Every cruising sailboat needs a dinghy, or tender to get from the boat to shore, but not all boats are large enough to carry one on deck. Here's how to safely tow your dinghy astern.
There are many dinghy alternatives for the smaller yacht, including rigid boats that can be taken apart, and stowed in nesting sections, much like a set of cookware, and inflatable boats that can be deflated after each use and rolled up to fit in a below decks locker. Each of these systems are okay for long passages far from land, where you will not need the dinghy, but this kind of stowing is a lot of work if you are cruising along a coast stopping every night to anchor and needing your dinghy every day. For this type of cruising, it's much more convenient to simply tow the dinghy behind the mother ship.
Towing a small boat has its drawbacks, however, ranging from increased drag that will affect your sailing speed, to hassles when coming alongside a dock and to the danger of the dinghy smashing into your stern in rough conditions or even getting lost due to a parted towline.
If you want to tow your dinghy despite these considerations, here's what you need to know to do so safely. First and foremost you must make sure your dinghy has a strong attachment point near its bow for fastening the towline. Most dinghies that are lost while towing are lost because this attachment point failed. Inflatable dinghies are notorious for having inadequate attachment points for towlines. Inflatables don't tow well anyway, as they tend to create suction in the water and really produce drag that will slow your sailing speed. Rigid dinghies tow far better, and it is usually easy to fit a strong stainless steel eye somewhere near the bow to attach the line. For added security, don't tie the very end of the towline to this attachment eye. Instead, leave a few extra feet on the end of the line and tie this around a seat or other strong point inside the boat. This way, even if the bow eye fails, the dinghy is still attached to the tow line.
The attachment point on the stern of your sailboat is equally important, of course, to the attachment on the dinghy. Most likely you will already have a convenient stern cleat or eye that can be adapted for the purpose. Many cruisers like to rig a bridle with two lines attached to the boat and connected to the single line a few feet astern so that the dinghy follows directly behind the boat and not off to one side. No matter where you attach your dinghy towline to the boat, make sure it can be quickly thrown off in an emergency and make sure the tow line is at least 100 feet long so you can adjust it for varying conditions. In rough following seas, towing the dinghy far behind the boat will prevent it from surfing down a wave and crashing into your stern. In busy harbors or while docking, you may want to draw the dinghy up to within a few feet of your stern.
Needless to say, the towline should be strong, and ideally elastic. Nylon line is good for elasticity, but polypropylene line of the sort used to tow water skiers is good because it floats. This is important during maneuvers such as anchoring or backing the boat, when the towline can go slack and sink. A sinking towline can find its way under your boat and get fouled in the prop, creating a big mess and a major hazard if you are in a difficult situation. If you use a line that does not float on its own, attach floats to it so this cannot happen.
These are the main points to consider when towing your dinghy. Keep an eye on it if conditions deteriorate, and be prepared to haul it aboard if you get caught in a severe storm. Otherwise, properly secured, your dinghy will obediently follow wherever the mother ship goes and always be in the water and at your disposal when you reach that secluded anchorage and are ready to go to the beach.
