This may seem like a silly question, but, as I have never had to call for a
tow in over 40 years of boating on all of the Great Lakes, I have to ask it.

"Why do you need to have tow boat coverage?"


Gene Kearns wrote:
Frankly? Major CYA.

Agreed.


... I have never had an environmental catastrophe, but
I am insured against it. I have never needed a "tow" and a "tow" per
se does not warrant insurance.


Agreed, again. The thing is, it only covers 'just a simple tow' not
anything complex, and not anything for a distance. So the odds are
pretty good that unless you have a simple problem (dead battery, out of
fuel) and have it close to home, you're still going to get soaked.


However, there is a fine distinction between "tow" and "salvage" and
one could cost you a 6-pack to a friendly fellow boater.... and the
other could cost you up to (a minimum) of two times the value of your
vessel.


Y'know, the towboat operators I've had experience with (not towing *me)
were all very professional, and they are uniformly helpful with accurate
advice over the radio. Yet the cases I know of where a boater had to pay
salvage, it was a pretty blatant rip-off... a rip-off that may be fueled
by the boater's panic, but still a calculated effort to really gouge them.

I've towed people, at times... including towing in a few motorboat with
a sailboat... under sail, no less... but I've always been very careful
about it. Liability is an increasingly important issue, plus the
potential for damaging your own boat. In fact, one recent time we
rescued somebody (a small capsized sailboat) the guy refused to
cooperate with my 'suggestions' and I just about left him in the middle
of the lake. My wife would not let me, though. So we went ahead and his
boat put many ugly scratches in ours. My wife didn't realize this until
later and then she was mad at *me* for it.

Fair Skies
Doug King