[Paddlewise] Towing lines

" but a fair bit of redesign is needed. The bag
system worked well but would have been better with Velcro patches to
store
the ends of the tow line on the outside of the bag. Another improvement
would have been to attach the bag to the towee end of the line so as not
to
keep losing the bag overboard! We concluded that tow ropes need to be
simple
and opined that any style of rudder system was likely to cause a problem

with tangles."

A freind has a great home-made waist belt tow system that solves the
problem of adjustable length while remaining simple and fool resistant.
He made a double-ended pouch that remains attatched to a removeable
belt.  One half of the pouch holds a short tow line, the other end holds
a long tow line.  The pouches are compact and fit along the length of
the belt so that it is easy to tell which carabiner goes to which tow
line (left side, right side).  All I need to do to make this system
perfect is to make a version which allows you  to jettison the tow line
without losing the belt (in my system a stainless ring holds the towline
to the belt, when released you let the ring slide off the belt, but you
keep the belt.  I think the convenience of two seperate lines would be
more valuable though, and at least one of the tow lines could be on a
slip-ring (the one that is anchored on the side away from the buckle),
but you probably would not want to weave this belt into your PFD, you
would need to be able to jetison the whole belt.  Any ideas out there?

So far the system I like best is a bag on a towbelt  used with a PFD
designed to accomodate tow belts (L'Ocean, Lotus).  I made my own belt
with parts from a dive shop (belt and  stainless steel quick release
buckle for weight belts).  I use a throw bag which clips to the same
stainless steel ring that anchors the tow line to the tow belt (behind
my back).  I clip the salt water carabiner to this SS ring as well.
This way I can either keep the bag with me, or let it  loose for
re-stuffing the line, untangling, or whatever.  I use a 1/4 inch
diameter braided poly line that floats and handles well, but it unties
itself like houdini, so I seize the ends of the line after knotting it
with re-woven figure eight knots.  When stuffing the line into the bag
it helps to use the daisy chain "knot" to keep the bagged line tangle
free.

I suppose I could carry two seperate bags (long line and short line)
with slip rings and use one or the other with my current tow belt.

Nick Lyle



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