On Sep 5, 8:48?am, wrote:
On Sep 5, 11:27 am, Gene Kearns
wrote:





On Tue, 4 Sep 2007 12:27:23 -0400, D-unit penned the following well
considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

After getting drenched in a heavy downpour last week and on my way
home, I notice a fellow off to the side of the ICW *walking* his boat
up the waterway. He waves and appears to be in distress so I turn
around to see what's up.

Turns out,

His battery is dead. I hand over my battery booster which doesn't help
much. (Im wondering if I shouldn't have bought a larger one) He then
asks me to tow him to the wildlife ramp. (approx. 3-4 miles)
to which I reluctantly replied ok. He said a couple other guys had stopped
but refused to give him a tow. I have never had to tow anyone but was
willing to help the guy out.

I did irk me that he had no back up of any kind. i.e. extra battery, paddle.
battery booster.

When we got to the ramp, he offered no *thank you* but a "what do I owe
you"?
A thank you would have sufficed, I guess that's what he meant.

Afterwards, I starting thinking about what my obligations are in similar
situations.

I think Im only legally obligated to lend assistance only if it is a dire
situation or
someone is hurt. Maybe someone could clear this up.

A few thoughts:

1) You lend assistance to the crew and passengers, not the vessel....
so, just waiting at the scene until "assistance" comes is a legal
option.

2) Those advising against any further help may actually be putting
caution and common sense ahead of being a good Samaritan. In a
litigious society, that may not be an all bad idea. (What would the
outcome have been had you been accused of damaging the towed boat in
some way?)

3) It isn't really legal to accept any sort of compensation for this
sort of tow unless you have a Captain's License with a Commercial Tow
Assist endorsement.

Personally, I, too, would have given him a careful tow to Wildlife and
accepted no pay.... but recognize that there could be some liability
incurred, especially if the towee is the sort of person disinclined
to offer appreciation for the voluntary assist.

YMMV.

--

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.

Homepagehttp://pamandgene.idleplay.net/

Rec.boats at Lee Yeaton's Bayguidehttp://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats
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We found a guy in a big boat sitting on it's side in low tide behind
Seldon Island in Deep River CT, on the CT river. Of course, no one
told him the tide was going out so he was stuck until morning. My
Sears Jon, was not going to get him out, so we gave him the food and
drinks from the cooler to keep him for the night. High tide was going
to be about 6 am iirc.. His "buddies" had hiked out and left him
there for the night, yuppies, geeze... It was the 80's then, my jeep
bumper sticker read "die yuppie scum" But he was a boater after all.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

My favorite rescue:

We were westbound across Puget Sound one summer afternoon.
Somewhere near the middle of the stretch between Shilshole and
Bainbridge Island, or at least two miles from land in any direction,
we came across a guy in a very weird looking vessel.

Upon closer inspection, it proved to be a plastic sandbox shaped like
a boat. It was 6-7 feet long, was floating with no more than a couple
of inches of freeboard, and a "hippie" looking individual was paddling
it with a plastic oar. No life jacket or anything else, of course. I
was concerned for the guy, as there was a light chop building and it
wasn't hard to visualize the sandbox filling up with water. I slowed
to a crawl to avoid swamping him with my wake and came to a stop about
15 feet or so from him.

"Are you OK?" I aksed.

"Fine! Why would you ask?"

"We don't see a lot of people out here in sandboxes."

"It floats, doesn't it?" he retorted indignantly.

"Yes, it does that. At least for now. Where are you trying to go?
Maybe we could give you a lift?"

"Nah, I'm fine. Thanks."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely."

We started off, and I was wondering whether or not to report this
idiot to the Coast Guard. He was obviously endangering himself. We
were still nearby when the wooden shaft jammed into the plastic blade
of his paddle broke, and he was reduced to grabbing the plastic blade
with both hands and "scooping" his way along.

"Sure you don't want some help?" I asked again.

"Well, maybe, since the paddle broke. I'm trying to go over to
Charlie's at Shilshole for a beer."

Despite second thoughts about the advisability of taking this apparent
nut on board with us, we hooked a line to the sandbox and set the
paddler on the aft deck. We turned around and headed back for
Shilshole, even though that was 180-degrees from where we intended to
go.

"Do you often go paddling around in that sandbox?" I asked.

