Emergency towing of a pontoon boat

[mark1001]

What is the most safe connection points for a tow rope to be connected to tow a boat in emergency situation .
27 ft suntracker party barge. Not sure if the trailer winch strap connection point is strong enough, or tieing to the end of 1 pon toon or 2 ropes 1 to each pontoon.

Does anyone have sound advice.
Thanks

[jrolin1]

I would/have use the pontoons instead of the winch eye and take it easy.

[Brandon]

Does anyone have sound advice.

Pay $35 extra bucks to Boat u.s. and get unlimited lake towing and then dont worry about it. That would be my advice.

[bassn386]

I can give excellent testimony for TowBoatUS. Joined June 30, 2010, needed them less than 2 months later. I had one of those ID10T moments in the middle of the week, back of a cove, just starting to get dark. Took them less than a hour to come a little more than 20 miles by water, find me, and another 25 minutes or so to hook me up and tow me home.
BTW, I think it's $58 per year, but I don't care; I'm renewing next month. If I don't ever use the service again I know it's there if I need it and that brings peace of mind.

[rpm121370]

What is the most safe connection points for a tow rope to be connected to tow a boat in emergency situation .
27 ft suntracker party barge. Not sure if the trailer winch strap connection point is strong enough, or tieing to the end of 1 pon toon or 2 ropes 1 to each pontoon.

Does anyone have sound advice.
Thanks

the safest way I have found to tow a boat and trust me I have towed my share of boats in need,

1) I pull out some good dock lines

2) pull up with disabled boat to my side of the boat

3) put fenders between boats and tie cleat to cleat

4) go slow and be safe

having the boat tied directly attached to your side makes it a lot easier totow without having to worry wether the disabled boat can steer or not

Good Luck Ron

[lakerunner696]

What is the most safe connection points for a tow rope to be connected to tow a boat in emergency situation .
27 ft suntracker party barge. Not sure if the trailer winch strap connection point is strong enough, or tieing to the end of 1 pon toon or 2 ropes 1 to each pontoon.

Does anyone have sound advice.
Thanks

the safest way I have found to tow a boat and trust me I have towed my share of boats in need,

1) I pull out some good dock lines

2) pull up with disabled boat to my side of the boat

3) put fenders between boats and tie cleat to cleat

4) go slow and be safe

having the boat tied directly attached to your side makes it a lot easier totow without having to worry wether the disabled boat can steer or not

Good Luck Ron

Same here, when we get to dock if they trailer I untie all but the front rope yet have it tied for a quick release. I line thier boat with the trailer and when I get close We cut it loose to drift on trailer.

[Brandon]

I can give excellent testimony for TowBoatUS. Joined June 30, 2010, needed them less than 2 months later. I had one of those ID10T moments in the middle of the week, back of a cove, just starting to get dark. Took them less than a hour to come a little more than 20 miles by water, find me, and another 25 minutes or so to hook me up and tow me home.
BTW, I think it's $58 per year, but I don't care; I'm renewing next month. If I don't ever use the service again I know it's there if I need it and that brings peace of mind.

It must be different depending on the lake, mine is $35

[playcat]

Towing alongside is great for getting to the dock or trailer and in calm water. But if its choppy or you have some distance to be towed, you should be towed astern on a towline. Check out http://www.examiner.com/boating-in-rich ... wed-part-1 and http://www.examiner.com/boating-in-rich ... wed-part-2 for some great towing info.
Rig a bridle between the two pontoons and attach the towline to the bridle using a shackle or a bowline knot. The winch connection on some toons is under the decking and could put a lot of stress in an upward direction that was never intended, causing damage to the decking and structure.

[spurhunter]

Never really thought about it but the winch eyelet is probably not the best idea as mentioned. Good thread.

I bought the BoatUS for $58. I hated to tell my brother about it AFTER he had his boat towed on mothers day for $650.......Yikes!

[GregF]

The fastest way to do this is to this is just to tie a big bowline through both lift rings and pass the end to the tow boat but you lose the advantage of being able to break away if you want to.
Better is a bridle with a ring or shackle with the tow line looped through it and tied off to a cleat so you can let go. Leave your motor down so you can steer your boat a bit. That helps if you are being towed up a winding creek or river.

[Brandon]

Never really thought about it but the winch eyelet is probably not the best idea as mentioned. Good thread.

I bought the BoatUS for $58. I hated to tell my brother about it AFTER he had his boat towed on mothers day for $650.......Yikes!

Oh my Lord.

I called one time to see how much it was going to be to be towed back to the dock, and they told me some absolutely stupid total somewhere around $500 dollars and I told them I would somehow erect a sail and wait 3 days and eat the padding in the my boat seats before I paid them that much money to go the little bit of ways that I went.

[Bamaman]

My pontoon boat is located on a lake with a large number of permanent residences. Virtually very house has a pontoon boat and two PWC's.

Who said there is a recession looming. Memorial Day, our lake was sloshing like a bathtub with 38'-40' planing cruisers (Sea Ray types) running around all afternoon. And then, we have the five Fountain/Cigarette neighbors trying to see who can make the most noise and burn the most gas.

Getting back to the topic: I've never paid to be towed. On the other hand, I've pulled many disabled boats over the years.

The modern way (in my situation) is to keep a cell phone in the boat. I have my neighbors' phone numbers programmed into the phone--all of which have boats to come pull me in.

I often am within eyesight of our house floating down the river channel listening to the radio. It's like living on the ocean--almost. You don't even have to use that much gas to enjoy a pontoon boat taking in the sunset views. And, we're not a nuisance to other boaters.

[Parker]

Boat US, Vessel Assist, or any company like them are NOT even allowed on Lake Powell!

I know you probably are thinking that I am kidding, but I couldn't be any more honest!

Your government decided to give one single company an exclusive "Monopoly" of Lake Powell. The culprit is named "Aramark".

Just to give an idea of ridiculous prices...a 18 runabout rents for $550 per day. (believe me, it nothing special)

Several years ago, I broke down in Last Chance Bay at Lake Powell. When I got a hold of the U.S. Park Service on my radio, I found out that the cost to tow me from Last Chance Bay to Wahweep (approx 40 miles) was $1200, since only "Aramark" had a license for such a business. (I repeat....Twelve Hundred Dollars) This really made me bitter because I had a policy with Boat U.S. (West Marine....which had NO VALUE WHATSOEVER at Lake Powell) and my own insurance co (which would only pay $200).

I ended up having to leave my boat in order to get a ride to Wahweep before darkness from a good samaritan. The next day I had to go to Utah to find a place that could rent a boat without interference from Aramark. This boat only cost $425 for the day plus gas. To make a long story short, it ended up costing me more than $500 to retrieve my boat..........the funny thing is that I left feeling as though I had saved $700.

Also, I have towed many a boat just using the front eyelit that you clip the trailer strap too. I have never ripped one out in 35 years of boating. I personally would never tow in a side by side manor unless we were the only boat on the lake......and I would still be hesitant! I certainly wouldn't do it with any boat I cared about.

Parker

[GregF]

This is the way the commercial operator moved his broken boat. They pushed it about 20 miles.

[playcat]

Towing alongside is for taking another boat into a dock or slip. The two boats will ride differently in any kind of wake or chop, risking damage to both. The boats need to snugged into each other as close as possible and using every fender available. Also the towing boat needs to have an operator that knows what he/she is doing!!!
Open water towing should be done on a towline.