On Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:19:01 -0700 (PDT), wf3h
wrote:

On Aug 22, 2:13*pm, H the K wrote:
wf3h wrote:
my boat insurance covers towing. *is it worth it to get towboat or
seatow in addition? not sure who the insurance company uses (agent I
talked to on the phone didn't know).

any experiences?

If you are a member of BOAT/US, membership includes on the water towing
for a limited distance, or at least used to...The full towing package,
about $100 a year, is more than worth it the first time your engine
craps out and you can't get it started. A tow of a modest distance from
where you are to where your ramp/marina is can easily add up to $400 or
more...

boat/us is a pretty good deal. not sure how it would work with my
insurance company...they say if i need a tow, just call their service
line and they'll arrange it...but i don't know what that means. most
insurance company folks don't seem to know alot about boats.

Bob,

Send the money and get Sea//Tow or BoatUS tow package - I have the
Gold Sea//Tow package with Trailer Assist - covers me on any boat I am
on and in charge of and full Trailer Assistance if something goes
wrong - soft groundings, battery/gas - it's a hell of a deal for $149
a year.

I have the "tow" assist on my boat insurance package also - it's
worthless - check your deductible because it could be as much as
$1,500 which could be the cost of a tow.

With Sea//Tow, I've never used the towing service, but my brother did
with his boat when he had a series of engine problems before he
swapped out his engine - didn't cost him a dime from Point Judith to
Fall River and that happened twice in one week.

I keep telling him I'm paying his tow bill. :)

Bill time can be as much as $100/hr starting when the engine are fired
and also depending on what kind of boat they use to come get you
(average is $75/hr). And I've never heard a complaint about Sea//Tow
from any of the boaters I've talked to about it. Consider that at
$75/hr from Point Judith to Fall River was 7 hours - $525 for the tow
plus fuel so it could have been as much as $900 (diesel) at the height
of the fuel price thingy last summer.

We figured that when he was having all those mechanical problems, he
could have spent well over $4,000 - everything from a battery jump to
tows to the, ahem, soft ungrounding he had done when he drifted up
onto Seal Rock off Newport. :)

73