# Dinghy towing line recommendation



## TakeFive (Oct 22, 2009)

I'm considering ordering some floating dinghy towing line from West Marine:

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/new-...floating-dinghy-tow-rope--2671642?recordNum=1

What is a good guideline for the length of the line that I should purchase? I realize that I may want to shorten to get the dinghy location "in phase" with my boat's wake, but I want to make sure I don't come up short. I have a 34' boat with 9' inflatable dinghy, total dinghy weight about 110 pounds.


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

I used a towing bridle which has a float and is connected to two stern cleats with a 3/8" polyester line about 50' long with a heavy snap hook in the center... so the effective length is 15' plus the bridle's 10 or so. The dinghy bow line is also quite long... and it's a security line... I can trim the dink easy easy... I don't worry about sinking lines... nor want to use floating lines which are slippery and don't knot well I believe. I tow a 10' alum. RIB.


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

Depends on how fast you're going and I assume you are focused on motoring. If you tow, when sailing, tie it to leeward, like it was a drogue. Some drag can reduce the amount of rudder deflection, which is also drag. Not sure that's much of an offset, but it's something.

Anyway, I'm not an engineer, but it stands to reason, at hull speed, your wake it approx the length of your waterline. I think the dingy tows best, behind that. You don't want it closer and surfing down your wake or caught up in prop wash. 

Not sure if you're thinking a single line, bareboat style. That's cheapest and reducing cost is why they do it that way. However, I recommend a bridle that clips into the D-rings and then run 2 tow lines back to each stern cleat. Mine have big eye splices to just lay over the cleats, when we choose to tow. IIRC my tow lines are just off the shelf, pre-spliced dock lines. The bridle is also available at WM.


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

p.s. I use the polypropylene line you linked as a dinghy painter, not a tow line. They say it floats. Not so much once wet. 

It is not what I would consider a safety against wrapping your prop, if that's why you want it for towing. Still need to do it the old fashioned way and pull the dink in for maneuvering.


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## RichH (Jul 10, 2000)

A C34 has a LWL of approx 30 ft.
At hull speed (of approx 7.2Kts.), the wave train following in the wake will have an approx peak-to-peak length equal to the boat's LWL.

Therefore, the tow line total length to keep the dink riding on the 'back' of the first following wave while sailing at hull speed should be _greater_ than the 30ft. (not including 'knots' and cleat wraps, etc.) .... less for towing at lower than boat 'hull' speed', longer if youre surfing faster than 'hull speed'.


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

I think it depends what kind of towing you plan on doing. 110 pound linghy sounds like a roll up you can roll up down below or throw on deck offshore? If so, 50 ft might do the trick. If you tow it all the time, I would say longer. 100ft?

I'm not sure it's possible to go too long, but I would think it would be fairly easy to go too short.

It's a tough question, so many variables at play.


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

Minnewaska said:


> They say it floats. Not so much once wet.


I don't understand your post. All the polypro I've used was a hard plastic, completely unable to absorb water. It does float, even when it's 5 inches in diameter or more, braided and used as a tow line. That is why many tugs and barges use polypro tow lines rather than cable.


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## dadio917 (Apr 4, 2011)

When I got my last dinghy...an inflatable with inflatable floor, I was in the store and asked the clerk about length. Another shopper chimed in and said "get twice as long as think you'll need". It was good advice. I Don't ever let it all out for towing but have often needed to tie up in weird ways ,like to two different places, and having a really long line has come in useful. Also lets me lash it well to the deck. I bought some nice floating line that easy on the hands. It's held up well. Can't remember the brand. Anyways, you can always make it shorter!


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

RichH said:


> A C34 has a LWL of approx 30 ft.
> At hull speed (of approx 7.2Kts.), the wave train following in the wake will have an approx peak-to-peak length equal to the boat's LWL.
> 
> Therefore, the tow line total length to keep the dink riding on the 'back' of the first following wave while sailing at hull speed should be _greater_ than the 30ft. (not including 'knots' and cleat wraps, etc.) .... less for towing at lower than boat 'hull' speed', longer if youre surfing faster than 'hull speed'.


Not a good place to set the dink. Depending on the wave SPEND when running...the dinghy location is more critical.

It's best to have the dink ride forward of the crest of the wave... the tension on the line and therefore the drag is way reduced.... as the dink is almost... but not actually surfing down the wave. Under most conditions the wave is not steep enough for the dink to slide down the wave into the stern... especially when it's 23- 30 foot aft of your transom.

