Sea Tow: Only for milquetoasts?

[jtsailjt]

I can see the value in having these commercial operators available but think that in most cases where they are used there is another good option that the towed boat could have used.

In busy, coastal boating areas there is almost always another boater nearby who can offer a tow. Or anchor while you repair your problem and wait for favorable winds so you can sail back to your home harbor or to get repaired. We also have our RIB with a 20hp outboard on davits that can be used on the hip to tow our cruising sailboat.

So in most cases these towing services are more of a time saving convenience than something we are very apt to really need. I think it’s a legitimate concern that their availability encourages new boaters to plan to use them as a general purpose crutch rather than to spend a bit of time thinking about and preparing for “what if’s” that may occur and how they might be able to help themselves. It’s similar to the effect that chartplotters have in that they allow someone with not the hint of a clue about navigation to feel comfortable operating their boat in unfamiliar areas. All they need to know is that you watch the little boat symbol move across the chart and that’s where you are, and that’s all they do know. All good right up until their chart plotter has a hiccup. Chartplotters are great things and so is a tow almost always being available, but a certain small percentage of lazy boaters will use their availability as a rationale for not taking the time to learn some basic things they really should know before being in command of any vessel.

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Cadence,

I think I understand what you mean. One doesn't really "know" until he or she has done whatever the "it" of the moment is. Until then, it is only one's concept of it, essentially a fantasy. Perhaps awareness of the difference is limited.

Ann

Cruising is one of those things where the experience of a situation is usually very, very different than reading about it online or in a book.

The longer you spend on a boat, the more of a problem solver you become. Experience, ingenuity and clear thinking are rewarded in countless ways, be it dealing with storm conditions or kedging off a shoal.

I think Thinwater put it well; it comes down to risk factors and one's own appetite for risk. That's different for every person. The question of it being or not being for milquetoasts is silly and has unfortunately colored the discussion in an unhelpful way.

[chris95040]

Originally Posted by jtsailjt

In busy, coastal boating areas there is almost always another boater nearby who can offer a tow. Or anchor while you repair your problem and wait for favorable winds so you can sail back to your home harbor or to get repaired.

Sure, a backup plan could be to wait for other boaters to tow me, and make my problem their problem.

Or wait for favorable winds and notify my coworkers I won’t be in, and make my problem their problem.


Or I could accept that I make mistakes from time to time and be prepared for that with a tow service already nailed down.

I’m all for a community of people helping each other, and have lended a hand many times to strangers in groundings, draggings, stuck anchors, etc, but I certainly don’t consider boaters passing by (or blowing off my landlubber commitments) as my Plan A for getting out of a jam.

...But I do look forward very much to a time when I can consider ‘waiting it out’ as a possibility... That state of mine is partly why I got into sailing!!

[Auspicious]

I carry TowboatUS Commercial (Delivery Skipper) towing insurance. That costs me about twice what y'all pay for TowboatUS Gold for not quite all the benefits. That is a check I do not mind writing each year. It's money well spent. N.B. Owner's policies (unless the owner is aboard) and personal policies are not valid for delivery skippers. I end up with several tows a year, mostly due to mechanical issues. I have some great stories about tows. *grin*


It is well worth noting that the TowboatUS franchise model and the SeaTow franchise model are quite different. I like the TowboatUS model better.


I have had TowboatUS boats chase me down to avoid running aground on recent shoaling in order to avoid a tow. I've also gotten outstanding information by calling in for local information before entering somewhere I haven't been for a while (or ever).



Read the coverage on towing from your hull and liability provider carefully. Most are quite limited.



Get the highest level of insurance that includes dock-to-dock coverage.

[Almost-There]

Originally Posted by powsmias

have a friend in jersey went out for tuna and never renewed his policy.. cost him 9k to get home

I really hate to be the guy sticking up for a tow company. But tuna fishing off NJ is kind of vague. Having grown up in Cape May that could be anywhere from 20 miles out to over 120 miles. Also these days there are a lot of guys hitting the canyons that have no business being out there. When I used to run a charter we've towed quite a few in that Seatow wouldn't touch and the Coast Guard wouldnt do anything more than save them leaving the boat adrift. So in a few rare cases I can see that bill as its possibly a salvage at that point. I mean who would want to spend 10+ hours running out in god knows what weather along with possibly 20+ hours running back in tow.


I'm by no means saying this was the case but chances are there's more to the story. Because for someone to need a tow fishing offshore,chances are it was pretty messy out. Otherwise someone would've drug them in ;-)

[Shrew]

Only for milquetoasts. LMFAO

This post sounds both arrogant and naive.

