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...............................--- Transom Mounted Tow Strap ---
I don't like towing the dinghy with the outboard on the
transom........
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....... so made up a new tow strap arrangement that is much better if we do that. We had never had any problems
pulling the dinghy, but if the outboard was on it while being towed the bow was quite high. You can see the reason
for it above. We were pulling the dinghy with the bow rings (right arrow) on it and they tend to lift the dinghy
up as shown in the picture. The center line in the picture (left) arrow is just a secondary line in case the other
line was to break.
I felt a possible solution was to pull the dinghy from the transom instead of the bow. When we went back ashore
the first day and went and dumped our trash we stopped at a Walmart......
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.... and bought the yellow tow strap above. I left the hook on one end and then cut the strap shorter, but long
enough to go from the transom (top arrow) out and over the bow up to the carabiner (bottom arrow) that the original
tow straps attach to and then back into the boat about where the seat is (second arrow from the top) and tied it
back on itself there.
At night we leave the tow lines attached, but pull the Zodiac up along side and clip a short line that is attached
to the lifeline stanchion on the starboard side and has a carabiner on it onto the carabiner on the tow line (bottom
right arrow) and then I lower a small blue fender over the side at the same point. The Fender helps to keep the
noise from the carabiners down during the night when they tend to click against the side of the Mac.
I added the lines at the bow (2nd arrow up from the bottom) to position the strap there also.
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At the back of the boat (right arrow) I had a line tied from the transom down to the fuel tank (middle arrow).
It is there to avoid loosing the tank out of the boat like what happened on the incident at Lake Powell.
I hooked the tow strap hook to that line (right arrow). When using the dinghy you just have to unhook the hook
and place the strap inside at the bow of the boat. The left arrow points to where I tied the strap back on itself.
Tension on the strap can be set by where this knot is tied.
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Here is a picture with the 5 HP Nissan tied in the boat under the seat (top left arrow). The lower unit and prop
is also tied to keep it in the middle (bottom right arrow). I also placed the dinghy oars (double sided right arrow)
along the sides to protect the sides just in case the outboard shifted. I don't use them much as the dinghy doesn't
row that well. Usually I sit on the bow seat and use the kayak paddle (top right arrow) to paddle from the bow.
This works well. Also note that all of the oars/paddle are tied in to avoid loosing them.
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Look how much flatter the dinghy now rides in the water and the bow lines are now slack (arrows), so the transom
is now taking the strain from the pull and that is pretty considerable if you ever try and hold the tow line while
underway.
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We didn't try it with the outboard in the dinghy, but it was on the floor in there while these pictures were taken.
I'm really happy with how easy this mod was and how well it has worked pulling the boat to this point (75 miles).
UPDATE: After our spring of 2011 Florida trip we had pulled the dinghy like above just shy of 500 miles and this will be the way we keep towing her when she is behind the Mac.
We also added dinghy chaps to her (Winter of 2011-12)...
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... more on that (HERE).