towing a raft behind your boat

[Mr.Stuart]

this may sound like a dumb question, but last weekend I went camping in a little 10 foot tri-hull, and I'm wondering what it would be like to pull a raft behind it and put the camping gear in the raft and tow it instead of piling the gear in the boat with us. the tri hull moves along pretty good with a 10 horse outboard, but goes dog slow when loaded to capicity

the raft in question is a 12 foot Sevylor fish hunter.

so what's it like towing something like that, and what's the do's and don'ts with it? is it a good idea or bad idea?

 

[EricR]

Re: towing a raft behind your boat

Don't see why not, as long as the water was calm, otherwise it may not work so well.

 

[Mr.Stuart]

Re: towing a raft behind your boat

the rivers I'll be using it on are generally pretty calm, I just think it would be easier to put the camping gear in the raft, rather then the boat and have myself some room to move about the boat, well, at least as much as one can move in a little 10 foot boat, plus, with the raft as a trailer of sorts, I can bring more camping gear.

 

[danond]

Re: towing a raft behind your boat

Use a long tow rope that floats. If you're not sure it'll float really well, tie a fender on to it about 5 feet away from the towboat so there's less chance of the rope hooking in the prop if the rope sinks or gets sucked down as you slow the boat down.

As you slow down, the raft will want to keep moving, so a long rope helps keep it from ramming into you.

Otherwise, have at it. I had a 15hp Yamaha on a 16ft aluminum Lund that did just fine loaded up with gear. Far from a speed demon but it got the job done.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: towing a raft behind your boat

the proper length of the rope is important. you have to adjust, the length to the conditions. you don't want the raft plowing into the water of the boat, as all that will do is increase drag, and slow you down, and over work the motor. try it with out the load. to get an idea.

 

[arboldt]

Re: towing a raft behind your boat

I don't know the water you'll be on, but that doesn't sound like a good idea to me. If your water is almost always calm, maybe ok.

I'd suggest you carefully examine what you're packing. With the size and weight limits, you might want to consider keeping yourself to backpack style / grade of gear. You can fit everything you need for over a week into a pack 40# or less, and that would surely fit your small trihull.

 

[INJUN]

Re: towing a raft behind your boat

I don't see any problems with pulling a raft, considering . . .
Keep the center of graivty in the raft low;
Watch your wake's affect as well as other waves;
Your boat will still be dog slow because the weight of the gear is the same as if it were on the boat (plus the weight of the raft itself);
The length of the tow rope. Keep the load in the raft aft so as to allow the front to not plow.

 

[triumphrick]

Re: towing a raft behind your boat

Tried that once and ended up fouling the motor with the tow rope. Good idea about using a fender or floating rope to keep out of the vortex. Maybe a chain of two or three of them and some distance behind you may work.
Also have you considered cinching up tight next to you, possible starboard side to free up port side for passing, etc? I never gave it a second try but had considered doin that.

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: towing a raft behind your boat

Slow and steady is the combo for safe towing. I'd do a few test cruises, first empty then loaded.

 

[bhammer]

Re: towing a raft behind your boat

It can be done. The only point I want to make is make sure it is a dual or mutli chamber raft. I say this from expirence as we towed one of those cheapy walmart rafts behind a 17' a couple of times. One time to many as we snagged something in the water and it popped a nice hole in it. 2 rods, 2 tackle boxes, bait and some other gear went sinking to the bottom of 15' of cold water.

It was a big enough hole that allowed water to be forced in when we were running under 10MPH and accelerated the problem.

 

[Mr.Stuart]

Re: towing a raft behind your boat

Wow, I wasn't expecting this many replies, thanks for your ideas, I'll put them to good use, I know I could probably do some refining with the camping gear, we did bring more stuff then we used on the last trip, so I know I can compact things a little bit, we had more food then we ate, more clothes then we wore, plus we packed along some fire wood, and ham radio gear, so we were loaded down pretty good, I weighed everything before we put it in the boat, and we were right at the 540 pound limit with people, motor, fuel, and gear, but we were also extremely cramped in that boat.

The raft has something like 5 chambers in it, so I think I'm safe there, I'll get the raft out next time we go out on the water and see how it handles empty both being towed, and also lashed to the side of the boat, although it doesn't sound very efficient to me to last the raft to the side of the boat, the thought of it just seems like it would be hard to control the boat with the raft lashed to the side, but then again, I've never tried it so maybe my thinking is way out in left field.

 

[arks]

Re: towing a raft behind your boat

I'll get the raft out next time we go out on the water and see how it handles empty both being towed, and also lashed to the side of the boat, although it doesn't sound very efficient to me to last the raft to the side of the boat, the thought of it just seems like it would be hard to control the boat with the raft lashed to the side, but then again, I've never tried it so maybe my thinking is way out in left field.

Well, the towing companies tow side-to quite often when transiting a narrow channel or operating at idle speed. From my experience, that's the best way to maintain control of the towed vessel.

2 other things come to mind with regard to towing this boat:
-I'm pretty sure the Sevylor "Fish Hunter" does not have a proper bow towing eye, which must be a few inches above the waterline to work properly.
-The lightweight (single-skin) PVC construction of the boat makes it impossible to inflate and maintain a "hard" exteroir. Heat from the sun will soften it significantly, making it more prone to stress and tearing.


If you really have to try towing, I'd tie side-to using the beefy oarlock sockets. Keep the lines snug and use lots of fenders to protect the PVC from damage. And tow only at no-wake speed.
I had a Sevylor raft several years ago and learned that it doesn't take much friction to open up a hole.

 

[Mr.Stuart]

Re: towing a raft behind your boat

I know those sevylor rafts arn't the greatest things in the world, but that's the only raft I got, I suppose it would probably do ok as long as I wasn't going very far with it.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: towing a raft behind your boat

My brother has a two man raft, kinda more like a little boat it has plastic oar locks and all, anyhow we loaded that raft down coolers tackle furniture tents no problem towing it with a 14hp I think it was and a 14 or 15' fishing boat, I remember him inflating the raft with a 12v pump then using a foot pump to get even tighter, he said I've done this before I really got to get this thing tight.

 

[sunaj]

Re: towing a raft behind your boat

I have a small sailboat bi-hull I fixed up for just this purpose, because of the design of the boat, bannanna shaped it wouldn't sit right in the water with an outboard (bow riding high), but I think it will tow well with this shape and make a good diving platform