Sea Tow

[phatdaddy]

from what i understand. there are 2 distinctly different business plans for each company. sea tow nationwide keeps a smaller portion of the yearly dues and the local captains are obligated to respond at very little or no profit. it's like insurance, they are hoping 80% of the members will never use it. towboat keeps a larger portion and re-emburces the local capt at a predetermined rate. like car dealer warranty. with sea tow, the less they tow, the more they make. with towboat us, the more they tow, the more they make. i think we have a member who works for sea tow, i'm sure he can set us straight.
i have found there are good and bad in every profession, doctors, lawyers, contractors, cops,etc.

[THEFERMANATOR]

I know there seems to be alot more horror stories about SEATOW, than there is about TOWBOAT US. Last year there was a couple of tows down around MIAMI where the SEATOW boat PURPOSELY let the boat needing a tow go into a channel before they hooked up so they could call it a rescue instead of a tow and lay claims to the boat. I know I have towed in a few boats before just to keep them from having to go through the hassle of SEATOW. And it also seems to differ widely depending upon wether your in a company owned or privately owned zone. Some companies have SEATOW on there boats, but are actually privately owned and working for SEATOW as a private contractor. It seems that these kinds of outfits are the ones that are doing the shady tactics. Also PREY your not taking on water and need a pump and have to get it from SEATOW. You can count on them filing for a lien on your boat and calling it a rescue instead of a tow then.

[captpete13]

Originally Posted by phatdaddy

from what i understand. there are 2 distinctly different business plans for each company. sea tow nationwide keeps a smaller portion of the yearly dues and the local captains are obligated to respond at very little or no profit. it's like insurance, they are hoping 80% of the members will never use it. towboat keeps a larger portion and re-emburces the local capt at a predetermined rate. like car dealer warranty. with sea tow, the more less they tow, the more they make. with towboat us, the more they tow, the more they make. i think we have a member who works for sea tow, i'm sure he can set us straight.
i have found there are good and bad in every profession, doctors, lawyers, contractors, cops,etc.

I work for the local TowBOAT US. The way it works for us is when a member breaks down, if they have the "unlimited" coverage, they pay nothing for tows and "soft" ungroundings. Even though I have personally pulled boats from "hard" groundings (pulled from dry land)and still didn't charge them. We fill out a tow sheet which the customer signs. That tow sheet has the total bill which is submitted to BOAT US. They cut us a check for the tow. Our BOAT US rate is a little less than non BOAT US but we tow a LOT more members than non members. I used to work for Sea Tow back in the 90's. If I remember right each franchise would get a share of membership revinue. That money is used to pay the captain doing the tow. So there is much less motivation for them to tow you. Hell I'll tow you wherever you want. They can't wait to get rid of you if they even come out.

[aussie]

gee what a bummer for a day of fishing well i dont think we have a tow service for boats the coast guard helps out .But here we rely on other boaters to help you out if u wave a passing boat for help they are sort of obilgated to help i have been towed in once fron a fellow fishermen and have towed one person in.Hell most boats are everyday people trying to have a fun day fishing you would be a dog if u didnt stop to help someone with bad luck and the same goes on the roads people do stop to ask strangers broken down on the road if they need help cant count how many people i have helped on the road and my wife still makes me stop and help lol

[spareparts]

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.

[phatdaddy]

capt pete, we must have a similar situation in our area. i know friends that have towboatus and called for help and sea tow responded(at no cost). the main reason i went with towboatus is and they cover me , not the vessel. does not matter what boat i am on .

[bksah2]

Pick up a good used kicker motor and never pay for a tow again

[Blue_Runner]

Seatow coverage is good for whatever boat you are on as well. The only caveat is if you are fishing on a boat that you do not own, the owner of the boat can't be aboard or there is no coverage provided.

[bradford]

Spare I've done the same thing when running a boat I'm unsure of, running upstream of the tide before it ebbs.

I've towed in a bunch of people over the years. In fact I keep a spare line just for emergencies like that. It's also good to have some fire power for other types of emergencies.

[randlemanboater]

Hey Nipper, does your friends boat insurance cover tows? Worth a check anyway.