Re: [Paddlewise] Towlines

From: <Rcgibbert_at_aol.com>
Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 20:54:36 EDT
In a message dated 4/4/2005 2:56:06 PM Pacific Standard Time,  
ptreby_at_ozemail.com.au writes:

Some  people have mentioned having a jam cleat for quick release of a 
deck  mounted tow. Is this necessary? It seems easy enough to get slack 
in a tow  line and unclip a snaplink / carabiner. Has anyone experienced 
a situation  in which it was necessary to use a quick release?



The quick release aspect of deck, belt or PFD mounted tow rigs ensures that  
you can very quickly undo yourself from a tow under strain. Even my contact 
tow  can be undone very quickly under strain. If a tow capsizes in a current or 
down  wave you will not be able to backtrack fast enough to undo a the tow 
without a  quick release. That said, of all the real life tows I've done, none 
were  runaways or capsizes other than training situations where all kinds of 
stuff  gets made up on the spot and you get to deal with it. The quick release 
aspect  works and adds next to nothing in cost or weight to the whole of the 
system if  you make it properly. You don't have to buy a tow rig ready made, you 
can make a  really good one cheaply. Someone posted the Sea Paddler link on 
Paddlewise  several months ago and they have all kinds of neat stuff on their 
site. Here is  their rig:
 
_http://www.seapaddler.co.uk/Article9.htm_ 
(http://www.seapaddler.co.uk/Article9.htm) 
 
Rob G
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Received on Mon Apr 04 2005 - 17:54:58 PDT

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