By Mike Jastrzebski
When you live on a sailboat there’s one constant that you live with, things are going to happen. Some of those things will be enjoyable, some not so much.
We left Harbortown Marina in Cape Canaveral on Thursday heading to Ft. Lauderdale for a couple of weeks before heading back to the Bahamas. About a half dozen friends we’ve made since we arrived last July stopped by to see us off. It was a very pleasant experience.
But things didn’t quite go as planned. The prop was encrusted with barnacles and Mary had to go into the water and scrape the prop. Why Mary? She has a wet suit and I don’t. Even though we live in Florida the water does get cold at this time of the year.
Finally, two hours later we were on our way. Sunny, a little breezy, and calm water. We did have a little trouble with the transmission slipping but I handled that and then sat back and enjoyed the first two and a half days of our trip before the problems started.
Just past Jupiter, Florida our engine began to overheat and I knew from past experience that the repair job was going to take a few days and parts I didn’t have on hand. So what’s a boater to do? Why, we called BoatUS, gave them our towing insurance info, and sat back to wait.
A short time later the tow boat arrived and towed us to us to an anchorage where we spent the night. Sunday morning they were back for us and took us the rest of the way to Ft. Lauderdale. The silver lining in this part of our journey was that we got to sit back and enjoy the ride.
The conclusion I’ve arrived at after these last few days is that if you own a boat you’re crazy if you don’t carry towing insurance, and as far as I’m concerned, that means TowBoatUS insurance.
I can’t help but wonder if any of our readers would like to share their own experiences with TowBoatUS or its competitors. If so, please tell your story in the comments section. I for one would like to hear about them.
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I’ve used tow boat assistance insurance twice in thirty years, and been ashamed of my actions both times. Once I needed a jump start for a battery I knew was weak before taking an afternoon cruise to show off my new (old) boat. Embarrassing but not dangerous.
The second time I was captaining a boat before a threatening storm and while taking a short cut (out of the channel), firmly grounded the boat, requiring a towboat to free her.
One might infer that either I don’t get out on the water much or that when I do, I’m not really the responsible captain that my license says I am. Both are true, after living and working on the water for twenty plus of those thirty years I’m now a dry land dream sailor with few opportunities to stick a boat in the mud or worse.
Without being critical of your actions on that routine voyage, I would propose that anyone cruising anywhere on the water be fully aware of their boats limitations, be fully prepared to address and solve those limitations without outside help, and to complete their trip safely, enjoyably and without injury to their vessel or crew. Tow boat assistance should be reserved for real emergencies; weather, health or accidents.
Good morning Mike,
Yep been there, and done that. I carried Boat US tow insurance, the AAA of open water towing for boaters. Don’t buy the cheeper version pay a little more and get the premium package. I never hesitated to phone for a tow, like in the middle of the night when water monsters feed on grounded boaters. There is something to be said for getting ‘yourself’ off the bottom however, and your dog and wife look at you with admiration.
Getting blown off the bottom can be pleasant if you are on the bottom a foot away from deep water and save your foredeck from the unwanted stress to deck cleats. You call for a tow and just before they get there a big fiberglass stink pot comes off plane sending a three or four foot tidal wave under your hull. Science has shown and proven that when a big wake goes under a grounded boat the boat will first straighten leveling her decks and bounce high enough to clear the mud. Even if you are by yourself and no one will ever believe your story you will be proud of your good fortune. My first lesson in bouncing happened off Venice, Fla. just off The Crow’s nest fuel dock. My little boat dog, Miss Baby witnessed it all.
The funnest experience was in 1994 down at Little Palm Island in the Keys. Granted I did not know the water at the time, and had a charter of boy scouts on board. Luckily I had read a DIY report in some sailing magazine, so knew just what to do. The process involved swinging the boom out and have the passengers climb aboard till their combined weight towards the end of the boom caused the boat to heel. Now should you try this, never weaken when the weight is in the form of your wife. I promise you it will work with enough weight at the boom’s stern end. I did learn that Boy Scouts wouldn’t like learning how to ride the boom. Whats the difference they slide down bannisters, don’t they? Little did I know at the time that a canvas bag like a ruck sack attached to the end of the home could be filled with water and probably have the same effect of three teenage boys. Un used it can also carry a lot of clothes as proven by our Armed Forces in four and a half wars.
Later I perfected the process after seeing someone else get off the bottom by giving his main sail halyard to another boat who pulled the sailboat into a heel with the same results. Even in close water like the channel at Bahia Honda and right in the middle of the tides a grounded boat may get off unassisted by having your passengers get out and walk to the side of the channel and then when people come around to watch the making of a disaster in their minds, get them to help. There’s even the keel walk when you are not in a hurry, but can’t be used with an overheating engine. The good news is that I never ran aground in the islands. I think it has to do with the depth recording in meters rather than feet. Good sailing.