I am speaking from 10's of thousands of miles towing several dinks... but never ever with the OB on.


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## svselkie02 (Feb 6, 2017)

You want the dinghy on the forward face of the second or third wave back. If it's on the back of the wave, you're wasting energy towing it uphill all the time. A couple waves back will keep it from sledding into your boat. And the waves tend to move with the boat, anyway. I have a 60' floating line for my 33' boat that's really too long but I haven't measured by how much. I'd guess 50' max would suit you. Make sure it's a floating line, though.


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## colemj (Jul 10, 2003)

capta said:


> I don't understand your post. All the polypro I've used was a hard plastic, completely unable to absorb water. It does float, even when it's 5 inches in diameter or more, braided and used as a tow line. That is why many tugs and barges use polypro tow lines rather than cable.


We have used the line the OP is inquiring about (not for towing), and it is a soft braided polypropylene core with a nylon cover. The polypro floats, but the nylon sinks. Overall, it floats, but barely - not like stranded polypro like you are used to.

The OP should be aware that much of that 5,000lb breaking strength of that line is in the nylon cover, so watch for cover chafe, nicks, etc.

Personally, I wouldn't be OK with using it as a tow line, and would use a stronger line instead - with the requisite remembering to shorten when maneuvering, or using floats on it.

Mark


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

colemj said:


> We have used the line the OP is inquiring about (not for towing), and it is a soft braided polypropylene core with a nylon cover. The polypro floats, but the nylon sinks. Overall, it floats, but barely - not like stranded polypro like you are used to.
> 
> The OP should be aware that much of that 5,000lb breaking strength of that line is in the nylon cover, so watch for cover chafe, nicks, etc.
> 
> ...


OK, thanks. I guess I've never encountered the line you are discussing.


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## fallard (Nov 30, 2009)

I use a 30' New England Ropes floating dinghy line for my ~300# RIB (with 100# OB). it is spliced to a towing eye on the dinghy and is used as a painter as well as a tow line. The dinghy has rings for a bridle, but I haven't had any issues towing from a single point on the dinghy and securing the other end (which also has a spliced eye) to a single cleat on my 35' sailboat. 

When our boat speed is up, we add another 30 or so feet of non-floating Dacron braid to work the hull wave. As we slow down approaching a harbor, we pull in the non-floating tow line and then haul the dinghy close as we near a dock, mooring, or anchoring place. 

The New England dinghy line has a nice "hand"--especially in comparison to poly lines and is much easier to cleat off. It also holds up well over time. 

P.S. For many years we used an Avon roll-up (110#) with a 30# OB. When sailing more than 25 miles, we would hang the OB on the stern pulpit and haul up the dinghy using a halyard and stow it on the foredeck. That meant deflating it and tying it off to keep the genoa sheets from snagging it. We rolled it up to keep the anchor locker and bow cleats clear. Even with an electric inflator/deflator, it was a pain. Subsequently, we have become quite comfortable with the compromises in towing the heavier dinghy.


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## colemj (Jul 10, 2003)

fallard said:


> I use a 30' New England Ropes floating dinghy line


This is the same line the OP links to in his post, as well as the one we have experience with as a painter.

Mark


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

capta said:


> I don't understand your post. All the polypro I've used was a hard plastic, completely unable to absorb water. It does float, even when it's 5 inches in diameter or more, braided and used as a tow line. That is why many tugs and barges use polypro tow lines rather than cable.


The line the OP linked to has the polypropylene line you're think of as a core. It has a nylon cover over that core. When water logged, the cover weighs it down.

Buying just the core is an option and it does float. Personally, I hate the feel of uncovered poly in my hand. Feels like a rope burn waiting to happen.


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## RichH (Jul 10, 2000)

SanderO & svselkie02 -

With a dink sliding down the face of a wave the dink has a quite increased probability to 'slew', trip and then capsize ... thats my experience for many thousands of miles and acknowledging that the dink has a hull speed of its own. 

My preference is to get the middle of dink somewhere ON the peak of the wave. All depends on how much friction is generated by the dink which can keep the tow line relatively taught, all depends on how much friction is generated. 

The important issue of my post is that the % hull speed will determine the length between the peaks of the stern waves ... and that will be in multiples of LWL when at hull speed.


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## sailingfool (Apr 17, 2000)

TakeFive said:


> I'm considering ordering some floating dinghy towing line from West Marine:
> 
> https://www.westmarine.com/buy/new-...floating-dinghy-tow-rope--2671642?recordNum=1
> 
> What is a good guideline for the length of the line that I should purchase? I realize that I may want to shorten to get the dinghy location "in phase" with my boat's wake, but I want to make sure I don't come up short. I have a 34' boat with 9' inflatable dinghy, total dinghy weight about 110 pounds.


