Towing dinghy on ICW

[Panhdjoe]

Hello all, we are considering a 13' boston whaler to be used as a tow behind dingy for our 27 family cruiser. We would like to be able to explore rivers and easier docking to go ashore to eat at restaurants and genral tender uses. Has any one towed a similar set up? we never go offshore and usually stay on the ICW. The one I am looking at is a older boat with a late model 25 merc. this is the supposedly unsinkable 13 with a tiller operated out board.

[jamesmkorn]

Dear Panhdjoe,

At first blush that seems like a very, very large boat to use as a dingy, especially one to be towed behind a boat barely more than twice it's length. Stowing it aboard, which you don’t anticipate now but may want to do at some point, would not be possible. It would negatively effect your fuel consumption. Staying in a marina, especially as a transient, would be problematic to say the least. When observed on the water, other boaters would assume you to be the Good Samaritan providing a tow to someone with a busted outboard. The downsides of a dragging a craft of this size behind your FC seem numerous. My wife and I just concluded a four-month cruise, spread over two boating seasons, aboard our 1989 27 FC going from the Chesapeake to Montreal and back. Most of our trip was on relatively protected waters, but we spent time offshore (Manasquan Inlet, New Jersey, to the New York harbor), in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, and on Lake Ontario. We both stowed (on the swim platform) and towed, depending on our location and other factors, a Walker Bay 8. We have found this to be a good compromise between no dingy at all, and one that’s too big for our little boat and expensive to buy. We keep a Honda 2 HP air-cooled four stroke on the stern rail. The WB 8 rows quite easily – so easily I often don’t bother with the motor. As very light weight, rigid dingy, it is not as stable as an inflatable. On the flip side, it’s more rugged and much easier to row and tow than an inflatable. We adapted to it without any problems and find it meets our needs. It has a 425-pound max payload rating (including motor), which is for real. My wife and I come close to that (including the 27 pound outboard), and I would not recommend going beyond it. It doesn’t like rough water, especially with two people aboard, but who wants to be out in a dingy in rough water? Whatever boat you choose, I’d look for one a lot smaller than a whaler with a big outboard on it, and seriously consider one that you could secure onboard if you had to. One last consideration is this. We are fortunate to own boats that draw very little water. This means we can nearly always start our dingy adventures in very protected, shallow water. This makes a small dingy an even more practical choice. Good luck finding a dingy that meets your needs!

[Panhdjoe]

Thank you for the input, I was more woundering if one would have a problem with being swamped by wake or genral towing problems. I have seen alot of sail boats towing. I think I am willing to put up with tieing it up along side when docked overnight on a face dock and the extra fuel burn.

[Veebyes2]

I used to tow my 14' Maritime Skiff behind my Albin 32. There was a slight noticable reduction in hullspeed for given RPMs. Of course the 32 has much more HP to play with than the 27. When I had a 27 I used to tow a small hard dinghy. No problems but for longer runs the dinghy was hoisted sideways onto the platform.

Personally I think a 13' Whaler is too heavy & creates too much drag for a lightly powered 27. My 27 had a 100hp Westerbeke, rare.

An easier dinghy to tow might be something like a Livingston cat. Easy to move & very stable boats.

[Chester B]

We cruised for a number of years in our 40' sailboat (and have just recently moved to a 36' DC) on the ICW and far Bahamas. I think you will find that a 9-10' RIB (inflatable with a rigid fiberglass bottom) is the dinghy of choice for most cruisers. They are very stable, good payload, with the proper engine (we had a 9.8 Nissan on an Avon 9') you can go as fast as 16 knots, they tow easily and also adapt to davits quite well. If you have a dinghy that can take you on longer trips then you have much more freedom on where to anchor. Last spring we brought our boat from the Cheasepeake to the west coast of Florida on the ICW and only had a 8' Walker Bay style dinghy with oars - it served its purpose but we felt limited in our anchoring because you wouldn't want to row too far for groceries! Next time you are anchored out do a quick survey and see what the cruisers are using! Good luck.

[hetek]

As the owner of a 27 AC and who's wife is actively on the hunt for a 13' Whaler, I find this proposition interesting. My thoughts...

The Mrs. would love to bring her Whaler to our cruising destinations for exploring. And I wouldn't mind (or care what it looked like) towing it, provided that it didn't drag too much.

My friend used to tow his 13' Whaler behind his 40' Pacemaker Motor Yacht from New Suffolk, Long Island, NY to Block Island. Granted, that is a more realistic pairing, but let's think about this...

If a 27AC is running at a displacement hull speed of 6.7 knots, theoretically, it only requires something rediculously low as 13 hp to drive the hull. My 27 AC can max out at 8.4 Knots with the Lehman 4D61 so it does prove the semi-displacement theory. I hit the displacement hull speed of 6.7 knots at 2750 RPM and the max speed of 8.4 knots at 3800 RPM, so there is plenty of headroom there.

Enough math for Labor day. Here's my totally informal conclusion:

My wife would love to bring her Whaler (I would love using it too). It would be easier to deploy than a dinghy on davits. Even our 8' inflatable on "C" davits requires some work to clamp on the outboard, untie and launch... A Whaler in tow would simply require that you pull in the painter, load in the 'captain' and cut her loose.

Bottom line: Maybe just borrow someones 13' Whaler and see how she tows behind your boat. As I write this I'm thinking of friends with Whalers that I can enlist for the experiment. Might cost me some beer though. Anyway, enjoy your Labor Day!

[jleonard]

Sounds like your mind is already made up, so just tow it and let us know how it goes.

[hetek]

I believe the OP is contemplating purchasing a Whaler for tender duties and wondering about its towing behavior. He doesn't have one yet (I don't think).

Me? I'm just thinking out loud, but when my wife finds one I'm sure I'll drag it along on at least a short trip.

Another data point: My brother-in-law tows his 21' center console behind his 36' Grand Banks now and then. He brings it along so he can take his kids tubing while the trawler is at anchor.

[Panhdjoe]

While I have not completely given up on the 13' whaler idea, it has been moved to the back burner. Based on some of the input from this group (which I value greatly). I may just get it cause I want it to use on the Congaree river to take advantage on some of the best Striper fishing in the USA for about a month during the spring.

[Capt Ron]

Everyone has left out one on the plus side to tow the Whaler behind the 27.......If the 27 breaks down you use it to tow it the 27 in for repair.

[efishnsea]

Another thing you might want to consider is what happens when the weather conditions become unfavorable as they do sometimes. I dont think I would like to deal with a tow that size if you get caught in a blow.