Long distance Towing of multiple boats

[WestVanHan]

Originally Posted by mark775

Yes, good grief. You could jam pack a container with 'em. Good idea.
Be careful when you open the door!

I've shipped 1200 cars to Asia like this with with zero problems-have you?
If ramps can be built to elevate 3400 pound cars...

Guatom, a couple years ago I shipped 3 cans from Jacksonville to Costa Rica...IIRC a 40' box was $3300 + fees but I think the price has dropped to ~$3k so you'd be looking $3300 as a rough idea.

So maybe $1700 a boat in a can to CR....plus whatever prices to get to Jax/Guatemala.

[SamSam]

Originally Posted by guatom

Ominous? What a curious reply. In regard to knowledge of boats, and I assume you mean boating in general. I have designed, built, and sailed boats 40 of my 68 years but confess to being only a boating disciple rather that a master. My discipline is that of an industrial engineer.
To enhance your knowledge of third world boating focusing on my 25 years of experience in Guatemala, let me tell you that down here there are few persons that can afford any kind of boat and the few boats that manage to make their way south are placed into service by someone forever or until they burn or are stolen. Not unlike America these days, 95% of the wealth is held by 5% of the population. Totally unlike America, 90% of the rest are poor to extremely poor. The 5%or so of middle class makes for not a lot of market for $80k Grady Whites but a lot of market for $3k units. I hope this helps.
You cause me to recall the phrase, one man's junk is another man's treasure. I am just looking for a way of recycling fiberglass boats that would otherwise help fill the affluent American landfills.

No, I was referring to repairing boats. Here, when people say they were given a boat for free and think it's a wonderful thing, well, it very rarely is. When you refer to a couple soft spots here and there as nothing but a thing, it sounds ominous to me in the way that possibly you don't quite understand what a couple soft spots can mean. As fun as towing a mass of boats to Guatemala sounds, it seems sometimes a chore to keep one good boat floating, much less a mass of derelicts. One good rainstorm might sink the whole fleet.

Originally Posted by ancient kayaker

The legal, marketing and safety issues aside, can we discuss the technical ones?

I suspect tying the boats together into a flexible raft, if I have understood the concept, would give problems in all but a very calm sea. Barges are specifically designed for towing and, as far as I know, do not venture out to sea - at least not too far and not for too long. Power boat hulls, on the other hand are not. In my limited experience towing one boat in ideal conditions can be less simple than it seems; a boat with a deep forefoot on a towline acts like a puppy on its first leash. A couple of dozen of them?

I look forward to some inputs from people who know more ...

Hi Terry,

sea barges ARE designed to be towed worldwide. (and fail quite often)

Derelicts are not capable to be towed on the open ocean. Not even brand new boats would stand a 1000 miles tow in average weather conditions.

And it would not be cheap btw.

Just forget it.

I meant that serious with the coaster!

Regards
Richard

[PAR]

Richard is correct, the difference between a barge train and this idea is the barge is intended for the stains it will receive, the few dozen of so rafted up Bayliners aren't. This isn't to say you couldn't engineer a ring for each boat, that would both hold the derelict and insure the strains of the tow, would be passed from ring to ring, rather then crushed boat hull to crushed boat hull. Unfortunately, this now sounds like a lot more then just rafting things up and going for it. Not to mention the rings would have to be inspected and approved, as would the whole plan of dragging a potential hazard to navigation to where ever. The USCG gets real pissy when craft of very limited maneuverability, start moving around with ill advised and ill contrived equipment, rigging, skippers, etc. The wise choice is to take them as deck freight, which is fairly cheap.

Han, I get it that my post was equivicable but I was backing the idea! I think it is good!

[kapnD]

I read a good book many years ago about a multiple tow operation across the Pacific ocean of several old minesweepers.
Though professionally planned, the whole operation was one disaster after another, and if memory serves me correctly, very few of the original number were successfully delivered.
I would think rafting up would be the worst possible approach, but towing a single string also presents challenges.
If labor is that cheap in Guatemala, you could probably do better to buy a mold and pack it into a container with lots of fiberglass and resin and build boats down there.

[Anytec1210]

You don’t really state how many you need to tow so perhaps you need to do some math to se how many you have to tow in order to gain anything at all from this idea at all.



I’ve probably towed most things that floats (and not floats for that matter) and what you would like to do here would perhaps be done in absolutely perfect conditions, and even then be difficult enough.

Towing many smaller objects (10-12 boats) is much more difficult than one large object. And even if you would be able to overcome that your load crushes itself (american 20ft day cruisers don’t exactly have the reputation of being robust) you would hardly be able to steer in winds over 10 ft/sek unless you have another boat to work with.

However if I (with a gun to my head) had to take on such a stupid mission I’ll set it up with two parallel tow lines on either side of the boats and from that attach them behind one and another and make sure I’ve done my prayers.
Same principle but lines instead of booms.

Why Knowt just tie a long string of boats together and you drive the one up front and have a buddy drive the Cabbose Boat in the rear.

That way they would all stay together nice.

I think your onto smething. You could just put Styrofoam around those 40 ft Container boxes and not even need a big cargo ship.

Kind of like a Railroad Train on Water

Why didnt someone think of this before?

Damm,!

[ancient kayaker]

Originally Posted by WickedGood

Why Knowt just tie a long string of boats together and you drive the one up front and have a buddy drive the Cabbose Boat in the rear ...

I've seen a picture of strings of empty rental canoes being towed behind a small powerboat, about 8 or so per string. They were running in a nice line. I didn't notice if anything was at the tail end, but the powerboat jockeys were going slowly and watching the canoes very closely. An empty canoe will tow quite well but if it is loaded it doesn't want to tow straight anymore.

An empty canoe is quite different from a powerboat: I suspect that when the forefoot of a boat is deep enough to bite it gets an attitude!

[Anytec1210]

Every spring I tow Lasers out to a sailing shool where they are used during the summer. I pull about 5 at a time behind my Rupert Marine 50 and can pace at about 20-25 knots without any problems so your right aincent.

However, as you also pointed out there is a big difference here alltough a 20ft'r daycruiser is a "canoe" in the towing world.

Don't encourage the absolute nonsense. We don't need any more flotsam in our running gear.

[Anytec1210]

I’ll agree that the likely outcome would be that those day cruisers nicely integrate them selves with the with the garbage belt outside the west coast.

And in case anyone missed it – “Maybe, if I had a gun to my head I would perhaps consider this idea”.

[wardd]

Originally Posted by WickedGood

Why Knowt just tie a long string of boats together and you drive the one up front and have a buddy drive the Cabbose Boat in the rear.

That way they would all stay together nice.

I think your onto smething. You could just put Styrofoam around those 40 ft Container boxes and not even need a big cargo ship.

Kind of like a Railroad Train on Water

Why didnt someone think of this before?

Damm,!

are there plans for hulls like that?

are there plans for hulls like that?


There are no Formal Planz for a fine sailing vessel like shown.

I can however close my eyes like John Herrsheoff and make you a Half Az Model that you may then extrapilate your Lofty Plans .



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