Fifty Bucks for a Tow

[Billy]

A word of warning concerning towing. Many of today's boat policies now have a clause that stops coverage when one begins towing another vessel except in a life threatening situation. I'm guilty. Towed another Mac a few months ago.
I guess it's true "No good deed goes unpunished".

[Catigale]

On the Cape I have given mNy a tow into the harbor, and the practice here is to neither offer nor receive any compensation. It's just what boaters do when someone is in trouble.

If it's rough weather or a dangerous operation, then it's a non-starter regardless of comp. of course

[raycarlson]

We call it good Karma out here!!!! no compensation necessary............

[Divecoz]

I too have towed numerous boats over the years.. Mostly on small lakes.. I now live on a saltwater canal that attaches to Charlotte Harbor and by that to The Worlds Oceans hahahaa .. I have Sea Tow.. they have the largest number of tow boats in this area. $300 out of pocket wont get you much down here.. I am insured up to IIRC 45 miles out into the Gulf Of Mexico.. They are insuring ME and both my boats.. and while I am on any Non-Commercial boat. IIRC its about ??? $150 a year. Boating season is 365 down here so I feel its Well Worth the Money. Heck thats not even a Half a tank a gas..

[Highlander]

I rescued a guy once on a 16-18ft kat he had turtled the thing seen him out there & said to the guys on board I hope he knows what he.s doing out in this crap sure enough while attempting to tack he turtles her, see,s us off in the distance waving while he is frantically trying to get back to the boat, with the binoculars i could see that he had PFD on , called the the coastguard they asked me if I could respond too the rescue & advise , so went out there he refused too come aboard & leave his kat advised the coastguard told them we would try & right the cat , we finally up-righted the cat guy climbs back onto her exhausted asked me to tow him back too the shore to his cottage , told him I could not do that as I could not clear the offshore shoal off his cottage told him I would tow him too Thornbury nearest port & the Coastguard were going to meet up with him there ! so whats he do casts off , 20 mins later he flips her on her side , notified the Coastguard again they asked me if I could stay with him until they arrived @ the scene , needlessly to say when they arrived they forcefully dragged his butt on board & proceeded to tow him back too the Meaford Coastguard Station while he ranted on demanding to be taken directly back to his cottage !! this thankless piece ! had total disregard for anyone,s life being put @ risk to save his butt !! , I had wasted over 3hrs of our time on this guy
So I hope & sure they throw the book @ him back @ the dock as they were calling the police too meet them there !

J

[Gater Dunn]

50 bucks....

All the times I have towed Highlanders butt around. ... never offered me 50 bucks....

http://youtu.be/3qmnJLh2Lrc

What part of the handle Highlander are ya missin

[Highlander]

50 bucks....

All the times I have towed Highlanders butt around. ... never offered me 50 bucks....

http://youtu.be/3qmnJLh2Lrc

What part of the handle Highlander are ya missin

Whatda yer mean I ain.t missing nothing outa my wallet when yer got 2 boats out in the water why do they both need their eng,s running

J

[Russ]

I have never asked for compensation nor would I. Most of us believe doing the right thing is just the decent thing to do.

I would guess that charging for a tow puts you in a totally different legal boat. If something goes wrong, I'm sure the sharks, erm... I mean lawyers would have a piece of you.

[seahouse]

While it depends on the exact situation, I wouldn't ask for compensation either, but I would offer it if I were given a tow, just as I would refuse it if it were offered to me. I think it would be impolite to not offer it after getting a tow if you didn't know the person. Isn't that how commeraderie works?

Plus, in some cases the reason the person needs the tow is that they don't have the money to properly maintain their boat in the first place.

-B.

[Divecoz]

Some People just dont get it.. "" "We ran out of gas" says he. "I'm not sure how, I put $150 in before we went ocean fishing outside of San Diego Bay." He possessed some kind of certainty that $150 worth of gas should be sufficient to solve any sort of speed x distance solution for any boat.""
$150 how much could that buy, maybe 40 gallons.. depending on a lot of variables, getting 3 to 5 MPG is a dream come true.. Hahaha Power boats get lousy gas mileage, Go Figure..We shouldnt laugh too much , sail boats do too when using their motor.. Most folks who dont own boats have No Idea what a Power boat gets for gas mileage and many New Boaters are in the same position. If Boats were required to have those EPA Mileage ratings stickers on them? They wouldnt sell many boats..

[Y.B.Normal]

Two years ago, on Labor Day Weekend, my wife & I were reaching back from SE Lake Winnebago to Neenah (18 miles) in our 26M with a couple on a 25' O'Day, in high winds, when their rudder broke and canted into their OB, leaving them without steerage.
Thanks to our 50HP OB, we were able to tow them back to port without incident. I don't remember if money was offered, but it wasn't taken. That's just what boaters do. Someday I may need a tow. BTW, the Coast Guard and Sheriff's Dept. boats were called without any useful response. I think it was too rough for their boats to go out on the lake.

[Divecoz]

Come YB the USCG Writes The Book For The World on how to "boat" in rough water. https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=Aj ... t-250&fp=1 .

BTW, the Coast Guard and Sheriff's Dept. boats were called without any useful response. I think it was too rough for their boats to go out on the lake.

[Catigale]

Some People just dont get it.. "" "We ran out of gas" says he. "I'm not sure how, I put $150 in before we went ocean fishing outside of San Diego Bay." He possessed some kind of certainty that $150 worth of gas should be sufficient to solve any sort of speed x distance solution for any boat.""
$150 how much could that buy, maybe 40 gallons.. depending on a lot of variables, getting 3 to 5 MPG is a dream come true.. Hahaha Power boats get lousy gas mileage, Go Figure..We shouldnt laugh too much , sail boats do too when using their motor.. Most folks who dont own boats have No Idea what a Power boat gets for gas mileage and many New Boaters are in the same position. If Boats were required to have those EPA Mileage ratings stickers on them? They wouldnt sell many boats..

Still beaten by VHF exchange...

Caribbean charters, this is S/V Noob, mayday, over

What is your emergency, NooB?

We can't find our anchor!

There are three anchors in the locker , Noob...please advise.

We had three, but it's a fourth night out

[Y.B.Normal]

Come YB the USCG Writes The Book For The World on how to "boat" in rough water. https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=Aj ... t-250&fp=1 .

BTW, the Coast Guard and Sheriff's Dept. boats were called without any useful response. I think it was too rough for their boats to go out on the lake.

Maybe Divercoz, but they wouldn't come out that day. Maybe because they were Coast Guard AUX and not the "real" CG.
BTW, I have a LOT OF RESPECT for what the CG does on a regular basis.

[Jeff L]

when yer got 2 boats out in the water why do they both need their eng,s running

J [/quote]


Spoken like a true Scotsman...