Old fashioned British dinghy towing (quotes)
I'm set up with a West Marine inflatable micro-dinghy for this season, and hope to figure out whether it can be towed at all without taking to the air like a kite, or filling with water. I was re-reading Maurice Griffiths' "Magic of the Swatchways" 1932 and found this: "Where's the stern drag painter?" yelled the mate from under her sou'wester. My heart sank. "Coiled up neatly on the floor of the dinghy." When we go to sea, my wife and I, with a dinghy in tow, we always (Always? Well, nearly always) bring a long painter aboard from the stern of the dinghy, which is kept slack until it is required to be cast overboard to steady the little boat. On this occasion I had forgotten, and left the drag painter in the bottom of the dinghy. (p.154) While the mate held an electric torch, I lay on the side-deck and hauled in the dinghy. The precious painter had got washed under the after-thwart in a nice tangle! A boathook at last freed it, and in a few minutes it was trailing astern. Then I eased the dingy off on its 10-fathom bass painter until it was swallowed up in the night, and although we ran through some of the biggest and steepest breaking seas I have ever seen, the dinghy gave no further trouble. P.155) ...Now, while I have no idea what a "bass painter" is, the technique is probably sound, if sailing the English Channel, and free of nearby power boats. I do wish I had a little Fatty Knees to struggle with towing. I'd try everything to get it right. David
"When we go to sea, my wife and I, with a dinghy in tow, we always (Always? Well, nearly always) bring a long painter aboard from the stern of the dinghy, which is kept slack until it is required to be cast overboard to steady the little boat. On this occasion I had forgotten, and left the drag painter in the bottom of the dinghy"
What a great idea. Thanks for that David. The inflatable kayak shaped units seem a great idea. From what I have seen it seems to work out really well. The part I like is being able to deflate and stow. For me personally it isn't really an option. I have tried kayaking a few times and it kills my back. Thing is though.... I can row all day long. Go figure.
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Hi gang, May interject a note of warning? If you have a hard dinghy that has a centerboard (daggerboard) trunk, make certain that you have a cover with a good gasket for the trunk that can be firmly fastened in place (wing nuts at both ends is best). Otherwise you may experience - as we did - what a wonderful sea anchor a dinghy filled with water can be. In our case, we had a 9 foot sailing dinghy with a dagger board slot. We were towing it behind our Tripp-Lentsch 29 down the English Channel heading for Calais. It was a pleasant sailing day; the sails were nicely filled, and the boat was marching along. Then the speed kept decreasing, and finally hit zero. Huh? What's going on? We're not aground on a Channel sand bank; the depth finder said we had lots of water under the keel; ....what gives? Then we saw the problem. Our 9 foot dinghy was swamped. We pulled it alongside, and I started bailing; .... and bailing, ....and bailing. A 9 foot dinghy has a large internal volume, and I had to get all the water out.... The water had squirted in through the daggerboard trunk; squirt; ... squirt; ....squirt; until finally as the dinghy filled with more and more water, the squirt became a steady stream (we had been doing about 5.5 knots) When the job was finally done, and we were in Calais, I found that I had lost an oar to Neptune. The next day, with weather deteriorating, we went into through the lock into inner harbor, (the Channel has a 25 foot tidal range) and then I walked into town and looked for a ship chandlery where I could buy a new oar. You then learn that single oars aren't available: you have to buy a pair. When we departed Calais, I had my three oars fastened to the thwart with bungee cords, and I had rigged up a provisional seal for the dagger board trunk. Live and learn. Connie Tim Diebert wrote:
"When we go to sea, my wife and I, with a dinghy in tow, we always (Always? Well, nearly always) bring a long painter aboard from the stern of the dinghy, which is kept slack until it is required to be cast overboard to steady the little boat. On this occasion I had forgotten, and left the drag painter in the bottom of the dinghy"
What a great idea. Thanks for that David.
The inflatable kayak shaped units seem a great idea. From what I have seen it seems to work out really well. The part I like is being able to deflate and stow. For me personally it isn't really an option. I have tried kayaking a few times and it kills my back. Thing is though.... I can row all day long. Go figure.
