towropes

“His shout was echoed by the captains of the rowboats and galleys, and the towropes slowly lifted from the water as they tautened, water sluicing down the heavy hemp spirals with a splash audible in the sudden silence that struck the docks.”

Dragonfly in Amber

“Her decks had been soaked with oil, and as the towropes were cast off and the galleys pulled away, the small round figure of the harbor master rose from the seat of the dinghy that had rowed him out.”

Dragonfly in Amber

“A second call pealed forth, and the towropes were cast off, oars splashed into the water, and, with a wild exulting yell from their occupants, the boats dashed for the shore, the men in them hurling themselves into the shallow water as the keels ground into the beach.”

A Chinese Command A Story of Adventure in Eastern Seas

“The hatches were closed over them, and the cables being already cut, the mizzen topsail, the only sail bent, was hoisted; and the boats, taking towropes, began to row her away from shore.”

With Clive in India Or, The Beginnings of an Empire

“When the towropes were let go, we were two leagues from the frigate; the breeze came from the sea, which was as favorable as could be desired.”

Naufrage de la frigate la Méduse. English

“After Frank Leighton’s nuke was retrieved and brought down to the beach, it was placed in a long, streamlined tube, which Carlson and Avigliano gently slid into the water and connected via towropes to their DPVs.”

Simon & Schuster: State of the Union