It changes from area to area, around here the local Tow Boat US guys were actually brought up on piracy charges, more than once. They were accused of grand theft more than once. They all seemed to settle out of court. I've witnessed several instances when the Tow Boat operator intentionally delayed a tow to declare salvage. There was one owner of a 72 Viking that knew better, every time the diver said he had to leave the boat before they could tow it off the bar, he called BS, when they were persistent about it, he finally pulled a shotgun, called the Coast Guard to report piracy, they started talking a lot nicer after that. The Tow Boat US operator "sold" his franchise a few years back(he's actually dead now, wonder who shot his ***), the guy who's operating it now, seems to be a lot better. The local Sea Tow operator out of here has an excellent reputation, he teaches at the local Sea School and is a regular on a lot of the local forums. I've heard that North of here its a different situation. I read horror stories on scream and fly when a 24' go fast cat($$$) flipped over, ejecting the driver(he was dazed, but unhurt), his buddies had to circle the boat to keep the tow operators away so they couldn't claim salvage. Once the driver got his wits about him, they righted the boat and towed it to the ramp, boat was unhurt. The maritime laws that most of these operate under are long due for an overhaul. From what I've been told, never take a line unless you understand the charges and agree to them, never leave your boat unless your health is dependent on it. Don't ever mention taking on water unless its sinking fast. I don't have a tow service(i'm long overdue), I can usually fix whats wrong with them when they break, if not, I always test boats going into the current so I'll drift back to the dock, and I've got plenty of friends on the water. Plus it helps if you have a cheap *** boat, they aren't thinking of making any money off of a 14 McKee.
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