Rubber ducks

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porth

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West Norway
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Will shortly be buying one of these (the boring, grey, outboard powered variety) and was wondering; do people always lift them out onto the foredeck if going offshore, or is it generally ok to tow them in reasonable weather conditions? We dont have them here in Western Norway for some reason. Put another way, how easily do they flip over when being towed?
 
I think it was in one of the mags, but I read a report about towing the tender log distance and it seemed you half boaters are better off side-towing with a bow and stern line than towing behind. It is recommended that you build a cover to keep it from filling with water.

Personally if I am leaving my tender inflated I put it on the foredeck.
 
They can flip, but the main reason for not towing them for extended distances is because the securing points are never really up to it. They are generally D rings held by rubber or plastic tabs and are prone to ripping and will wear through quite quickly. Once they do there is no really satisfactory repair.
 
mine hangs on davits at the stern. I do have to watch the amount of water in it as even with the drain open, it can easily have 10 gallons in it. - thats due to the deep V inflated keel, which is great when boat is in the water, but is a real PITA when on the davits.
 
We have towed ours (an old Achilles) and it sits very well and rarely flips over. BUT IT CAN, so make sure you never tow with the outboard still on it.

Big winds are a pest, so it's better on kinder days.

On the other hand the wooden tender we have seems to be very happy even if it's quite rough.

The extra drag on both, is however, well, ... a drag!
 
I tow mine everywhere, on a short bridle, maybe 1.5m behind the boat. I've never had a suggestion of any tendency to flip, up to F6 gusting 7 in the Solent. I don't do F8+!

It's my liferaft as well, so I don't want to deflate it and it doesn't fit on the foredeck when blown up. I reckon it costs me the best part of 1/2 a knot of speed, so I'd quite like an alternative, but haven't yet come up with one that I'm happy with
 
They do flip! and when upside down in the water the solid wooden transom makes a good sea anchor.

Mine was on a 6' painter in f5 ish between Puffin Is & Conway when it lifted clean out of the water, span a couple of times at full stretch, then fell back in the water upside down. Of course, we were doing about six knots so when the dinghy hit the water there was a slight tug and then we had the painter & s/s ring only.

It was quite a struggle to turn & pick it up being short handed (& in fairly short steep seas due to shallow water & strong tide/wind).

Now I only tow in F3 or less - and usually with twin painters. Rest of the time she is deflated, rolled & stored on the aft cabin roof. I have recently bought davits with a view to carrying her upside down to eliminate rainwater issues.
 
After watching an Avon twirl like a demented dervish at the end of a longish line, I started lifting the bow of the rubber dinghy up to the pushpit and attaching it tightly. It seems to cause less drag and seems secure - only gets water in it from rain and really rough weather.
 
If you tow it on a long line there is more chance of it flipping as others have said. They are quite hard to flip back again and you will be quite suprised how much force is on it even at a couple of knots especially if it is inverted. A long line also risks fouling your own propellor. If you do tow then removing outboard and oars is obviously a good idea.
 
Ours flipped when it was tied to the back of Superstrath's anchored Prout. Prior to that it had been levitating perfectly out of the water. And, yes, the outboard and oars were attached.. The wind was starting to get up at the time.
 
Hi, After we sold our Catalac the new owners hung a RIB on the back, while comming round the Lizard with a large following sea and wind the extra weight of the dinghy and water in it lowered the stern to the point that the sea filled the two rear lockers via the holes where the rudder bar passes. this the breached the bulkhead to the main lockers and filled the engines with water. They were towed in by the life boat after 2 large pumps were run.
Just a word of warning.
 
Well aware of that problem. My rear lockers have bilge pumps in them for just that reason. My dinghy even with the water in is a lot lighter than a rib, but a big solar panel over the davits doesnt help!
 
I would strongly recommend that you don't tow it. You will lose speed and pointing ability, the dinghy will almost certainly flip at some time and you will cause significant damage to the attachment points. If you must tow it bring the bow up on to the transom on a very short bridle and but something soft under the bow to stop chafe.

If you have the transom width to fit davits that's a good option or, if you have space, stow it upside down on the foredeck. Otherwise buy one that can be deflated easily and stow it below.
 
Re: Rubber Flubbers

It's hardly worth a Poll (or is it?) but I've always wondered how much you guys with punts parked on the foredeck, coachroof, slung in davits or towed astern actually use the darn thing.

I've always stowed the dinghy in its bag in a locker. A 12V pump makes nonsense of complaints about the time/effort taken to inflate it - and certainly makes deflation much easier.

Sometimes I've been affluent enough and/or going far enough to have a liferaft on board, sometimes not.

Now with shallow draft I need a dinghy far less, in fact it hasn't been out of its bag for over a year.

So what am I missing?
 
If it's got a wooden transome, fit a bridle from both quarters to the painter leaving a little slack at the bow, so the pressure is from the back but the bow will be pulled round to correct a slew. The boat will tow beautifully even with a motor attached ( but that's more drag) It's better to have the dingy aboard if possible, especially if the weather gets bad. One boat in the water is enough to think about at a time like that.
 
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