"No, not at all. But I saw this Viking movie on TV this afternoon, got
to thinking about how good a cold beer would taste, and decided I'd go
by boat. I don't really have a boat, but I thought that sandbox would
probably do and it did get me halfway across the sound. I would have
made it all the way if the paddle hadn't snapped."

We let him out at the guest dock, where he tied up his sandbox and
headed up to the bar. I implored him to call a buddy to drive over and
pick him up when he was ready to go home again and not try to paddle
back across the sound when it was probably going to be dark. (On top
of all of his other challenges). Don't know if he did or not. I might
be my brother's keeper, but I'll be darned if I'm his babysitter. He
was safe ashore when we left him, and I thought that was sufficient.

On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 10:51:19 -0700, Chuck Gould
wrote:

"Do you often go paddling around in that sandbox?" I asked.

"No, not at all. But I saw this Viking movie on TV this afternoon, got
to thinking about how good a cold beer would taste, and decided I'd go
by boat. I don't really have a boat, but I thought that sandbox would
probably do and it did get me halfway across the sound. I would have
made it all the way if the paddle hadn't snapped."

Did you ask what movie it was? I'd like to see it.

We let him out at the guest dock, where he tied up his sandbox and
headed up to the bar. I implored him to call a buddy to drive over and
pick him up when he was ready to go home again and not try to paddle
back across the sound when it was probably going to be dark. (On top
of all of his other challenges). Don't know if he did or not. I might
be my brother's keeper, but I'll be darned if I'm his babysitter. He
was safe ashore when we left him, and I thought that was sufficient.

LOL
Chuck, I've got a real strong feeling nobody is going to top this one.

--Vic

Vic Smith wrote:
On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 10:51:19 -0700, Chuck Gould
wrote:

"Do you often go paddling around in that sandbox?" I asked.

"No, not at all. But I saw this Viking movie on TV this afternoon, got
to thinking about how good a cold beer would taste, and decided I'd go
by boat. I don't really have a boat, but I thought that sandbox would
probably do and it did get me halfway across the sound. I would have
made it all the way if the paddle hadn't snapped."


Did you ask what movie it was? I'd like to see it.


We let him out at the guest dock, where he tied up his sandbox and
headed up to the bar. I implored him to call a buddy to drive over and
pick him up when he was ready to go home again and not try to paddle
back across the sound when it was probably going to be dark. (On top
of all of his other challenges). Don't know if he did or not. I might
be my brother's keeper, but I'll be darned if I'm his babysitter. He
was safe ashore when we left him, and I thought that was sufficient.


LOL
Chuck, I've got a real strong feeling nobody is going to top this one.

--Vic

I can't even come close.

Capt Jack R..

I have towed people quite often, usually campers or other cottage neighbors
with crappy boats. Never more than a mile or so, mind you. I will always
render assistance. I often see them with the motor cover off from my own
shore and I'll jump in the boat to use the excuse to go for a little zoom.
When they off payment or thanks, I always tell them to just do the same for
someone else someday and we'll be even. Hopefully there will be someone
around when I myself need assistance.

There is of course, a limit to how prepared you can be out in the water. In
a 17 ft boat I don't carry a spare stator or spare battery but I do make
sure to have a really decent oversized battery.

--
Denis Roy
D. Roy Woodcraft
www.ideasinwood.com
"D-unit" cof42_AT_embarqmail.com wrote in message
...
After getting drenched in a heavy downpour last week and on my way
home, I notice a fellow off to the side of the ICW *walking* his boat
up the waterway. He waves and appears to be in distress so I turn
around to see what's up.

Turns out,

His battery is dead. I hand over my battery booster which doesn't help
much. (Im wondering if I shouldn't have bought a larger one) He then
asks me to tow him to the wildlife ramp. (approx. 3-4 miles)
to which I reluctantly replied ok. He said a couple other guys had
stopped
but refused to give him a tow. I have never had to tow anyone but was
willing to help the guy out.

I did irk me that he had no back up of any kind. i.e. extra battery,
paddle.
battery booster.

When we got to the ramp, he offered no *thank you* but a "what do I owe
you"?
A thank you would have sufficed, I guess that's what he meant.

Afterwards, I starting thinking about what my obligations are in similar
situations.

I think Im only legally obligated to lend assistance only if it is a dire
situation or
someone is hurt. Maybe someone could clear this up.

On Tue, 4 Sep 2007 12:27:23 -0400, "D-unit" cof42_AT_embarqmail.com
wrote:

I think Im only legally obligated to lend assistance only if it is a dire
situation or someone is hurt. Maybe someone could clear this up.

