On being towed....

[DesertAlbin736]

Long time AOG'ers may remember my talking about an incident we had back in July, 2016 while on a Pacific NW cruise along the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia. We along with a sailboater couple from Flagstaff had launched our boats in Bellingham, WA, spent close to two weeks in the San Juans before entering Canadian waters that June 30th, checking in customs in Sidney on Vancouver Island. From there we worked our way north up through the Gulf Islands to Nanaimo and then crossed the Strait of Georgia to Pender Harbour on the mainland, our ultimate destination being Desolation Sound. A number of of issues, both weather and mechanical difficulties with the engine in our cruise mates' O'Day 25 sailboat had cost us several days of delay held up in Nanaimo. So while we weren't tied to a rigid schedule per se, we were anxious to be on our way on from Pender Harbour, which by that time was July 11th. We were equipped with a conventional 8 foot fiberglass dinghy, which we carried on snap davits, an arrangement inherited from previous owners, as shown in this photo..

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Of course in rough conditions this arrangement, being low near the water line and with a foot or so of overhang beyond the width of the transom, could and did act like a scoop.

The day we'd hoped to leave Pender Harbour bound for Lund the weather reports suggested relatively calm conditions in the morning followed by building winds and seas in the afternoon. We figured worse case we'd be able to get at least far enough along to the northwest that if need be we could duck into a sheltered anchorage or cove on either Nelson or Hardy Island if things got too dicey. So we started out motoring and had progressed about six miles from port to a point marked by the red 'X' in the satellite view below, when all of a sudden I hear a loud BANG coming from the stern. Thinking WTF, I look back and see the aft end of dinghy, which was to our starboard, had caught a wave & ripped out a section of the dinghy's rail where the davit latch had been. So now it's hanging half submerged & scooping water. So I had no choice but to stop and undo the other latch & let it drop. Subsequently the dinghy capsized but remained awash and the painter/dockline somehow fouled our prop, which sucked it up under the stern & jammed the rudder.

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So now we're adrift on a steep lee shore heading for a large rock, with depths deeper than the length of our anchor rode almost right up to the big rock. We called PAN PAN on the VHF (not quite at the life threatening level of a MAYDAY yet) and talk to the Canadian Coast Guard. But they don't have any assets close by. Our own cruise mates couldn't help us because at nearly the same time the lower gudgeon on their transom hung rudder broke, so they had lost steerage. He dropped his anchor which promptly fouled his saildrive prop, so they were in as much trouble as we were. He ended up getting a commercial towboat to come help them.

So to get to the point of this update, another boater nearby heard and answered our call, serendipitously a couple that coincidentally we'd met the day before and had lunch with them at a bistro in Pender Harbour. Our cruise mates had gotten their contact info, which I either didn't get or misplaced until we were talking about it a few weeks ago. Anyway, this other boat pulled along side and through no small effort managed to get a tow line to us, which in this case was their floating stern tie anchoring line which the skipper ran out a couple hundred feet of and swooped by so I could catch it with a boat hook, since the seas were getting too rough to just pull up alongside. Once we got back to calm waters we discovered the dinghy had worked loose somewhere along the way and disappeared, never to be seen again. After that incident we decided to skip Desolation Sound and instead run up Princess Louisa inlet to Chatterbox Falls.

This was the boat that towed us:

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So, to finally cut to the chase, the other day I emailed them a Merry Christmas wish and they replied, sending this picture they'd taken of us being towed, with me riding up on the cabin top tending the tow line. In this photo it looks as if we're about to be dragged under, but it was just the trough of a large wave, as it was getting rougher by the minute as we were being towed at about 7 knots or greater back toward Pender Harbour all the while watching the tow line begin to slowly chafe through as it rubbed the bow rail cross bar. Needless to say, it was an exciting ride. I was in fact wearing an inflatable PFD with tether harness and was tethered to what's meant to be the head sail chainplate of our sail rig. I'm pretty sure the rock visible in the background was the one we had been drifting toward.

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And wouldn't you know it, our rescuers are from Glacier, WA and are spending this winter RV'ing in Arizona. They have plans through the holidays down near Tucson, but some time in January are going to come out to Lake Pleasant to camp for a few days at the RV campsites there and we'll treat them to lunch or dinner & take them out for a ride around the lake on our boat.

[Nancy]

Great story! Will be fun to reconnect.

[boater_mike]

Wow! I'm sure a bit nerve wrecking at the time, it is a very cool story!

-Mike

[DCatSea]

A quick "sea-lawyer" bit here: If I remember rightly, the vessel under tow should really pass its own towline to the towing vessel, thereby accepting liability for the tow, unless the towing vessel is a professional tow/salvage vessel, in which case they assume and accept some of the liability of the tow.

See: http://www.bullivant.com/Towing-Liability-Part-1has good advice, including a very good reason for having 2 operational anchors.
UPDATE: Type "Marine Towing" into the Search bar at the top.

