Another thread touched on some great tips about towing and calling for help. I wanted to put some tips up here that I've learned over the years but didn't want to hijack that thread. I seem to tow about one boat a year and here are some things I've learned.

-When you tow, attach the line from your stern tie down or a stern cleat. The lower the attachment point on your boat the better.

-If you have a tow bridle for your boat that's better than a single line attachment.

-The line should be attached to the other boat at his bow eye. You want it as low as possible to provide some lift to his bow. Attaching it to his bow cleat will tend to pull his bow down, making it plow through the water, and also make it more difficult for him to steer his boat.

-Tie a towel around the tow line about 2/3 the way to his boat. If the tow line breaks this will hopefully prevent the line from slingshotting into your boat and possibly injuring someone.

-If you have room to safely do it, load his passengers onto your boat. This reduces the weight of the towed boat which takes some of the load away from the towing boat. Everyone should remain seated for the entire tow.

-PFD's for everyone on both boats.

-Make sure his anchor is not down.

-Have the person in charge of the other boat stay aboard (with PFD on) and tell him to stay inside your wake. MAKE SURE HE/SHE IS SOBER and can understand your instructions. (Don't ask me how I know this one.)

-Have a sharp knife (serrated blades work best) ready in case you need to cut the tow line.

-As you come into the dock where he's going to tie up, you might want to pull his boat alongside yours and secure it to your boat. You'll have much better control of where his boat is going and you'll be able to guide him safely to the dock.

With today's fuel prices he should expect you to tow him only as far as the nearest place he can safely tie up. His truck and trailer may be further away, but unless you're a REALLY nice guy, that's HIS problem, not yours. Your concern should be getting him safely off the water.

Anyone else got any towing words of wisdom?

Good tips! No additional words of wisdom but a couple of questions...

What is best length tow rope to use? I would think longer is better but is there a point where the rope could be too long?

If passengers need to remain in towed boat, how should their weight be distributed bow to stern? Slightly aft of mid point?

I mentioned this in my vacation thread but while at lake on vacation I saw a pontoon boat towing a DNR center console in. Thought that kind of ironic.

Most XLNT tip! I hadn't thought of that, and have heard of ropes snapping into either boat!

Good advice. My towing karma bank should be in good shape after providing two tows this year. I like the towel idea. I haven't had a tow rope snap yet, but that's always in the back of my mind while towing.

HB, passengers in the the towed boat should have their weight toward the stern and distributed evenly left-to-right. You want the bow of the towed boat to ride a little high so it's now plowing water.

On the length of the tow rope, I think longer is better than shorter, but I wouldn't recommend tying two ropes together. The stress put on the knot by the tow will make it near impossible to get the knot apart.

I have a 5/8" 50' line that I've used a few times for towing. That length seems to work well for my boat. The only problem with having a shorter line is when you're stopping the tow boat. You want to be sure the towed boat doesn't glide into the stern of the tow boat.

BTW, keep in mind that you (as skipper of your boat) are responsible for the safety of your boat and your passengers. If the people in the boat you are about to tow do not comply with your instructions ("your passengers get aboard my boat, keep your weight balanced, etc.") I would seriously re-evaluate whether it is safe to tow them. Several years ago I refused to tow a boat where I felt they were too drunk and they would not come aboard my boat. I had a 20' boat, theirs was a 24' bowrider. I suggested they drop their anchor and wait for a larger boat.

I towed a friend in last week. Used a long rope and a bridle that went between the transom eyes on my boat and to a single point. Went slow and kept a very good eye on everything. I had not thought about the snap back effect, but will keep that in mind next time I need to tow.

Nice piece of advice on the towel, GFC. I'm going to tuck that one away for future reference.

Great thread, btw.

Most excellent info!

Worthy of a Sticky or Hall of Fame if we had one...or wherever we keep good to know/Boating 101 stuff on the forum....I guess this is the one...

Great post GFC.

Really good thread, thanks.

I tow 3-5 a year, we have a lot of older boats on Raystown, and am pleased at how the people react. All are very nice. We've been towed in twice as well. Can't have too much good Karma in the bank.

I bought for this very purpose, a very heavy-duty bridle which attaches to the transom tie-down brackets. I believe it's sold for the purpose of towing those really large inflatables. It has snap hooks for the brackets, and a large loop with a float on it for the towed end.

Never tow from your ski eye.

Also, GFC's towel suggestion is great, but remember to never allow passengers on either boat to sit near the tow rope.

Kind of a funny story on this. The last time I towed a boat (3 weeks ago), it was just me and my almost 3 yr old son on board. The disabled boat had 2 adult males and 2 adult females. They were nice enough, but didn't seem to understand why I wanted at least 2 of them in my boat. Once I explained that towing the least amount of weight was best... they understood. (I believe at least one of them to be an engineer for Caterpillar). I also wanted them in the boat to watch/keep track of my son while I was attaching my tow line. The real funny thing is that the one guy, Jake, actually kicked my son in the face as he was climbing up on the engine cover to tend to the line. It's funny because he didn't kick him hard or hurt him, but because I had them in to assist and make it safer for me and he kicked my kid!

Very good tips. Maybe a few additional points:
-A towing bridal on the towed boat works well. In other words, split the towline ahead of the towed boat, and tie to the two forwardmost cleats on the boat. This tends to keep the boat in a straight line, reducing 'wander'. This is somewhat combersome, and I would only bother on a longer tow.
-If the towed boat is an outboard, or outdrive, keep it in the down position. This keeps some drag aft, also reducing wander.
-As previously stated, take the towed vessel'on the hip' in close quarters; with practice, you will learn to handle both boats as one.
Glad to be back.

Also, the length of the towline can be critical in some conditions. In a steady roll, you want both boats to be 'in step', in other words, both boats should be on the same position of there waves, either climbing or falling off. This avoids the line slacking and then suddenly taking a strain, putting tremendous forces to work,
Am I explaining myself well enough? Again, not so important for a short tow on a lovely afternoon, more so in a long tow in bad weather.
Great topic.

flriverrat, good points. Especially about the length of the line and the two boats being "in step" with each other. I hadn't thought of being on a body of water where there are swells or where waves can stack up.