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Interject? Please do! (Not sure what some of us would do without Connie's sage advice). The hard dinghy I built.......and it has a daggerboard trunk! http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n165/haudsley/Picture260.jpg I've not towed it, but intend to in a few months....if nothing else just to see how it works. Bad news is it's a two part nesting job, so it's two boats (bathtubs?) in one. You can put a self bailer on these to let the water out but that's only for half the boat. Dragging a painter is new to me.....but if nothing else would be a good trolling line to catch one of those big stink pots!! Howard On Mar 9, 2009, at 4:16 PM, chbenneck@sbcglobal.net wrote:
Hi gang,
May interject a note of warning?
If you have a hard dinghy that has a centerboard (daggerboard) trunk, make certain that you have a cover with a good gasket for the trunk that can be firmly fastened in place (wing nuts at both ends is best).
Otherwise you may experience - as we did - what a wonderful sea anchor a dinghy filled with water can be.
Hi Howard, It's beautiful. The nesting boats I've seen have been pretty ugly. How does it row? Are the plans or kit available? Bill Riker M15 - #184 Storm Petrel -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Howard Audsley Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 3:38 PM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Old fashioned British dinghy towing (quotes) Interject? Please do! (Not sure what some of us would do without Connie's sage advice). The hard dinghy I built.......and it has a daggerboard trunk! http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n165/haudsley/Picture260.jpg I've not towed it, but intend to in a few months....if nothing else just to see how it works. Bad news is it's a two part nesting job, so it's two boats (bathtubs?) in one. You can put a self bailer on these to let the water out but that's only for half the boat. Dragging a painter is new to me.....but if nothing else would be a good trolling line to catch one of those big stink pots!! Howard On Mar 9, 2009, at 4:16 PM, chbenneck@sbcglobal.net wrote:
Hi gang,
May interject a note of warning?
If you have a hard dinghy that has a centerboard (daggerboard) trunk, make certain that you have a cover with a good gasket for the trunk that can be firmly fastened in place (wing nuts at both ends is best).
Otherwise you may experience - as we did - what a wonderful sea anchor a dinghy filled with water can be.
_______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats Remember, there is no privacy on the Internet!
Rows really well and sails even better. With enough wind she would probably plane and pass the M17! http://www.bandbyachtdesigns.com/yachtt3.htm A Spindrift 10N. Very stable. I can stand up in her and move around without jumping out from under me. Unless you have room to store the nesting version, the regular boat would be more practical and easier to build. Howard On Mar 9, 2009, at 5:01 PM, William B. Riker wrote:
Hi Howard,
It's beautiful. The nesting boats I've seen have been pretty ugly. How does it row? Are the plans or kit available?
Bill Riker M15 - #184 Storm Petrel
Funny...I saw the photobucket image of that dink as said, "that looks like something Graham would have drawn....then looked up the Spindrift. It has been on my shortlist of possible designs to build. Nice to hear some first hand comments. Wonderful job Howard! You aren't going to want that rascal just sitting around without lock and key. Beautiful. Tim -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Howard Audsley Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 2:38 PM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Old fashioned British dinghy towing (quotes) Interject? Please do! (Not sure what some of us would do without Connie's sage advice). The hard dinghy I built.......and it has a daggerboard trunk! http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n165/haudsley/Picture260.jpg I've not towed it, but intend to in a few months....if nothing else just to see how it works. Bad news is it's a two part nesting job, so it's two boats (bathtubs?) in one. You can put a self bailer on these to let the water out but that's only for half the boat. Dragging a painter is new to me.....but if nothing else would be a good trolling line to catch one of those big stink pots!! Howard On Mar 9, 2009, at 4:16 PM, chbenneck@sbcglobal.net wrote:
Hi gang,
May interject a note of warning?
If you have a hard dinghy that has a centerboard (daggerboard) trunk, make certain that you have a cover with a good gasket for the trunk that can be firmly fastened in place (wing nuts at both ends is best).
Otherwise you may experience - as we did - what a wonderful sea anchor a dinghy filled with water can be.
_______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats Remember, there is no privacy on the Internet! No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.9/1992 - Release Date: 03/09/09 19:20:00
Howard, That dinghy is Off the Hook Drop Dead Gorgeous. There's really no other point to this message. That's all I wanted to say. Jim M-17 "Spirit" On Mar 9, 2009, at 2:37 PM, Howard Audsley wrote:
Interject? Please do! (Not sure what some of us would do without Connie's sage advice).
