern.

Julian's recommendation is what I did, both transom eyes, tied off and triangulated, and a single line lead to their boat.

stop to help a crew of doorknobs on their second trip out ever with their boat, and this spot I am Towing them from is easily an hour and a half away from where they launched from, but only FIVE MINUTES from the marina they passed, that sold fuel on the water (but a half an hour tow, since they were all hammered, and were little to no help). fear not, they were able to shotgun all the beers they still had left in their cooler, except the ONE they "saved" for me as a "thanks"

 

[Quad]

Julian's recommendation is what I did, both transom eyes, tied off and triangulated, and a single line lead to their boat.

stop to help a crew of doorknobs on their second trip out ever with their boat, and this spot I am Towing them from is easily an hour and a half away from where they launched from, but only FIVE MINUTES from the marina they passed, that sold fuel on the water (but a half an hour tow, since they were all hammered, and were little to no help). fear not, they were able to shotgun all the beers they still had left in their cooler, except the ONE they "saved" for me as a "thanks"

View attachment 132208

Sounds like a class act.

As much as I enjoy a good beer or three, I've never been a fan of the ever-popular notion of sloshed boating, either as a passenger or captain. Especially with kids on board.

 

[HangOutdoors]

@Quad c'mon.... Sloshed boating, Texting while driving, watching a video or face timing while driving, Marijuana billowing out of the car or boat... Isn't it the new norm now a days? It is all I see. God forbid someone actually thinks that their actions may cause harm to someone else.... One time this summer a guy was launching and yelled at, what I assume was wife/girlfriend, to get out of truck to and to come take his beer and joint from him so he didn't drop them in the water. I was on the same dock and people on the other docks were just watching him in awe, the stupid was out in force.

None the less not to derail the thread, it is good to know how to tow a boat. I haven't yet but I am sure that day will come. Using the transom eyes.

 

[Speedling]

Whoa!

I was towing a 1990s Donzi BlackWidow 24'. Heavy boat for its size.

Yea, if we had the time, it might've worked better to tow by hand but we were facing a very small window between two of the largest storm fronts we've seen all season and had to high tail it at a speedy 7mph. Engines were running at ~3600rpm to maintain that.

I knew it was a donzi from the bow! Sharp boats!

 

[drewkaree]

Using the cleats.

I would not use the cleats. I used the transom eyes, the ones used to strap the back end of the boat when it's on the trailer. The tale of someone's cleats no longer being easily deployed or the loosening of the hardware (and the pain in the butt to tighten them up) make me super glad I didn't use the cleats. I figured if the transom eyes were installed to hold the boat on the trailer, those would be the safest/fortified area to pull from.

These thingys are what I used to tow from:

 

[Quad]

I knew it was a donzi from the bow! Sharp boats!

It's a solid hull. They apparently shipped with an OMC I/O. Previous owner replaced it with a Mercruiser Bravo and when my neighbor got it, he saw the work had been done shoddily and pulled the engine he had built from the ground up (same block) for his old Century and spent the winter fitting it to the new-to-him Donzi. Overall it's worked well the last 2 years, but our best guess is that the engine took on water during Isaias and despite his efforts to flush the oil and remediate, something wasn't quite right and that was that.

 

[Quad]

Side note - with 3 tows in one week, I find myself wishing for a real temperature gauge for each engine vs the idiot light that only warns you when you've already overdone it. Granted, I didn't have any overheat issues, but it was something on my mind.

 

[HangOutdoors]

@Quad Sounds like you have a side business to start. Just get a card swiper for your phone and charge them on the water.

U.S. Tow would take a nice chunk out of people. I have their unlimited subscription for unlimited towing for what they charge is a no brainer.