I bought the Dingy Tow Rope this year and found it an excellent solution. I went with a length of 1 and 1/2 boat lengths, doing it again I would probably do 2 boat lengths. For discussion see 




I found this rope to float quite well, wet or not. The problem with using straight polypropylene line for a tow rope is that it degrades quickly in sunlight, and might fail when it would be most inconvenient for it to do so...
The UV resistance of polypropylene and polyester explained This is why NE Ropes puts a nyloin cover on the Dingy Tow Rope.


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

I thought it was a practical video, I have a couple of observations.

In the first to towing video, the dinghy was really dancing around, I would have trouble putting up with that for more than a few minutes. The tow line was too short, no bridle and she was out of sink in some decent sized waves.

In the final stern tow, she was towing much better. There was a bridle, but the tow line was quite a bit longer (I think) and the seas were flat.

So to me, it was a bit hard to tell if the change was due to the bridle, due to the longer tow, due to the sea state, or a little bit of each.


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

Dink was towed way too far back. Here is a typical tow... dink can be trimmed by changing the length of the black line connected to the bridle.... the painter is the security line ... slack. It's not fair in this photo... my bad.


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## chef2sail (Nov 27, 2007)

I tired of towing a dinghy . All the machinations and constantly looking back. We once caught it on a crab pot line. Having to pull the engine on the rail on any sort of longer trip. Dealing with maneuvering it when going into the slip or pulling up to get fuel/ pumpout. I saw no advantage to doing that Once we installed davits ( you have them too.) . It simplified things in terms of recovery and aggravation. Especially docking . Our 6:1 Garhauer davits make lifting the dinghy easy and a simple quick process, even tough it blocks the stern ladder . 

Our prolypropaline dinghy towing line with bridal and center float has not moved out of our locker in almost 8 years now.


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

chef2sail said:


> I tired of towing a dinghy . All the machinations and constantly looking back. We once caught it on a crab pot line. Having to pull the engine on the rail on any sort of longer trip. Dealing with maneuvering it when going into the slip or pulling up to get fuel/ pumpout. I saw no advantage to doing that Once we installed davits ( you have them too.) . It simplified things in terms of recovery and aggravation. Especially docking . Our 6:1 Garhauer davits make lifting the dinghy easy and a simple quick process, even tough it blocks the stern ladder .
> 
> Our prolypropaline dinghy towing line with bridal and center float has not moved out of our locker in almost 8 years now.


That's one solution.... towing for me is no problem at all.... I use a demountable Garhaurer crane to lift the OB and stow it on the rail... (I can work on it there too easily if need be)... Lift the OB takes a few minutes and a child has the strength to do it... I am sure less than lifting a dink. I don't do slips and coming along side for fuel, water or boarding passengers simply means towing the dink with the bow line only tied off to port as I come along starboard side to. When we do a trip I attach the bridle rig... two snap hooks to the tow rings... takes a minute... tied them off to stern cleats. It takes a couple of minutes to trim the dink once underway and that depends on conditions... we tow it close until we're on our way so to speak.

We use the boarding ladder on the transom from the dink which works fine too.

Davits are extremely ugly in my opinion despite they're being practical. Aesthetics are very important to me. Same applies to the bimini...practicle for being behind the helm, but ugly as hell Don't need one because I don't drive the boat from the helm... AP does it. I would use davits offshore and would ONLY have stowed dink. I have two dinks... one with an inflatable floor... which will be used for passages.

Davits seem to be increasingly popular in the high 30s to mid 40s boats.


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## chef2sail (Nov 27, 2007)

SanderO said:


> That's one solution.... towing for me is no problem at all.... I use a demountable Garhaurer crane to lift the OB and stow it on the rail... (I can work on it there too easily if need be)... Lift the OB takes a few minutes and a child has the strength to do it... I am sure less than lifting a dink. I don't do slips and coming along side for fuel, water or boarding passengers simply means towing the dink with the bow line only tied off to port as I come along starboard side to. When we do a trip I attach the bridle rig... two snap hooks to the tow rings... takes a minute... tied them off to stern cleats. It takes a couple of minutes to trim the dink once underway and that depends on conditions... we tow it close until we're on our way so to speak.
> 
> We use the boarding ladder on the transom from the dink which works fine too.
> 
> ...


