Towing boat behind the houseboat

[sintax]

does anyone have any tips for towing a boat behind the house boat?

whats the best length of rope to use?

 

[renodaytona]

50-75' is what we have always done.

 

[J DUNN]

I tow every year at Powell. 2 boats, my brothers 26' surf boat and my 28' Cobalt. I learned a lot from the website below. If towing one boat then a bridle setup is ideal for turning and spreading load. I used info from website below and copied hardware and rope types but drastically reduced the length to suit my smaller boats and lake towing. I hope it helps, tons of info in the website posted below.





Towing Setup

 

[hallett21]

75 on boat 1 and 150 on boat 2.

 

[sintax]

great info, thank you guys. I'll review the site.

I THINK we're towing 1 28' Cheetah fastcat and 2 seadoos

 

[mesquito_creek]

Use a crazy strong rope… not a ski rope or anything close to it. I think we used 3/8 or 1/2 inch braided dock line. Some heavy duty tube tow ropes work too.

 

[sintax]

Use a crazy strong rope… not a ski rope or anything close to it. I think we used 3/8 or 1/2 inch braided dock line. Some heavy duty tube tow ropes work too.

yea, honestly I was going to stop by Spany's and have them make me some ropes.

I'm assuming there will be eyes on the back of the rental houseboat. I'm going to get 2 25' 7/16" "tow ropes" as they call them to use as the bridle, and see if I can have them make me a 50' to use as the lead

25' X 7/16" Tow Line-Silver

25' X 7/16" Tow Line-Silver

www.spankysrvonline.com

 

[Echo Lodge]

Found a pic of our first HB trip on Powell... Wouldn't recommend this setup! Looking back I think we were lucky!

This was from today. Our HB comes with a tow rope.

 

[Nanu/Nanu]

By no means is what i am about say gospel, its only what has worked for my group.

I carry like 3 150' 3/8"lines on my boat so i grab two of them. We usually put boat one 100-125' back tie off to rear cleat on right side (the side doesn't matter). Boat 2 stays in front of boat 1 with a buffer zone so like 50-75' back. Get tied off to the left side rear cleat. Too much length going through the switch back no wakes you have to go super wide or you get ropes from farthest back boat crossing over over closest boat. Keep them back just enough and the rope will rub but not cross over and you give yourself some more maneuverability.

Im not sure what the opening to warm creek looks like right now from the main channel but there was some tight turns there. And going around the long way to antelope theres a switchback section too

I also suggest starting early in the morning. Water is way calmer and you have time to look for a camp. Typically everyone is moving at about 9am on the marina side so by 930 The boats start moving around. If youre not going to be able to get out of the marina by noon just be prepared to feel rushed trying to find a camp spot. You're going to be racing daylight and everyone else. Sometimes we see a lot of people just camp out in wahweap then break camp early in the morning to head up lake. We get up at 5 and roll out at 6 going up lake. Then wake up at 4 and get going by 430-5. Water gets nasty by the time you are leaving padre bay going to antelope or the the cut on your way back.

I apologize if this is not you first rodeo. Not trying to tell you how to run your ship. Just wanted to put it out there if a member who has not gone ever stumbles across the thread.

 

[Nanu/Nanu]

yea, honestly I was going to stop by Spany's and have them make me some ropes.

I'm assuming there will be eyes on the back of the rental houseboat. I'm going to get 2 25' 7/16" "tow ropes" as they call them to use as the bridle, and see if I can have them make me a 50' to use as the lead

25' X 7/16" Tow Line-Silver

25' X 7/16" Tow Line-Silver

www.spankysrvonline.com

I can almost promise you no eyes. Youll get cleats.

 

[Nanu/Nanu]

I tow every year at Powell. 2 boats, my brothers 26' surf boat and my 28' Cobalt. I learned a lot from the website below. If towing one boat then a bridle setup is ideal for turning and spreading load. I used info from website below and copied hardware and rope types but drastically reduced the length to suit my smaller boats and lake towing. I hope it helps, tons of info in the website posted below.





Towing Setup

That's a good idea because that moves the towing point to the center of the boat versus off the side.

 

[sintax]

By no means is what i am about say gospel, its only what has worked for my group.

I carry like 3 150' 3/8"lines on my boat so i grab two of them. We usually put boat one 100-125' back tie off to rear cleat on right side (the side doesn't matter). Boat 2 stays in front of boat 1 with a buffer zone so like 50-75' back. Get tied off to the left side rear cleat. Too much length going through the switch back no wakes you have to go super wide or you get ropes from farthest back boat crossing over over closest boat. Keep them back just enough and the rope will rub but not cross over and you give yourself some more maneuverability.

Im not sure what the opening to warm creek looks like right now from the main channel but there was some tight turns there. And going around the long way to antelope theres a switchback section too

I also suggest starting early in the morning. Water is way calmer and you have time to look for a camp. Typically everyone is moving at about 9am on the marina side so by 930 The boats start moving around. If youre not going to be able to get out of the marina by noon just be prepared to feel rushed trying to find a camp spot. You're going to be racing daylight and everyone else. Sometimes we see a lot of people just camp out in wahweap then break camp early in the morning to head up lake. We get up at 5 and roll out at 6 going up lake. Then wake up at 4 and get going by 430-5. Water gets nasty by the time you are leaving padre bay going to antelope or the the cut on your way back.

