Thoughts on using, stowing and deploying towlines and on making your own boat mounted tow system.

Introduction

Mike Buckley - 2004

My modified Knoydart tow-line bag mounted on the rear deck of my Quest.

Go to
"On Body" Options	Making a Tow Line	Boat Mounted Options	Modified Tow Line Bag	Conclusions

 

A tow-line is an essential item of safety-kit for a sea-kayaker, there are numerous variations on the theme and this article aims to give an overview of the concept and provide some food for thought on making, using and deploying them.

It’s not intended to be a definitive thesis on towing or tow-lines, but rather some thoughts and personal experiences by the writer – whether they are adopted by you is your decision and you should form your own judgement as to the merits or otherwise of these personal views. Suggestions for alterations, other ideas or improvements are welcome and you can contact me by email.

From personal experience, I believe a sea tow-line should fulfil these requirements:

• Simple, safe, foolproof, strong, reliable.
  
• Versatile – if it can serve other purposes such as a washing line, throw line or as a guy rope for a shelter, so much the better. It is however first and foremost an article of safety equipment and should be treated as such.
  
• “One action” deployment – ideally you should be able to release the line from its stowage in one action. Undoing clips and hooks and opening bags is easy in calm, practise conditions – doing the same when the boats are bouncing up and down in big seas is quite another. This was a crucial objective for me.

Why is a line essential? Well, apart from providing an instantly usable drying line for kayak camping, the ability to provide a quick and effective tow to help a paddler who is tired or injured or perhaps in difficulty can make the difference between a safe enjoyable trip and an incident!

Some brief examples:

• A tired paddler, in need of a rest or support in getting back to shore.
  
• An injured or ill paddler, in need of help to get to safety.
  
• A swamped boat, which needs to be towed away from a hazard while it’s pumped out, either by its paddler or someone else.

The Australian “New South Wales Sea Kayak Club” has an excellent article on towing - it goes into some depth on a variety of techniques so I won’t repeat it here, but it's well worth a look. This article from Atlantic Kayak Tours on towing techniques (.pdf) gvies some clear diagrams and descriptions of a varietuy of tows.

The author of the NSWSKC article, Dave Winkworth, makes some interesting points but I have personal reservations about his suggestion that “simple 50 mm stainless snap-links are fine for both ends of the line” – more on this later, but personal experience suggests that it’s a very good idea to be able to release the line from the towing boat quickly and easily and I am concerned about being able to do this efficiently with a snap link, especially in a hurry and if it’s under tension. An important safety point for you to consider with your personal set-up.

Interestingly, he also suggests that “15 meters of 3 mm cord” is being used by Aussie paddlers, as distinct from the braided, floating rope that most UK paddles use – perhaps worth experimenting with although 3 mms seems a bit thin?

The BCU "Canoeing Handbook" offers some thoughts as well, as do many of the other publications such as Hutchinson's "Sea Kayaking". Additionally, there are numerous coaching and technical articles available on the Web. A search through some of the links to other sites and publications listed in the Almanac will yield lots of ideas and the Safety & Rescue page has links to some other resources.

Tow-lines fall into two distinct categories, some form of "body mounted" (waist belt or BA/PFD mounted) system, and "boat mounted" tow-lines.

Each has its merits and disadvantages (in the context of use with a sea kayak) and a brief summary is as follows:

Line type	For	Against
Waist belt or Buoyancy Aid / Personal Floation Device mounted system	Very quick & easy to deploy. Easy to restow after use. Compact. Commercially available and reasonably inexpensive. Readily transferable as it goes with you when/if you change boats or paddle different boats on an outing. Doesn’t require boat-mounted hardware. Quick release buckle allows for safe release if necessary.	Many are too short! Typically 2 mtrs. Difficult to adjust length. (Although two suggestions to deal with this are to be found in the disussion here and Brian Nystrom has some interesting thoughts on modifying a North Water waist tow) The entire load is taken on your body - towing a loaded / swamped boat in big seas will put an enormous strain on you (or even cause serious injury), especially if you are surfed forward against the dead weight behind you! Not so easy to make your own. Often come with inadequate or inappropriate hooks - either plastic or aluminium alloy.
Boat mounted tow	Quick & easy to deploy. Ease of restowing (depending on set-up) Commercially available or easily homemade. Relatively inexpensive, especially if you just have a line which isn’t stored in a bag. Versatile, variety of uses. Any length you like. Length easily shortened in use. The boat takes the load, not your body. If you have to tow for 10 kms, that will make a difference! Quick release, as long as a cam-cleat or some other form of quick release is employed. Usually come supplied with a stainless steel hook.	Boat needs to be rigged with tow-cleat and “bull’s-eye”, so less transferable between boats. Stowage can be awkward after use. Can be fairly expensive if you buy a complete, commercially produced set-up. Often come with inadequate or inappropriate hooks - either plastic or aluminium alloy.