Also: from www.Sailmagazine.com

Legal Issues
If you’re getting a tow from a Good Samaritan, be sure to pass them one of your lines as opposed to accepting one of theirs. That way you will know what shape it is in. Unless they are professionals, you should avoid relying on someone else’s equipment. Agree with the towing party what you are asking for­—a tow only—so they cannot later claim they have salvaged your vessel. Some will tell you that you must pass your line to a towing vessel to avoid a salvage claim, but these days things are not so cut and dried. The best thing to do is to have a conversation about what you are asking for and what the expectations are on both sides. Stay on board your own vessel for safety and in case any legal issues pop up later.
Finally, consider when to offer or accept a tow and when to pass. If you’re the one offering a tow and anything goes wrong, you will most likely be considered a Good Samaritan and unless there was negligence on your part, you will be protected legally. If conditions are such that you question your boat’s ability to manage the tow or you have reservations about the seaworthiness of the other vessel, you can call a commercial towing firm on behalf of the boater in trouble. Standing by and waiting with them is still rendering assistance.

[DesertAlbin736]

Actually the skipper of the boat towing us has a 100 ton CG captain's license. We had some longer lines aboard but not long enough for a tow. Second, time was of the essence as we were drifting down on a large rock islet & conditions worsening by the minute. And even though it was July the water was 50-some degrees. We had tried a first attempt at tossing a line but was too rough to get close enough. Also, the Admiral 'had the conn' steering while I was up on the foredeck as we were under tow. Maybe we would have drifted by & missed the rock & on toward the beach in that bight & gotten into shallow enough water to drop anchor, but maybe not. Certainly not enough time to chance being wrecked on rocks while waiting on a tow boat coming out from Pender Harbour. We did and still do carry BoatUS unlimited tow coverage, so would have been able to file a claim for reimbursement for a Canadian tow company if we'd had to go with a commercial tow, so money wasn't an issue. Sometime soon after New Year those folks that towed us will be in town visiting & going out for a ride on Lake Pleasant with us in our boat & we can reminisce about the what ifs. It's not like the Chesapeake up there with shallow waters near shore with soft mud bottoms, but instead depths up to 600 ft, lots of rocks, and 15 ft tide range & tidal currents over 8 knots in some narrow passes..

[DCatSea]

Good points - we think alike; get out of trouble first and sort it out later. Soft mud is always a good option, if not somewhat malodorous.

[DesertAlbin736]

It's not like the Chesapeake up there with shallow waters near shore with soft mud bottoms, but instead depths up to 600 ft, lots of rocks, and 15 ft tide range & tidal currents over 8 knots in some narrow passes..

That said, it's one cruising area that should be on everyone's bucket list, even if one had to spend beaucoup bucks to fly out & do a 7 or 10 day bareboat charter. Especially when you get to see scenes like this....

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And secluded 360* sheltered anchorages like this...

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[DesertAlbin736]

End of year update, 12/31/18:

Well, the planned outing on Lake Pleasant last weekend with the folks who towed us in 2016 fell through, canceled due to cold weather (at or near freezing overnights, chilly day in the upper 40s). However, in lieu of that we invited them over to our house Saturday evening to join with us & our 2016 cruise mates from Flagstaff for a home cooked dinner of grilled wild caught Sockeye salmon. Great time was had by all, as we got to know Dave & Sue even more than our initial meetings two years ago. We had actually first met them a week prior to the accident while riding the "fun bus" from Montague Harbour to Hummingbird Inn Pub on Galiano Island, then again later in Pender Harbour on the BC mainland. I could be mistaken, but I believe that could be Dave in the light blue T shirt & gray jacket standing just to the left of the 'Bus Stop' sign in this 2016 photo:

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They're going on to other RV travels around the Southwest in the next couple months before returning to Washington in the spring, but hopefully they'll stop back again in the next month or two and we can take them out on our boat when the weather warms up a bit. Always amazing how one thing leads to another, as we had first learned about the Hummingbird Inn Pub and the kooky bus ride from my sister in law and her husband when they showed us all the good spots in the Gulf Islands during our first cruise with them in 2014.

More than just a 100 ton captain licensee, Dave was at one time a delivery skipper of large yachts, (50 ft+) both sail and power, to places as far south as Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The boat he towed us with, a 42 foot pilothouse cutter rigged sloop with a 63 HP engine, as seen on his card in above posts, and I forget the name of the make, that he purchased new from the factory as a bare hull & deck in which he fabricated & completed installation of all the interior work, bulkheads, joinery, rigging, engine, plumbing, etc himself over a period of 3 years. They had lived on the boat full time for several years but now have a house (which he built himself) in Glacier, WA. He's a retired teacher & engineer. So we were immensely fortunate that he was there & able to help us in our hour of need. The more we all talked about it, the more tempted we are to make a return trip again next summer. Maybe not all the way to Desolation Sound, but certainly the San Juans & Gulf Islands. He keeps his boat stored on the hard in Anacortes almost year round except for the month or so each summer when they go cruising.

So these adventures are not just about cruising to all these places & seeing the scenery, but also about all the people we've met along the way & through AOG, Dave & Sue, Dave Kirsop, Rick & Heidi, Stephen Duggan, aka 'Sunsetrider' in Ontario, and Alex & Heidi, another sailing couple from Qualicum Beach, BC.

So who knows what new adventures await in 2019?

Happy New Year!

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