# Rescue tow line



## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

scoman said:


> Today I sunk....
> Paddling over to Geoff I suddenly realize there is a problem. Im sitting really low and feeling realy unstable. Geoff notices and being only a few metres away I pass him my phone, fishing rods and most of my gear. I attempt to paddle and it becomes clear that I'm in real trouble and annouce I'm going in.
> 
> I'm in the water now and it is cold. I have no life jacket for the first time ever, my yak is unrideable and there are no boats in sight. Geoff and I discuss our options: Could I join him on the Outback? Could he tow me and the yak back? Should we call for a rescue?
> ...





occy said:


> Sorry guys no disrespect, but I have to say that on reflection none of those options really cuts the mustard in an emergency. I have all that stuff but as it's usually attached to the yak it would prove useless to me in an emergency I'm afraid.
> 
> Much to my dismay :? I have never even had a spare length of rope readily available for a rescue, let alone a proper emergency system such as this.
> Obviously I still have much to learn, and accordingly have just made a bid on this.


There are a few variations of a towline/rescue line.

Whatever you use, it should be able to be attached quickly, and most importantly, released quickly.

Two types that come to mind are:

1. Attached to rescuer 
2. Attached to rescue craft

Advantages/disadvantages for both. 
1 Adv - you can feel everything, so you generally know if its all going pear shaped behind you; Disadv - affects rescuer's performance, i.e. you can feel every jerk, and it interrupts your paddle cadence, particularly if the yak is heavy.
2. Adv - rescuer unhindered to concentrate on paddling technique and speed; Disadv - you may be unaware of a deteriorating situation behind

In whitewater we had mainly PFD harness rescue lines (quick release), but these are small yaks, and distances to safety (shore) were usually small. Bit different for ocean/lake, and bigger heavier yaks (SOTs). I wouldn't like to be faced with towing a 30+ kg yak for a few kms on a PFD line. Add some water, and you could have a 250 kg submarine to tow (interested to hear from Geoff how he went towing Mark's yak). Yak to yak would be the go here. One thing from sea yakking was, how much easier it is to tow a yak if there is a couple of metres of 5-10 mm bungy in the system.

One simple yak to yak system is: the tow line tied off behind the rescuer, then passing through your rear handle,to the disabled yak's front handle, and back thru your rear handle to a sailing cleat mounted within reach of the rescuer. Once again, a doubled 5 mm bungy through the rescued yak's front handle will make the tow more comfortable.

A rescue PFD (saw one at Roscos at Kedron recently) is about $330.

Repeat: importance of quick release if the yakker/yak being rescued is going to end it all for you as the rescuer.

Suggested research: tow/rescue systems for whitewater and sea kayak. Also on your next trip out, try towing a mate/mates yak just near the shore. Then try adding 100 litres of water and seeing how much difference there is...you might be surprised.

Cheers 
Trevor


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

I 2 different bits of cord/strapping in the seat pocket for emergency use. The shorter bit I've got is a flat strap for who knows where and it comes in handy to tie-up to mangroves if I need a break or need to get outand there's no bank to pull the kayak up onto. It also comes in hand when negotiating extremely shallow water, I use it like a dog leash and tow the kayak behind me.

The longer one is for if I every need to get towed but it's a disused anchor-trolley cord and might be a bit on the lightish side.


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## cheaterparts (Jul 3, 2010)

occy said:


> How many people even have a length of rope on their yaks for such scenarios?


50 meters of 6 mm rope on the anchour - bungy cord on the rod leashes that could be looped tegether - rope handles down both sides of the yak - and if that wasn't enough the anchour trolley rope if it was needed


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## eagle4031 (Jan 29, 2010)

yeah i was thinking anchor line too


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## cheaterparts (Jul 3, 2010)

occy said:


> I have all that stuff but as it's usually attached to the yak it would prove useless to me in an emergency I'm afraid.


I know this may seam like a silly question but how much rope do you need when an anchour rope isn't enough

saying that these ropes are attached to the yak - Unattach them - its quick to just cut them off with a knife
we are saying an emergency

i think that the saftey spool of rope you are looking at on Ebay is nice ,to me it wouldn't be high on my list as the is enough rope on my yak to dury rig a tow line or to lash yaks together


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## scater (Nov 24, 2007)

I think the point Paul is making is that if it's attached to your anchor, anchor trolley, possibly a float etc, it's nit readily available for use in an emergency.


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## GT79 (Mar 4, 2011)

In response to all related questions regarding our little " experience " the other day.
First of all my trip was a little rushed too, I normally carry about 5m of rope for exactly this reason. And a large sponge to remove water if needed.
What we used to tow the ' sub ' back was actually one of my rod/net leashes. Consisting of a home made stainless clip on one end, clipped to the stainless "D" that my rear handle attaches to, approx. 2m of 4mm nylon rope and a clip taken from a glove clip available from safety shops ( an idea I got from this forum, sorry can't give due credit to the original poster as I can't recall who it was ) attached to the front of Scoman's yak.
This was not an ideal situation BUT, the plastic clip will release under a reasonable amount of pressure allowing both the tow and an escape if needed. I had considered this and have tested the amount of pressure taken to release the clip on 4 different clips to be sure of their holding/release power.
In the short chop and head wind on the day, at slow speeds to stay with the others, the towed yak tended to shorten up on the 'tow rope' and jerk back on it with each wave. Not real easy on the 'tow-er'. This also allowed the towed yak to build up a side-to-side action somewhat similar to a walk-the-dog action imparted on surface lures. Again not easy meaning constant adjustments in direction were needed and travelling a considerable extra distance occurring. Re-think.
With the advantage of pedals I tried holding the tow rope in my hand. This didn't work very well due to the short rope, the second yak hitting the side of mine with most waves(may have been OK in calmer water)
I then checked that all was well (as well as could be) with the others and tried using a little more pace and the drag of the half submerged yak to keep more tension on the tow rope. This made towing a lot smoother and though it would appear that going faster would be harder, it made it a lot smoother meaning I could keep up a steadier pace.
VERY glad at this point to have pedals AND paddle, as it is a LOT of extra drag in the water.


