DSK wrote:
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


tow rope too short...or did you lash him alongside?

... 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.



Don White wrote:
tow rope too short...or did you lash him alongside?

Neither. This particular rescue involved a small capsized sailboat that
did not have sufficient flotation. To right it and restore it to
floating status required pulling the mast upright & holding it that way
(fortunately we were on a boat big enough & stable enough to do that)
and then getting the people out of it while bailing enough water out to
get the top of the centerboard trunk above the water.

This guy was convinced that he knew exactly what to do (although the
evidence was already heavily against him before we came along) and not
only didn't accept suggestions but wanted to boss me around on my own
boat. He didn't even know why he had got into the trouble in the first
place.

Should have let the damn thing sink, it's an outdated deathtrap anyway.
One reason why sailing *used* to be a sport for the intelligent.

DSK