a different kind of wheeling

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by captpete13

I was just shackled into the bow eye. You would be suprised with how strong they are.


Sorry Destroyer but 90% of the time the bow eye is the ONLY thing that we tow from. If there is no bow eye then we use I bridal that uses two bow cleats. We only use a hull bridal if the boat is "high and dry".

Captpete13, I greatly respect your experience and your knowledge, but by every Coast Guard proceedure I've ever read and by everything I was taught in the Navy as a Bosun's Mate the proper way to tow a boat is a hull bridal. You pass a line thru the bow eye, down along one side, through the stern eyes, back up the other side, back through the bow eye and shackle it off around the tow line... that way all your force is on the stern with no chance of the bow eye pulling out and killing someone. You still have the control of a centerline bow eye tow but without the danger. I'm sure that for expediency you can just attach a line to the bow eye or the bow cleats, (certainly I've seen it done hundreds of times myself) but it's not the safest way to do a tow.

[captpete13]

I understand the theory and benefits of a hull bridal. But like I said before 90% of the time the bow eye will suffice. All of out boats ,except the 41' use poly towline which has very little stretch. So when something breaks it usually just drops.