Wonder why this post just showed up? Interesting.

I haven't read through all the follow on posts, so some of this may be
duplication.

The rules are vague in this regard - you are required to lend
assistance, but the extent of that assistance is directly related to
your level of expertise and the level of assistance needed. Jump
starts? No problem. Fires? No problem. Run out of gas - not your
problem unless there is a danger to life and/or injury.

For instance - let's say that a boater flags you down - out of gas and
anchored out of normal travel lanes or channels. As long as you can
ascertain that there is no danger to life, no assistance is required -
you are not under obligation to provide that boater gas as it's not an
emergency. Any assistance you provide is strictly out of your own
sense of obligation to another human being. Same situation, but one
of the passengers is having breathing problems or suffering a medical
problem at that point you are obligated to provide assistance as long
as it does not place you and/or your passengers in danger. You call
for assistance and standby to render any assistance as needed once the
call is placed, but if in your judgement, you cannot be successful in
performing the assistance safely, no further action on your part is
required.

Now take that same situation, but the disabled boater is anchored in a
shipping channel or in similar danger - nothing more than that. Your
obligation is to assist the vessel out of danger, as in moving the
boat and passengers out of the channel and seeing it safely secured
away from travel lanes.

Where this whole "tow" thing gets tricky is when rendering assistance
while the other boat is in danger. Your obligation is to remove the
boat and passengers from danger - you are essentially rendered
blameless if something happens - like you pull the bow eye out or some
numbnuts does something stupid.

However, this changes if there is no clear and immediate danger to the
disabled vessel and/or passengers. Once you commit to a tow
voluntarily, you are essentially taking control of that vessel meaning
that anything that happens on the disabled vessel is automatically
your fault if fault is to be found.

For instance, you tow the disabled boat back to a ramp for a distance
of three/four miles and enroute the other boater decides to look at
his outboard, falls overboard, you don't notice and the boater drowns.
That's your fault. Or you bang the boat into the dock and cause
damage to the boat, the dock and another boat - that's your fault.

There's also the issue of insurance - most policies don't cover towing
assistance if you are the tower. As a licensed Captain, I have a tow
rider on my insurance and I have the towing endorsement on my license.
I don't think you do.

Additionally, there are nuances to all of this which may, or may not,
cause you to be found at fault if something happens.

The easiest thing to do in this situation is to render what assistance
you are capable of, but when it comes to towing, unless you are
willing to take charge of the disabled vessel in a long tow because
the dumbass ran out of gas or battery ran down, don't do it. Only
assist to your level of ability.

Where this whole "tow" thing gets tricky is when rendering assistance
while the other boat is in danger. Your obligation is to remove the
boat and passengers from danger

No, your only obligation is to remove the PASSENGERS from danger. But then
I'm no maritime lawyer. But as you suggest it's a matter of ability. If
you're not able to withstand the immense liability risks then it's a good
idea to avoid towing boats.

wrote:
On Tue, 4 Sep 2007 12:27:23 -0400, "D-unit" cof42_AT_embarqmail.com
wrote:

When we got to the ramp, he offered no *thank you* but a "what do I owe
you"?
A thank you would have sufficed, I guess that's what he meant.


I tow people up the Estero River a lot. "What do I owe you" is the
normal response and they sometimes offer money before we even start
the tow.
They probably know the tow pirate will charge them a couple hundred,
if he will even try coming up the river. Those inboards they run
around here might have trouble in low water.
My answer is always "tow me if you see me broke down".
I do get a lot of smiles and waves when I see them again. Hopefully if
I ever do break down one of my "towees" will happen by.



Yeah, that's sort of the price I extract, except I usually tell them to
help the next guy who needs it.

On Sep 4, 12:34?pm, HK wrote:


Yeah, that's sort of the price I extract, except I usually tell them to
help the next guy who needs it.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

How many tows did you provide in your 115 hours underway in the last
several years? Or, maybe you do your towing with the lobsta boat?

Chuck Gould wrote:
On Sep 4, 12:34?pm, HK wrote:

Yeah, that's sort of the price I extract, except I usually tell them to
help the next guy who needs it.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

How many tows did you provide in your 115 hours underway in the last
several years? Or, maybe you do your towing with the lobsta boat?



More times than you dove off your boat for a swim, I am sure.