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The Ultimate Dinghy Painter


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For many years I had a 10mm floating line about twice the normal towing length with a large loop in each end but It was through a small block shackled to the bow of the dinghy

When we towed it any distance or in away sea state we we simply attached one loop to each aft cleat on the yacht

The dinghy then found its happy place to follow, plus it self tacked

The floating line was good as it didn't go anywhere here the prop

But, there's always a but, the floating line was great at wedging between the rudder and the hull which was a bitch to get out, probably if we had gone up or down a size this wouldn't have happened, maybe ?

Current dinghy I've just got an one piece of 10mm line which we tie off to the centre line on the stern.

Endlessly adjustable and self tacks from centre line, but does need to be shortened up when anchoring to keep it clear from the prop.

 

We have a wide boat with a wide transom now so think all I'd do differently is add 3 net floats about every metre form the dinghy bow

If I had a narrower or pinched stern then I'd go back to the double system we had before

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I use a piece of  10mm braid. Take out about a meter of core, near the free end,  replace with bungy, stitched to the core at each end. Splice a safety harness clip to the end. My painter is about 20m long, and tied into a sennit, so reduces to abut 3m (Just too short to get in the dinghy prop). Can extend to any length in between. Its too short when towing the dinghy to get in the yacht prop in reverse (unless extended of course!). The bitter end is fastend to the dinghy with a 3 point harness  - on on the centre hull mount, and one to each pontoon - helps it to tow properly. I've towed it like this at over 20 knots (yes, behind a launch) with no issues.

 

The bungy takes out shock load when towing.. The spliced on safety harness clip removes all possibility of someone not tying it up properly, (and possibly losing the dinghy!)and the sennit allows short or long painter as required. 

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The last Professional Skipper had a good article about the traditional lighters of Norfolk Island. They use flax painters. If they get caught in the prop they get cut rather than bind and grind the engine to a standstill.

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IT, what's a "sennit"?

 

Rgds Tb

A sennit it a knot that reduces the length of any rope, and can be easily undone. It's kind of like finger knitting!

The first pic shows it secure and ready to be loaded

DSC_0026 (Small) (2).JPG

This one show it ready to undo - just pull on the free end...

DSC_0027.JPG

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(Decorative sennits are a long standing maritime tradition, they can be extremely complex and often take the form of "mats". Most detailed knot books will have a few chapters on them).

 

I have a stretchy rubber loop (they use them as an addition to rope in some truck tie downs)  as suspension when dragging the dingy. I tie it on with a bowline on the bite...leave a little slack and then tie the end also to the mothership..(just in case it beaks). It is a great addition also if you have the dingy along side with fenders and a stern line as it lessens the shock load when those pesky jet skis ...and other things go passed.

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Huh - why cut it at home (umm we are living aboard now)??

 

I just noticed Burnsco are having a special on floaty bits of rope, might start theere.

If you can cut it with a semi blunt knife,then you cut it from a prop,getting quite experienced at now,4th time in 12 months,water is still warm compared to july last year :razz:

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I had the recent experience of losing my dinghy, not because the painter gave way, but because the D-ring pulled off the front of the dinghy. One new dinghy later I have been experimenting with painters and towing bridles.

 

I was surprised how much better the dinghy tows using a bridle attached to the tow points on either side, as compared to a single point on the bow. A long tow line helps too.. The bridle clips on with snap shackles and is only put on for towing. The tow line is 10m of 12mm polypropylene braid with the bridle permanently attached via a stainless ring that can slide along, allowing for an even tow despite wind, currents, etc. This setup stays on the yacht, so doesn't get in the way when commuting back and forth to the mooring. Two minutes to clip on before we leave. The painter is a much shorter 10mm braid and is only used for tying up. It stays attached to the dinghy all the time and is short enough not to get in the way when handling the dinghy.

 

So in my case i have decided on separate solutions for each purpose, rather than make one piece of string do both. Seems to be working very well so far and has managed to stay clear of the prop.

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A youtube vid of you using your sennit would be great Matt. I'm still finding it hard to imagine how you deploy and set.

here you go Kevin, pretty crap video, but you'll get the idea:

Harness and sennit:

And the sennit and clip

 

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Thanks KM. That's good advice. I chose the polypropylene on the basis if it being lightweight, and therefore not too much of a sea anchor with the longer length, and also moderately stretchy. There always seem to be pros and cons. I used to tow my old dinghy on a much shorter painter, and it danced around a lot more than the new one does. I have actually used two stainless rings together to spread the load over a greater surface area. Seems to work fine though it took some experimenting to find the right length for the bridle. I started off a bit too long and the rings didn't slide easily, but it finds it's sweet spot quite happily now. At this time of year the rope doesn't get a chance to dry, but good advice to give it an occasional dip on a hot summer day if it's been towing above the water. I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for wear. I suspect my insurance company wouldn't be too keen on another claim for a lost dinghy!

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....so...best place for a dingy in a crap sea is on board...tha rule...get it on early.

I cant stress this enough...dont be lazy...if you want to keep your dingy....put it on board..

No you dont have to fit it perfectly either...lashed across the fore sections...sticking out either side looking completely stupid....will last WAY longer than being towed...Its even piss easy when coming along side...just push it out the off side until it drops inside the stauchions. You can then always push it back over or pack it up.

And dont give me hard time about it fouling sheets etc....work it out for your boat...

 

Have a long enough painter so that you can adjust it to the wave (sea) frequency. You will have to adjust this semi regularly.

Mothership going over one set while dingy gets caught behind another, puts a huge load on. 

Floating painter saves prop fouling...no need for attached floating things. 

A shock absorber makes a big difference. 

PP is cheap..buy a reel and change it before it gets heat stressed....go a size up as well...

 

...and dont be lazy....put it on board...

 

 

(edit) I should have said that the vast majority of missing dingys from a marine rescue point of view are from snapped tow lines or torn out attachment points in conditions that make retrieval difficult or impossible for the main vessel....Surprisingly, often the vessel owners are not sure exactly when they lost the dingy either.

The second most common "missing" is stolen.

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