[C38] Dinghy towing

les hlhowell at pacbell.net
Mon Mar 14 19:47:54 EDT 2011


Hi, Guys,
	Nancy and I have attempted to tow our dinghy here in Southern CA.  What
I discovered is that the winds would pick it up and fly it like a kite.
Invariably when it hit the water it was upside down.  Then I tried tying
a short bridle to the dinghy and pulling it up onto the stern ladder,
much like the "dinghytow" and that did work, but the boat is nearly not
manuverable in reverse the dinghy tends to "dig" in at the stern and act
like a rudder with a 10' additional advantage over the boat.  Still we
do this technique some times when changing anchor, or moving between
slips.  On the buoy it won't work because the mud line and the stern
line (we are fore and aft between two buoys) interfere with the dinghy
and scrub on it and the boat both when the dighy is up on the stern.
Based on my experiences with chafe, noise, added restriction to mobility
etc. I would no longer tow a dinghy any distance outside a protected
area.  Davits and deck storage appear to be much better solutions.
Remember if using Davits to bring the dinghy aboard well before any
rough weather.  Losing a possible life boat is never a good things when
things go badly.

Regards,
Les H


On Sat, 2011-03-12 at 12:49 -0600, Craig Steinkraus wrote:
> Pic#1
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Max Soto" <maxsoto at gmail.com>
> To: "Catalina 38 Listserve" <listserve at catalina38.org>
> Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2011 10:24 AM
> Subject: Re: [C38] Dinghy towing
> 
> 
> > Craig, please send pics of your davits. I want to see how they look on a 
> > C38 and how are they attached to your stern pulpit. ....
> > Regards,
> > Max
> >
> > Sent from my iPod
> >
> > On Mar 12, 2011, at 9:54, "Craig Steinkraus" <Navion at Charter.net> wrote:
> >
> >> I also looked at this system, but like so many, had a bad experience 
> >> towing. Also when the dink is in the stowed position, it would interfere 
> >> with the Bimini . I ended up going with traditional stern davits and am 
> >> happy with that arrangment.
> >>
> >> Craig #280
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Don Strong" <drstrong at ucdavis.edu>
> >> To: "Catalina 38 Listserve" <listserve at catalina38.org>
> >> Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2011 9:18 AM
> >> Subject: Re: [C38] Dinghy towing
> >>
> >>
> >>> Tom:
> >>> I'm with you. After losing a beaut dingy one night in the Gulf of Mexico 
> >>> (it was there on the line when the sun set, and it was gone when the 
> >>> watch changed), I vowed to avoid towing. Our inflatable fits great on 
> >>> the fore deck.
> >>> Don
> >>>
> >>> On 3/12/11 7:12 AM, david at dlrfilms.com wrote:
> >>>> Call me a grumpy old cheapskate, but any time I thought it was a bad 
> >>>> idea
> >>>> to be towing our dinghy, the right place for it to be was lashed down 
> >>>> on
> >>>> the foredeck.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>> I've looked at these too, but I'm not sure the cute little butts of 
> >>>>> our
> >>>>> 38's are compatible:
> >>>>>  II. On the stern of the main vessel, find two points that are the 
> >>>>> same
> >>>>> distance apart and the same height from the water as the transom 
> >>>>> brackets
> >>>>> on the dinghy (measured from the center line of the stern).  (From web
> >>>>> site.)
> >>>>>  Before buying I would e-mail them and see what they think, might send 
> >>>>> some
> >>>>> picts to them, too.
> >>>>>  Tom Yost
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>






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