My boat is 22,000 lbs. I'm not on a lake. Sometimes real mechanical issues occur. 15 - 20 miles from shore, I'm not going to hope some center console is going to volunteer to tow me in 4-6 ft seas. I don't want to be towed to the closest facility to be charged by the day (per day charges for transients and emergency haulouts get expensive very, very quickly). I want to be towed back to my dock where my mechanic is local.

[Jammer]

Thank you for all the posts. I was thinking of this thread while on the Mississippi today.


Today, late morning, went out the marina for a short sail knowing my time would be limited by approaching rain. It was just me and I hanked on the Genoa without delay, pulled off the sail cover on the main, put away the anchor and chain I'd left out to dry on the foredeck, cast off, and headed out to the river. Now, I always check around for other boats because I don't like to meet traffic in the confined area by the slips. I saw just the sails of a boat over the top of the breakwater, with full sail up, heading downstream. I thought maybe they were trying to sail into the harbor, which isn't a good idea and which isn't allowed under the terms of our slip agreements. They passed the harbor entrance and continued and so I went about my business and backed out of the slip and around the corner and out onto the river.

By then, the boat I had seen was quite a ways downstream, over the top of the reef just downriver from the harbor. The water was so high that didn't matter much but it seemed quite unusual for a sailboat to be in that area. It looked like they were headed for a dock at one of the houses along the bank. I motored over that way to investigate.

As I got closer, it became clear that the boat was out of control and had been blown into shore. She was an O'Day of about 22' length. The captain was trying to douse sail as the mast and rigging slapped against the branches of some large oak trees on the bank. I carefully motored in and asked the man if he would like a tow. He said that he would.

Being singlehanded, I set the motor in reverse and pointed the stern into the wind so Bridget would stay in place, then ducked below to grab the 75' swim line -- as yet unused -- that I got as a precaution for situations where we are anchored and swimming in current. Went up to the foredeck and heaved the line, missed, tried to grab the bitter end since I hadn't cleated it off, missed, watched as the line sank into the Mississippi never to be seen again. Went down below, grabbed the anchor line, undid it from the anchor chain, cleated one end off (having learned my lesson), and clipped the other to a boat cushion. By now I was drifting perilously close to the oak branches myself and had to go back to the helm and apply some more reverse and maneuver back into position. Other boats were starting to show up. Went forward, heaved, missed, retrieved the line, heaved again, got the line on the foredeck of the disabled boat.

The fellow on the other boat got the line tied off to his bow cleat and I looped part of it around one of the jibsheet winches and cleated it off, then carefully and slowly reversed out. His rigging pulled free of the branches, and we were off of the lee shore. I turned around so we could proceed forward and towed him out towards the main channel with the mighty 8hp Yamaha that is my auxiliary.

Tried to raise the marina on the radio, no answer. I thought maybe if someone was helping out on the dock I could just pull him straight in. After a couple more calls I gave up.

Now that we were safely out in deep water and away from shore, I asked the other fellow whether he wanted me to tie up alongside so I could tow him in all the way to the dock, or if he just wanted me to continue with the line between us and 50' separating the boats, which didn't allow for much fine control. He said he wasn't sure and was new at all this. Turns out he has a slip at the same harbor I do. Absent a response on the radio (and therefore being unable to count on anyone meeting us at the dock) I decided to bring him alongside, and tie up so we could go in two abreast. Made sure the fenders were out, got docklines, tied the boats together, and slowly made our way into the harbor, where I was able to deposit him at his slip. He thanked me and said he owed me at least one round of drinks.

I'm unsure of the whole sequence of events that led to him being pinned on a lee shore, but a good deal of the problem was that his outboard motor wouldn't start. He also said he had only been sailing for 3 months, and didn't have a radio.

Wished him fair winds, untied the boats from each other, went back out onto the river for a (now very brief) sail. Got some kind words from one of the boats that had watched the whole thing as I motored out. Sailed across the river, tacked, turned downwind, got back to the harbor, doused sail, motored in. I was putting everything away when the captain of one of the other boats that had watched the whole thing came over. He said, "Now I know how it is done." I thanked him for the compliment and he said that his wife had been trying to get him to help but that didn't have any lines longer than his 25' docklines and had never towed a boat before, and wasn't sure what to do.



It wasn't a perfectly executed tow. I lost a nice swim line in my haste, got the other line closer to my prop than I would have liked, and had to do some manual fending off of the boats from each other when rafting them up that never would have worked with larger boats or heavier seas. I am a better sailor for the experience.



I wonder whether Sea Tow would have helped him or if they would have just declared "salvage" and gone home.


I wonder whether there would have been anything worth salvaging by the time they got there.

