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? Cheers, PT *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Rob wrote: "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." As an exercise, I have tried deliberately going over in a 3-4 knot current while towing. Rolling up was OK. As soon I stopped paddling and went over, the towline went slack. If a capsized towed boat is being pulled backwards by current or breaking wave, in current, when the tower stops towing, both boats then drift at the same rate, and the tow can be unclipped. With a breaking wave, the wave passes, and the tow can be unclipped. Quick release might be needed if one boat becomes stuck. What if the towed boat becomes jammed on a rock or jetty, while being towed in a current? The towing boat then tries to disengage while the tow line is under tension. While pulling back to get slack in the line, the towing boat goes broadside to the current and capsizes. The tower cannot roll up against the current... trouble, time for the knife. Perhaps it is unsafe to tow near obstacles in current. Perhaps when towing a knife should be handy. In the towing situations I can think of, if the towed boat goes over, the tower stops paddling, the towline goes slack, and can be taken off. Could it also be useful for the towed boat to have a quick release attachment? Are there any tow systems which allow for this? -- Cheers, Peter Treby *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
>Rob wrote: >Could it also be useful for the towed boat to have a quick release >attachment? Are there any tow systems which allow for this? My boat has a pair of small cleats just forward of the cockpit coaming. They came factory installed as part of a "paddle park" system, but something similar could be retrofitted to most hard shelled boats. I run a line from one cleat up through the bow U bolt and back down to the opposite cleat. Any pontential tower is instructed to clip into the line, not the U bolt, at the bow. If I need to slip the tow at my end, I just release one end of the line and pull it through the U bolt and towline clip. I have to haul the line in, and I can't re-thread it at sea without help from another boat, but if I was being re-hooked up for a tow, there always would be another boat. I expect folding boaters could rig an equilivant system with D-rings on webbing loops, attached to wide, stress-dispersing patches on the skin, and perhaps connecting through to appropriate places on the frame... Philip *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 4/4/2005 9:55:35 PM Pacific Standard Time, ptreby_at_ozemail.com.au writes: As an exercise, I have tried deliberately going over in a 3-4 knot current while towing. Rolling up was OK. As soon I stopped paddling and went over, the towline went slack. If a capsized towed boat is being pulled backwards by current or breaking wave, in current, when the tower stops towing, both boats then drift at the same rate, and the tow can be unclipped. With a breaking wave, the wave passes, and the tow can be unclipped. Quick release might be needed if one boat becomes stuck. What if the towed boat becomes jammed on a rock or jetty, while being towed in a current? The towing boat then tries to disengage while the tow line is under tension. While pulling back to get slack in the line, the towing boat goes broadside to the current and capsizes. The tower cannot roll up against the current... trouble, time for the knife. Perhaps it is unsafe to tow near obstacles in current. Perhaps when towing a knife should be handy. In the towing situations I can think of, if the towed boat goes over, the tower stops paddling, the towline goes slack, and can be taken off. Could it also be useful for the towed boat to have a quick release attachment? Are there any tow systems which allow for this? I was with a friend who built an SOF for a trip and when I looked at his minimalist deck lines with an eye for towing points in case the need arose, he asked me to clip it to where he could release it if he had to. That said, I like the bale on Wichard snap hooks as it is wide and the hook part requires a bit less motion to undo. If the deck lines allow for the hook to be drawn to within reaching distance then the hook can be be undone by pulling it within reach. If I was the tower and upside down the belt or deck bag would be off before the tow could do that though. On other issues, a tow can go bad and require quick release. Why wait for the wave to pass? Dump it and start over. Hopefully, your other mates will be able to clip on quickly and let you get reset. Let's just assume a tower has a 20' line with 2 biners on either end. The tower clips one biner to a deck line and the other to the towee. It could be released in many situations but as the time of that release increases because of sea state the less desirable it would be to have that tow in place any longer than one has to. A quick release system can be made cheaply with basic components from a marine chandlery and a couple hours time. The easiest system to make is a deck mounted one. 1 pair of bolts and nuts for the jamcleat and 1 pair for the fairlead. Took 20 minutes. A throwbag that is easily stuffable is all that is required after that. Releasing it takes 1 second. Harold wrote: "One additional advantage of a body-mounted tow system over a boat-mounted system is the higher towing point it provides. The higher the rope is secured above the deck, the less the tow rope tends to hook over the stern of your boat or foul in your rudder. If the rope hooks over your stern, the towed boat will constantly pull your boat off course as it veers off to one side or the other. It is also easier to reach back and grab the rope to clear it off the stern when issuing from the middle of your back." My waist belted tow systems have never given me a body blow because I wear them around my hips which takes a pretty good load. I prefer deck mounted because I do not appreciate the higher center of gravity of a pfd system in rougher water. I've not seen the towed boat influence my direction because it hooked over my stern. Clearing the line of a rear deck snag is not hard because I prefer a clean rear deck. Choices, choices, choices. I do advocate that people have a readily deployable and releasable towing system, after that I like what you like. Rob G *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I think someone mentioned using spinnaker quick release snaplinks for towlines. If you use these it may be worth checking the snaplink for weak points. I had such a snaplink in a towline system a while ago. In practice towing, I gave it a sharp tug to release it, and it flew apart. A split ring connection to the snaplink had straightened out. These spinnaker snaplinks are a little heavy, too. Cheers, PT *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
So let's consider the following scenario. You are towing someone with the towline hooked to a carabiner which is hooked to deck line or other stationary object within arms reach of the cockpit. You are towing in a strong current and you capsize. Do you want to take the extra time to locate the carabiner, take up slack (remember there is a large weight now moving in the current), and figure our how to undo the carabiner? I don't. Locating the line with a quick release jam cleat requires a single motion. Also consider this scenario with a tow belt - a quick release is a must. happy towing sid -----Original Message----- From: Peter Treby <ptreby_at_ozemail.com.au> To: PaddleWise_at_paddlewise.net Sent: Tue, 05 Apr 2005 07:54:54 +1000 Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Towlines 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? Cheers, PT *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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