kayakone said:


> Also on your next trip out, try towing a mate/mates yak just near the shore. Then try adding 100 litres of water and seeing how much difference there is...you might be surprised.
> 
> Cheers
> Trevor


Great idea, but it took more than 100 L to make Scoman's yak unusable, Three of us couldn't even go close to lifting it out of the water at the ramp.
So maybe add the water and your mate still on it just to give you an idea.
My legs were JELLY by the time we got to the ramp, and real sore that arvo (partly due to my high level of fitness I'm sure, and maybe the fact I had just finished a 12hr night shift)
Time wise the longest part was removing all Scoman's gear, first in an attempt to allow him to keep paddleing, then to rescue his gear.

I didn't at the time, and still don't consider that it was an emergency, due to the fact he was not alone nor in any 'real' danger. Scoman may feel different.
I guess what it all comes down to is in a situation such as this you do what you can with what you have available at the time, and hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Had we not had a tow line of some description, had we not had Noddy's yak available, had it been rougher or further out etc. etc. read Emergency, the considered phone call to a higher power, ie a mate who lives real close to Wello with a boat I know is always ready to go, or Coast Guard, or Air-Sea-Rescue, would have been made. This had been discussed.
A a side point if your yak has sunk completely I don't think you will need to be worrying about a tow line !

A learning experience is how I view this and I hope others do too.
Sorry for the rambling, hope I answered everything.

GT79


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## ArWeTherYet (Mar 25, 2007)

My ski and SIK kayak have 3 bulk heads each, all sealed from the rest of the yak. The Ski has built in buoyancy as well that meets South African specs. I also carry a drift shoot with 5mtrs of line incase I need to tow some less sea worthy craft. ;-)


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## damo83 (Apr 27, 2011)

On the weekend I "rescued" a tinnie floating down the Maroochy River with no one in it and no one swimming after it... I just used my anchor rope which was sitting in the back of the yak. Took the shackle off the anchor and attached it to the tinnie, tied the rope off shorter to the yak and I was away... took no more than a minute.


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## paffoh (Aug 24, 2006)

http://www.topkayaker.net/Articles/Safety/Towing.html


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## scoman (Oct 4, 2010)

hey all

I am like most on here, in that I usually carry rope in the form of 20m line on my anchor and my anchor trolley setup. However I will make up a small tow setup for future missions. 

The sinking Yaker

Mark


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## AlbyMc (Feb 14, 2010)

I've git a lenght of bungy cord about 7ft long with clips at each end as my daughter gets a bit tired sometimes and have had to tow her several times,(also has come in handy when the wind comes up and she can't paddle against it). Found the stetch value of the shock cord makes towing very easy and finds it takes no more effort really.
Alby.


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Carry separate 5m of Spectra cord, it rolls into a tiny loop that fits in my palm, but still has a huge breaking strain of about 1100kgs and could easily be used for towing another yak ... but mostly used to tie the yak to a tree or to raft up with another kayak


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## Scotlander (Dec 5, 2011)

Was wondering about the pitching and moving around of the yak being towed making it hard to control. Sometimes putting a weight ( anchor...?? )
midpoint between you and the object you are towing can reduce the pitching and yawing around of the load making it easier for the paddler though it
would add a bit more weight and drag. They use the same principal towing huge barges/loads offshore they usually sling huge chains midpoint of the tow wire
to force the load to follow the vessel. Whatever way you do it its gonna knock a few millimeters off your teeth as you grind and gnash them to pieces.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Scotlander: on Page 1 of this thread


kayakone said:


> One thing from sea yakking was, how much easier it is to tow a yak if there is a couple of metres of 5-10 mm bungy in the system.
> 
> One simple yak to yak system is: the tow line tied off behind the rescuer, then passing through your rear handle,to the disabled yak's front handle, and back thru your rear handle to a sailing cleat mounted within reach of the rescuer. Once again, a doubled 5 mm bungy through the rescued yak's front handle will make the tow more comfortable.
> 
> ...


Forget the anchor, till you try this. ".....how much easier it is to tow a yak if there is a couple of metres of 5-10 mm bungy in the system."

Also, "Whatever you use, it should be able to be attached quickly, and most importantly, released quickly."

Have fun with your experiments.

Trevor


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## Scotlander (Dec 5, 2011)

Like the idea of the bungee to take the shock out of towing, nice and light too !


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Good one Paul. Positive action!

Has anybody else still got recent events in mind, and started thinking about a tow line?

For that matter, also any of the other wise suggestions that were put forward in the ensuing discussions?

Just wondering.......

Trevor


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Amen Paul. Wait till you're _really_ old.


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