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## TakeFive (Oct 22, 2009)

To clarify for all, I do have davits. But last season whenever we spent consecutive nights in two different anchorages, we towed the dinghy. We were sailing inshore, generally in gentle conditions. Hopefully our new dinghy will be easier to hoist in the davits, and we'll choose to not use a tow rope. But I ordered some just in case, since I would like to have a floating rope available with good hand, instead of the crap polypropylene braided stuff that I have now. I could still cancel the rope order, since WM has it on backorder, but I think I'll stick with it.

chef - I'd like some hints on how to best attach my new inflatable-floor dinghy for both towing and for hoisting in the davits. The stern is easy because of the lifting points on the transom. But the bow is tougher, because I don't want to end up ripping off the D-rings. For davits, do you just use the internal D-rings on each side, or do you have a strap that goes through the external towing D-rings, then under the hull to keep the stress off the D-rings? With the inflatable floor, there is no hard attachment point at the bow like there is at the transom.


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

@chef...

I comment for my own views on my boat. Other sailors can do whatever pleases them. I would never say anything insulting to another person about aesthetics. I was not intending to insult you or sailors with davits or biminis. I also have a dodger and I love it.... It kinda low but it does the job... Helming to to fuel dock I can see over it and don't look through the plastic windows

Lifting the motor is part of sailing prep. When we are cruising we just toss the bridle in the dink in port detaching the snap hook on the double tow line and leave it in the cockpit tied to the cleats... ready to go by snapping it on the the bridle.

Most of my sailing for the last 10 years or so was in southern NE and up to main. I've been in nasty conditions... but never had a problem with the dink. It has on a few occasions slide down a wave and almost reached the transom.... but this is hardly a reason to install davits. Steering is often boring and when that's the case I use the AP... and then I can trim, navigate, plan, watch, cook, use the head, repair something and so forth. My wife doesn't steer and refuses to. So different strokes as they say.

I don't lash the dink to the bow but stow it in a cockpit locker on passage.

Towing can be easy and reliable. It DOES slow the passage when the dink has a foul bottom.


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## chef2sail (Nov 27, 2007)

TakeFive said:


> To clarify for all, I do have davits. But last season whenever we spent consecutive nights in two different anchorages, we towed the dinghy. We were sailing inshore, generally in gentle conditions. Hopefully our new dinghy will be easier to hoist in the davits, and we'll choose to not use a tow rope. But I ordered some just in case, since I would like to have a floating rope available with good hand, instead of the crap polypropylene braided stuff that I have now. I could still cancel the rope order, since WM has it on backorder, but I think I'll stick with it.
> 
> chef - I'd like some hints on how to best attach my new inflatable-floor dinghy for both towing and for hoisting in the davits. The stern is easy because of the lifting points on the transom. But the bow is tougher, because I don't want to end up ripping off the D-rings. For davits, do you just use the internal D-rings on each side, or do you have a strap that goes through the external towing D-rings, then under the hull to keep the stress off the D-rings? With the inflatable floor, there is no hard attachment point at the bow like there is at the transom.


The key here is to have the dinghy tight with no movement to chafe it or ut unnecessary strain on the D rings. Once cinched the dinghy is one with the boat. This is very important as there is no motion

I use the internal d rings

We use two adjustable web straps for the D rings and the thru transome bolts. Each stap has two legs kand attaches to the rings coming together to a stainless O ring. The O ring attaches to the davit lifting line one each end. To keep the weight off the davits we use simple 1" webstraps 18 ft long pulled in tight to the stern rail. Two small fenders attached to the stern rail permanent serve as a cradle also. The D rings were fine for 9 years and only this year I had- to re- glue one on.

We stayed away from the slings as we felt the rub would saw through the dinghy fabric" remember we also have a dinghy cover which prevents strap rub also. Took it off last week or I could send a pic.

We use something like the fifth on down. 
C-Level products


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

Not sure how much role aestethics need to play in dinghy stowage. I had davits on my last boat, and don't even recall thinking about how it looked.

Stern tow I rarely used, just for short hops, an hour or less. Medium distance and fair to moderate conditions, it would go in the davits and in nasty or unknown conditions it would go on the foredeck, it is a hard shell, so stowage below wasn't an option. I got pooped a couple of times with it in the davits, which resulted in a gong show.

My current boat is too small for davits and too weight sensitive to have it on deck, so I have to tow, which means I often don't bring it with me.

Bimini is the same. I like it because it keeps the rain off my head, but if it's really windy, I'll fold it down to improve aerodynamics.