I apologize if this is not you first rodeo. Not trying to tell you how to run your ship. Just wanted to put it out there if a member who has not gone ever stumbles across the thread.

good notes...

1) this def IS our first rodeo (houseboat trip)

2) we did get the "board early" package, so from what I read we SHOULD be able to get them to give us our pre-check that evening so we can leave Antelope Marina first thing in the am.

I think right now i'm planning on doing 2 x 25' in a bridle back to a single point, and a 50' line off of that to the boat ( likely will dangle the seadoos off of the boat)

 

[paradise]

Just my .02 but I do not like doing two different length ropes. Our houseboat is pretty wide but we always do equal length ropes and as long as you keep everything taught you’ll have no issues.

We run 100’ of 5/8” line for the boats and 25’ x 1/2” ropes for the skis.

 

[Nanu/Nanu]

Just my .02 but I do not like doing two different length ropes. Our houseboat is pretty wide but we always do equal length ropes and as long as you keep everything taught you’ll have no issues.

We run 100’ of 5/8” line for the boats and 25’ x 1/2” ropes for the skis.

View attachment 1407103

Do you tow out of antelope or wahweap?

 

[paradise]

Do you tow out of antelope or wahweap?

Wahweap, we don't tow through the cut, usually hook up in warm creek if the cut is open, but we've obviously towed through antelope a few times these last few years. I usually just shorten the ropes going through.

 

[Nanu/Nanu]

Wahweap, we don't tow through the cut, usually hook up in warm creek if the cut is open, but we've obviously towed through antelope a few times these last few years. I usually just shorten the ropes going through.

What about the switch back no wake going to the dam? Do you tow through there or hook up on the dam side

 

[paradise]

What about the switch back no wake going to the dam? Do you tow through there or hook up on the dam side

We towed through that few years ago when it was really low and sharp. We just roughly halve the lengths of the first ropes to bring the boats closer. That said, I would probably just disconnect if it wasn't first thing in the AM...

 

[Nanu/Nanu]

We towed through that few years ago when it was really low and sharp. We just roughly halve the lengths of the first ropes to bring the boats closer. That said, I would probably just disconnect if it wasn't first thing in the AM...

Yeah thats the way to do it, get up early and head out before the chaos.

Im surprised the boats stayed separated. We do the 2 different lengths because 1 boat has always tracked differently than the other.

Haha thats pretty cool though. Thats why i try to put a disclaimer in my posts, theres so many ways to do the same thing.

 

[HST4ME]

Yeah thats the way to do it, get up early and head out before the chaos.

Im surprised the boats stayed separated. We do the 2 different lengths because 1 boat has always tracked differently than the other.

Haha thats pretty cool though. Thats why i try to put a disclaimer in my posts, theres so many ways to do the same thing.

tunnel boats tow straight, vees not so much. You want the tow side of the lines at least a foot above the tow point of the towed vessel.

 

[Boat 405]

does anyone have any tips for towing a boat behind the house boat?

whats the best length of rope to use?

Every year. I started using a V to tow behind the boat. 150' long rope, attached to a cleat on both sides of the boat. Been doing it like this for several years now. The boat would hunt at low speeds especially through a no wake zone with a single line attachment.

 

[sintax]

Just wanted to give a bit of a followup on this one in the event anyone needed info.

The ropes from Spanky's worked great (as always, they're awesome), I didnt end up doing the previously planned Y harness. I ended up dropping the 50' off of one side, and hooking the boat to that, and the 2 20's off of the other side with the seadoos in a line. It worked alright, no issues. As mentioned above, the boats do NOT have d-rings on the back, only cleats.

It was mainly just do the the fact I was trying to set this all up in the middle of the damn narrows while dealing with the wakes. Not ideal but the boat driver was bitching about having to motor through the narrows into Padre to hookup.

 

[Nanu/Nanu]

Just wanted to give a bit of a followup on this one in the event anyone needed info.

The ropes from Spanky's worked great (as always, they're awesome), I didnt end up doing the previously planned Y harness. I ended up dropping the 50' off of one side, and hooking the boat to that, and the 2 20's off of the other side with the seadoos in a line. It worked alright, no issues. As mentioned above, the boats do NOT have d-rings on the back, only cleats.

It was mainly just do the the fact I was trying to set this all up in the middle of the damn narrows while dealing with the wakes. Not ideal but the boat driver was bitching about having to motor through the narrows into Padre to hookup.

Thats a bummer you had a whiny pilot man. That is definitely not an ideal place to set up rigging for towing.

Thanks for following up for other members. How was the rest of your trip?

 

[sintax]

Thats a bummer you had a whiny pilot man. That is definitely not an ideal place to set up rigging for towing.

Thanks for following up for other members. How was the rest of your trip?

haha yea, its always a challenge dealing with a group.

all in all we had a great time, we ended up camping on the east-side of Camel Rock, with the intentions of relocating after a few days, but we never found a spot that was "as quiet" or "as nice" so we just stayed posted up there for the week.

Had great weather Sun-Thur, nice warm days, no winds, and the final 2 days we had evening storms, but they were VERY mild and just added to some of the enjoyment of being out at Powell.

We ran up to Rainbow Bridge one day, spend a few days hanging and floating in the coves, got to enjoy the Rock Creek arch before it fell. I'm still surprised it feel honestly, that thing was pretty stout.


Some rando pics