[Paddlewise] Subject: Tow Rigs

Peter Rattenbury posted (snip):

>For mine, it is tough enough trying to tow someone over any sort of 
>distance in rough water, without the added bonus of having the strain 
>clamped around my waist and chest..try it for an hour or two and you'll see 
>what I mean.<

I've done a fair bit of towing over 25 years of paddling. I've never been on 
a trip with my spouse where I haven't towed at some point in the trip. Most 
of these tows were avoidable if different sea state/ tidal stream conditions 
had been chosen, but were not despite knowing the consequences. There is a 
huge difference between towing someone completely exhausted, towing someone 
exhausted/hurt in a narrow kayak, and towing someone who is contributing to 
forward momentum with some paddling evident. Ideally, the person being towed 
is contributing, which is especially helpful in colder climates where the 
towee would otherwise be getting cold. Also, the burden of towing dead 
weight is a significant navigational/physical strain to the tower in a 
two-paddler scenario. I've towed for long periods of time in a number of 
scenarios alluded to above, using a number of differing tow systems. I found 
little or no difference during these interfaces of gear and physicality. 
However, none of those scenarios developed on open seas or near wave-force 
type hazardous marine-hydraulics.

>I have in mind offshore rescue situations, when either the conditions are 
>so rough that the towee needs assistance to make forward progress and 
>survive; perhaps is seasick, perhaps has suffered serious gear failure as 
>well.<

This I have experienced, without the sea sickness, but instead, the towee 
developing hypothermia, loss of coordination, boat control, and numb hands. 
It's not fun, and there's no perfect tow system to address each case-by-case 
tow situation. In this case, it was a long open water crossing, so those who 
frequently do so should probably have a deck-tow system as a preference, 
given the physics logically addressed by such rear-deck towing points. One 
would assume those attempting such crossings would be the variety of paddler 
to keep a clear rear deck, free from entanglement issues.

>I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has towed someone for 
>HOURS in rough sea, using a body-anchor system.  I have only ever towed 
>people with a deck mounted system and have been glad that the hull anchor 
>point is taking the strain, not me.  Again, a situation at sea is a whole 
>lot different to a whitewater rescue.<

I would be too. I've not encountered too many paddlers than even hint at 
having to have ever done this, other than guides who tend to be on more 
sheltered water with their clients and were, as with my spouse, merely 
assisting with some forward momentum/boat direction correction needs.

My own experience with long open water tows (over 6 hours) suggests an 
integrated PFD tow system lives up to the task, but like any tow system, 
needs to be re-evaluated during use. The paddler I was towing was able to 
provide some forward assistance, which generally weakened as the day 
progressed and the paddler fatigued from hypothermia, though spurts of 
energy did sometime compensate for the long agony of responsibility. As my 
boat would crest breaking seas, the 50-foot length behind me allowed the 
boat being towed to receive full-force breaking seas at a different time, 
adding a significant tug astern on my tow-rig. I should have shortened to 
around 30-feet, which would have been psychologically better for the paddler 
being towed and perhaps allowed a different symmetry with respect to the 
breaking seas. I do remember previous posts to paddlewise where I've 
mentioned the drastic need to keep hydrated during long-duration tows, 
especially where the towee looses the ability to contribute worthwhile 
effort forward.

In most long-tow situations, my impression is it's not necessarily about the 
gear, but about the paddlers, communication, back-up plans, and the 
application of intelligence which can be amazingly in short supply when a 
myopic situation develops.

Peter Treby posted:

>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?<

During the above tow situation, we were eventually rescued through the 
assistance of a fishing vessel. This required some manoeuvring around the 
vessel's stabilizers, which eventually wrapped around the long tow line. We 
were grateful for the quick release. A quick release, or even a slow, "while 
not-taught" release mechanism would have been a worthwhile mechanism. I 
think it would also give the towee a feeling of more control, something 
often lacking with most tow scenarios. The best tow system is, of course, 
the one you never use. The worse one, is the one you need but don't have. I 
know a number of paddlers who would have been extremely grateful even for a 
length of rope at times where they were renting, etc, and didn't or hadn't 
ever thought they would need a tow line.

Doug Lloyd
Victoria BC
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