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## fallard (Nov 30, 2009)

TakeFive said:


> To clarify for all, I do have davits. But last season whenever we spent consecutive nights in two different anchorages, we towed the dinghy. We were sailing inshore, generally in gentle conditions. Hopefully our new dinghy will be easier to hoist in the davits, and we'll choose to not use a tow rope. But I ordered some just in case, since I would like to have a floating rope available with good hand, instead of the crap polypropylene braided stuff that I have now. I could still cancel the rope order, since WM has it on backorder, but I think I'll stick with it.


It's always a good idea to have a floating painter for those times you are at anchor and choose to leave the dink in the water overnight or for a day or two. You never know when you may have to-or want to-move your boat on short notice in a crowded anchorage or when you may want to deploy a second anchor. Your NER dinghy line purchase is money well spent.

BTW, I've had inflatables set up for bridles for over 20 years but we have never used a bridle. Despite getting caught in some unexpectedly snotty conditions while towing with a painter, we've never had a problem. Our heavier RIB, with its V hull tracks better than the roll-up (inflatable shallow keel) and its heavy enough that we don't worry about it flipping over under the conditions that we are willing to sail in. That said, we would haul the lighter dinghy on deck when in doubt.


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

When on the mooring or anchored our dink is secured by a single dinghy pennant to the bow eye (alum hull). We keep it quite close in despite the line being 30' or so because it also is the security line when towing and the tow is usually at least 20 feet or more astern.

Floating lines are not necessary. If I had to quickie fire up the engine and move... the pennant is easy reach from the helm and I can loop it around a winch to shorten it by several feet without even untying the cleat. If I am backing I shorten is way in as necessary from the helm.

Current dink...


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## fallard (Nov 30, 2009)

SanderO said:


> When on the mooring or anchored our dink is secured by a single dinghy pennant to the bow eye (alum hull). We keep it quite close in despite the line being 30' or so because it also is the security line when towing and the tow is usually at least 20 feet or more astern.
> 
> Floating lines are not necessary. If I had to quickie fire up the engine and move... the pennant is easy reach from the helm and I can loop it around a winch to shorten it by several feet without even untying the cleat. If I am backing I shorten is way in as necessary from the helm..


Floating lines are not necessary if you always remember to bring the dink in short. Not being perfect, there are those few times I was grateful for a floating line. When sailing, backups (e.g., floating line) are good.


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## sailingfool (Apr 17, 2000)

fallard said:


> Floating lines are not necessary if you always remember to bring the dink in short. Not being perfect, there are those few times I was grateful for a floating line. When sailing, backups (e.g., floating line) are good.


As to the importance of a floating line, consider the situation that you fall overboard on a breezy day, the well-trained SO manages her/his panic and successfully maneuvers the boat back near you, starting the engine and engaging the gear to maintain position. Who can't see what comes next?


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

sailingfool said:


> As to the importance of a floating line, consider the situation that you fall overboard on a breezy day, the well-trained SO manages her/his panic and successfully maneuvers the boat back near you, starting the engine and engaging the gear to maintain position. Who can't see what comes next?


not gonna happen and my rig will not wrap the prop... Can't comment on other rigs.


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## caberg (Jul 26, 2012)

Man some of you guys way over think how to tow a dinghy. Just pull it in and let it out until it rides just right. You know it when you see it. All that analysis above about back and front of following wave this many feet x hull speed... makes me wonder how anyone can relax when sailing.


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

caberg said:


> Man some of you guys way over think how to tow a dinghy. Just pull it in and let it out until it rides just right. You know it when you see it. All that analysis above about back and front of following wave this many feet x hull speed... makes me wonder how anyone can relax when sailing.


hahahahahahaha

For me it's not an intellectual exercise... I just rig the dink and tow it so it seems right....


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## TakeFive (Oct 22, 2009)

Back to the original subject, I did buy the line that I was inquiring about. If I don't use it for my dinghy, I think it will be good with my Chinese knockoff Danforth anchor with no chain at 2:1 scope in a creek with reversing tidal currents.



...and 20' away from that other boat behind me.


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## chef2sail (Nov 27, 2007)

Were you planning on a stern anchor with that...or a kedge? Or a lunchhook


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## aeventyr60 (Jun 29, 2011)

caberg said:


> Man some of you guys way over think how to tow a dinghy. Just pull it in and let it out until it rides just right. You know it when you see it. All that analysis above about back and front of following wave this many feet x hull speed... makes me wonder how anyone can relax when sailing.


6Give that man a very large cold BEER!


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