The hard dinghy I built.......and it has a daggerboard trunk!
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n165/haudsley/Picture260.jpg
I've not towed it, but intend to in a few months....if nothing else just to see how it works. Bad news is it's a two part nesting job, so it's two boats (bathtubs?) in one. You can put a self bailer on these to let the water out but that's only for half the boat.
Dragging a painter is new to me.....but if nothing else would be a good trolling line to catch one of those big stink pots!!
Howard
On Mar 9, 2009, at 4:16 PM, chbenneck@sbcglobal.net wrote:
Hi gang,
May interject a note of warning?
If you have a hard dinghy that has a centerboard (daggerboard) trunk, make certain that you have a cover with a good gasket for the trunk that can be firmly fastened in place (wing nuts at both ends is best).
Otherwise you may experience - as we did - what a wonderful sea anchor a dinghy filled with water can be.
_______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
Remember, there is no privacy on the Internet!
Great story and a good lesson for sure. I installed a dagger board case in my last sail boat. The first day out I soon found out it filled the boat with water while motoring. I used a couple of towels that first day....and then made a clamped down gasketed 'lid'. It worked great. My little 8' wrinkle boat is just a rower without a case. So that is not an issue thankfully. (That boat would be too silly to sail anyway) When I installed the new stern seat I designed it so one end of the oars could be placed under that and also fit within the full length of the interior of the dingy. The centre thwart is removable and kind of locks the oars in place. It seems to work well......even when imitating a chubby kite. Tim. ============================= Hi gang, May interject a note of warning? If you have a hard dinghy that has a centerboard (daggerboard) trunk, make certain that you have a cover with a good gasket for the trunk that can be firmly fastened in place (wing nuts at both ends is best). Otherwise you may experience - as we did - what a wonderful sea anchor a dinghy filled with water can be. In our case, we had a 9 foot sailing dinghy with a dagger board slot. We were towing it behind our Tripp-Lentsch 29 down the English Channel heading for Calais. It was a pleasant sailing day; the sails were nicely filled, and the boat was marching along. Then the speed kept decreasing, and finally hit zero. Huh? What's going on? We're not aground on a Channel sand bank; the depth finder said we had lots of water under the keel; ....what gives? Then we saw the problem. Our 9 foot dinghy was swamped. We pulled it alongside, and I started bailing; .... and bailing, ....and bailing. A 9 foot dinghy has a large internal volume, and I had to get all the water out.... The water had squirted in through the daggerboard trunk; squirt; ... squirt; ....squirt; until finally as the dinghy filled with more and more water, the squirt became a steady stream (we had been doing about 5.5 knots) When the job was finally done, and we were in Calais, I found that I had lost an oar to Neptune. The next day, with weather deteriorating, we went into through the lock into inner harbor, (the Channel has a 25 foot tidal range) and then I walked into town and looked for a ship chandlery where I could buy a new oar. You then learn that single oars aren't available: you have to buy a pair. When we departed Calais, I had my three oars fastened to the thwart with bungee cords, and I had rigged up a provisional seal for the dagger board trunk. Live and learn. Connie Tim Diebert wrote:
"When we go to sea, my wife and I, with a dinghy in tow, we always (Always? Well, nearly always) bring a long painter aboard from the stern of the dinghy, which is kept slack until it is required to be cast overboard to steady the little boat. On this occasion I had forgotten, and left the drag painter in the bottom of the dinghy"
What a great idea. Thanks for that David.
The inflatable kayak shaped units seem a great idea. From what I have seen it seems to work out really well. The part I like is being able to deflate and stow. For me personally it isn't really an option. I have tried kayaking a few times and it kills my back. Thing is though.... I can row all day long. Go figure.
_______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
Remember, there is no privacy on the Internet!
No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.9/1990 - Release Date: 03/08/09 17:17:00
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Remember, there is no privacy on the Internet!
_______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats Remember, there is no privacy on the Internet! No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.9/1992 - Release Date: 03/09/09 19:20:00
participants (6)
-
chbenneck＠sbcglobal.net -
David C. Patterson -
Howard Audsley -
James Poulakis -
Tim Diebert -
William B. Riker