TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR HIP TOWING © 2007 Douglas Gould When I had my own company, and interviewed a prospective captain, applicants would relate their past experience towing a variety of boats; often boasting about all the miles they had towed. But I was in Marina Del Rey, where all six thousand boats are in individual slips; practically every slip with a floating finger on either side, and a concrete pile at the end of each finger. So, I would explain to my applicant that anybody can tow a 50’ yacht for fifty miles on a hawser – it’s the last twelve inches that separates the pros from the hacks. We averaged about 1 dock-dock tow per day, all year long; add another 500 offshore cases, most of which terminated at a dock. If you consider that each dock-dock tow involves a maneuver both out of and then into a slip or work dock, you see that my company was maneuvering over 1000 boats per year into tight quarters. Lets see, I had the company for over nine years… Towing on the hip is something that we all have to do, but I have noticed that some captains are more reluctant than others to do it. I was surprised this spring to see one of our industry’s more experienced operators attempt to “slingshot” a 54’ full keel sailboat into a slip. Things got a little tense when it became apparent that the sailboat was heading towards the wrong slip. Suddenly, the towboat captain was struggling to manage towline, shift, throttle and helm: basically a four handed job with two hands. It is my belief that, unless there is an overwhelming reason not to finish a tow on the hip, every tow that terminates at a dock, slip or mooring should be completed with the casualty securely hipped up. Attempting to tow a disabled boat on a very short hawser and then let go at precisely the right moment requires timing that is too easily foiled by tide, wind and poor communications. The “slingshot” maneuver where you rely on the skipper of the casualty to steer his boat the final few yards as it barely makes headway is a dubious plan at best, and I shake my head when I see a towboat trying to check the forward momentum of a large yacht by pulling backwards on a towline attached to the yacht’s bow. The reluctance to hip up probably originates from an operator’s past problems with maneuvering, visibility and the time it takes to untie. While I understand these frustrations, most are easily addressed with a little practice and planning. One requirement for

successful hip towing will be your mindset; until you believe that being hipped up is the best way to safely maneuver a boat in tight quarters and into a dock, I don’t think you will ever really make the commitment to learn to do it well. As to the time it might take, it is really only a few minutes at most, and if the slingshot maneuver doesn’t work exactly on the first try, the time to re-group for a second pass will take more time than just hipping up in the first place would have. From a risk management standpoint, the two minutes it takes to hip up is time well invested. I developed a few rules for myself that I passed along to my captains-in-training, and perhaps you might find these useful guidelines for your captains. As with all rules, you will discover exceptions. Rule #1: Always plan to be on the “inside” of the final turn. Before I hip up, I make sure I understand exactly where we will be going. In particular, I want to know what (if any) the final turn will be. The final turn is the very last turn that the casualty makes as she enters her slip. If you’re heading to a T head or side tie type of dock, there is no “final turn”, and obviously you will want to be tied to the side away from the dock. Not only will you have much better visibility on the inside of the turn, (see diagram #1) but using reverse to slow down will help to execute the turn at the same time. Single inboard towboats generally don’t have the luxury of hipping on either side, so my solution was to back up the last fairway so I ended up on the inside of the final maneuver. Rule #2: When towing boats equal to or larger than the towboat, always hip up with a “toe in” attitude. Toe in means that the centerline of your towboat points towards the bow of the casualty, (see diagram #2) rather than parallel with the casualty’s keel. Without toe

in, you are attempting to steer as if you had a twin screw with one engine out, because your power plant’s thrust is still in line with the casualty’s keel. Directing your thrust across the keel with toe allows you to maneuver the entire raft-up more predictably. Rule #3: You can’t be too far aft. The further aft you are, the more leverage your rudder and prop(s) will have. Rule #4: Avoid terminating lines anywhere except on your towboat, i.e. don’t knot off on the causality’s cleats. I might take a few turns on a customer’s cleats with a line that leads back to my deck, but the knots are all on my cleats. Here is the logic behind this rule: when it comes time to untie, you want to do it

fast, and your customer will be busy getting off his boat with his docklines. You don’t want to be climbing between the two boats and over railings at that critical moment, so plan for the ability to untie everything from your boat, even if I have to toss my lines on his deck and then retrieve them when the job is done (while I do my paperwork). Also, I do not want to give my customer any opportunity to untie something that I don’t want untied, nor rely on him to untie a line quickly. Rule #5: Use as few lines as possible. A great set up for most hip tows is to begin with a forward spring line from your boat, and run that to his stern cleat. This is your opportunity to set his transom way forward on your boat. Next, toss him a looped end of a bow line (give him a loop so he can get it off quickly without untying any knots. Pull your bow in and forward tight and cleat off on your bow bitt or cleat. Now go back and take the rest of the stern line from his stern cleat back to your boat. A light tap in forward will bring your stern in towards his, and if you’re quick, you will end up with a nice tight hip tow that will only require you to untie one knotted cleat. When its time to untie, start with your stern cleat and then unwrap his stern cleat. Now you’ve made enough slack forward that a deckhand on the casualty can just take your loop off and drop it in the water; or, you can untie from your bow while the mariner steps off his boat onto the dock. (see diagram #3) Rule #6: Get the lines tight. This insures that the entire raft-up moves as one giant boat. If your lines are sloppy, it becomes very hard to make small adjustments while you are finessing the casualty into a tight spot. Being able to maneuver a large yacht while hipped up to your smaller towboat will impress your customers if you do it well, and with a little practice and planning it is not hard to become proficient at it.