[Don C L]

Good job Jammer! As a side note to your post I got a ball throwing stick for dogs and I filled a tennis ball with silicone and poked a parachute cord through it. It's a pretty good heaving line, but I haven't had to use it yet. Of course a throw bag is always good to have handy too, but with a good arm you can really toss that tennis ball with the parachute cord or better some fishing line lightly coiled in a bag, then of course they pull the tow line over with that. I haven't had to use it yet but it's fun to play with. IT DID come in handy one windy night when I had to back a boat out of a downwind slip. I chucked the ball all the way over the fairway to the slips on the other side and then went over and pulled the boat straight out of the slip and got out of the marina without causing any damage which is always a good thing.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Don C L

Good job Jammer! As a side note to your post I got a ball throwing stick for dogs and I filled a tennis ball with silicone and poked a parachute cord through it. It's a pretty good heaving line, but I haven't had to use it yet. Of course a throw bag is always good to have handy too, but with a good arm you can really toss that tennis ball with the parachute cord or better some fishing line lightly coiled in a bag, then of course they pull the tow line over with that. I haven't had to use it yet but it's fun to play with. IT DID come in handy one windy night when I had to back a boat out of a downwind slip. I chucked the ball all the way over the fairway to the slips on the other side and then went over and pulled the boat straight out of the slip and got out of the marina without causing any damage which is always a good thing.

A monkey's fist with lead inside is not hard to make. I'd rather get hit in the head with your tennis ball.

[Tayana42]

Jammer, good for you offering help to a fellow boater. It reminds me of the friendly people in Minnesota. Sure you learned something from the episode. We all learn from the experiences we have. By the way, did you hip tie to bring him in. You have much better control if you position the towing boat aft of the centerline of the boat being towed.

To your question TowBoat US would have been fine towing that boat. If he was a member it wouldn’t have cost him any more than you towing him but if he wasn’t a member it would have cost plenty.

[CFS Klopas]

In the 10 months I've owned my boat, it has left the harbor 4 times and was towed in twice. I'll be carrying tow insurance forever.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Tayana42

Jammer, good for you offering help to a fellow boater. It reminds me of the friendly people in Minnesota.

Reflecting on the situation, it appeared to me that time was critical as his rig and his hull were at risk of damage, one from the trees, one from fixed objects on the shore, etc. I didn't think there was any serious risk of harm to my boat if I helped out. So I did.

Sure you learned something from the episode. We all learn from the experiences we have. By the way, did you hip tie to bring him in. You have much better control if you position the towing boat aft of the centerline of the boat being towed.

I didn't, just brought him aside and tied the boats together at their aft dockline cleats. I see what you are saying, though, and will keep that in mind if I'm in a similar situation again.

To your question TowBoat US would have been fine towing that boat. If he was a member it wouldn’t have cost him any more than you towing him but if he wasn’t a member it would have cost plenty.

Interesting, thanks.

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by Don C L

Good job Jammer! As a side note to your post I got a ball throwing stick for dogs and I filled a tennis ball with silicone and poked a parachute cord through it. It's a pretty good heaving line, but I haven't had to use it yet. Of course a throw bag is always good to have handy too, but with a good arm you can really toss that tennis ball with the parachute cord or better some fishing line lightly coiled in a bag, then of course they pull the tow line over with that. I haven't had to use it yet but it's fun to play with. IT DID come in handy one windy night when I had to back a boat out of a downwind slip. I chucked the ball all the way over the fairway to the slips on the other side and then went over and pulled the boat straight out of the slip and got out of the marina without causing any damage which is always a good thing.

I want one of those! I don’t dock often so hadn’t thought much about needing to get a line to a remote location but I can see where it might be quite useful to have in your bag of tricks, plus it’s cheap, adds almost no weight, and takes up very little space. I bet you could throw a tennis ball filled with silicone about as far as you could still see it with that throwing stick and with heavy fishing line could pull a heavier line across without breaking it. [emoji106]

[mako]

Don C L, yes a heaving line is super handy at times. I remember when I was younger and how proud I was to be able to form a proper monkey’s fist. Later on I made a good size one, varnished it till it was really hard, with a small braided loop lead about 8 inches long. Dual purpose... It made a great defensive tool, a skull crusher, that I kept next to my berth.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by makobuilders

Don C L, yes a heaving line is super handy at times. I remember when I was younger and how proud I was to be able to form a proper monkey’s fist. Later on I made a good size one, varnished it till it was really hard, with a small braided loop lead about 8 inches long. Dual purpose... It made a great defensive tool, a skull crusher, that I kept next to my berth.

A delivery I was on required a tow and a British Navy auxilliary freighter came along. They had some sort of a gun that shot the heaving line over to us in the dark and we heard it go whizzing over our heads on the foredeck (the guy was a crack shot!). I can't remember what that ball was made of, but I do remember it inspired me to make something a LITTLE less potentially deadly.