To Tow or not to Tow?

[jayw]

The requirement to render aid is only to alleviate whatever danger may exist. By towing them to the nearest safe mooring, that standard is met. Nothing says you have to tow them an hour or 2 down the lake to the port of their choice. That's what commercial tow services are for.

Even the Coast Guard (and local law enforcement) will only tow in emergency situations and will hand off to Sea Tow/Vessel Assist whenever and as soon as possible.

And if rendering aid will put you and your vessel in peril, there is no obligation to assist. An extended tow while low on fuel would do just this.

Can't agree more. Get people out of danger is where it ends. You don't owe anyone a tow home. Again, they could drop anchor and make a call for a commercial tow. Towing someone in is a courtesy. It's been extended to us once or twice, and it's the unwritten code of our chain to help out if you aren't one of the d-bags out there. I've also seen d-bags pass 25 ft from a boat under tow in their go-fasts and wake the sh#t out of them.

Last yr we watched dozens of boats pass by an old junker toon with about 6 people on board, clearly having trouble and adrift on a very choppy lake in heavy traffic. We circled back to offer aid. When we got there we found out, the boat was a gypsy rental from one of the ma-n-pa marinas. It was about 40 yrs old, complete POS shouldn't be on the water. They weren't boaters so we talked them into dropping anchor before they drifted into someone's expensive boat as they were getting pushed towards docks. Their anchor? A coffee can full of Sakrete on about 10' of yellow nylon line. WTF, hope this guy didn't charge you much! They tried calling him while we waited to make sure they were OK. Finally he called them back, and asked them to either find a tow or wait at least an hour before he could find someone to get out there. Of course, the Towboat US guy is on the same lake but the cheapskate didn't offer to call, he left them high n dry. We towed them to the pier of the closest marina, actually 2nd closest as the closest was down a winding channel. Our tow supplies, naturally. They offered to buy lunch or pay for gas, we took nothing. But left them a piece of advice: after you get your money back from the a*hole who rented you this POS, punch him in the nose.

Anyway it felt good to help them out I guess, we did the right thing. They had no clue about boating except how to turn the key.

[badmoonrising]

Yep. I've towed quite a few disabled vessels, ALWAYS take them to the closest marina. A few times that meant to my marina. I'd help as much as I can, but towing a long way back to their destination marina, no way.

Boat US and Sea Tow are worth every penny.

[BoatCop]

Our usual Lake/River has a slew of launch ramps, both private and public. We've towed disabled boats to the closest accessible ramp and then given someone a ride back to their launch spot to retrieve the truck and trailer to come pick it up. A 15 minute banzai run to their port beats a 2 hour slow boat to China tow job.

We tell the ramp owner (if a private ramp or in a "pay" campground) to let the guy through to get the boat.

Haven't caught much flak or other problems from the ramp owners. In our area, ramps and docks are permitted by the US Army Corps of Engineers, and one of the provisions is for the ramp or dock to be available in case of emergency, even if privately "owned".

The few asshats who might get mouthy about it shut up real quick when I tell them that one phone call from me to our local ACOE inspector can have their permit revoked and force them to dismantle the dock and/or ramp.

[lakerunner]

We have helped many times from just a short tow to a few miles. I have towed cruisers, ski boats, fishing, toons, all the way down to a guy in a belly boat caught in current at dusk. I never hesitate to help if I can. I towed a cruiser once for about 5 miles and got him to the dock. He ask what he owed and we gave usual answer "HELP SOMONE IN NEED " as we pulled away he yelled thanks and threw a wad of cash then ran up the ramp. He gave $50.00 and I told Betty we were jinxed now and would break down and no one would help. We loaned a battery to strangers to run bilge pump so they could get to marina and the battery was there with $10.00 gas credit. We helped a fisherman one day out of fuel I had 2 cans on board and sold him one. When I tried to start my motor it was dead. He had jumpers and helped me get started. If we hadn't stopped to help him we might have been stranded.
Just because a boat is junky it might be the Queen Mary to them so don't judge just help.

[PlaynDoc]

Ive no problems helping/towing people that reach out...

MAYBE, helping someone in a bad situation will wipe out some of the bad stuff i've done to people in my crazy young days.... who knows... but i know that i owe a lot more than i've paid....

gosh... is my catholic wife rubbing off on me????

[RcgTexas]

Ive no problems helping/towing people that reach out...

MAYBE, helping someone in a bad situation will wipe out some of the bad stuff i've done to people in my crazy young days.... who knows... but i know that i owe a lot more than i've paid....

gosh... is my catholic wife rubbing off on me????

[kiowacampers]

We went to Lake Pueblo over the holiday and helped a fellow boater with 2 young kiddos and a pooch. He couldn't get the cruiser into any gear and was paddling this huge boat away from the rocks. We towed him a short distance into a cove and got him shored up. My hubby tried to help but there was no fixin this where we were so he decided to tow him to the marina. I thought he was crazy since the wind was picking up and a bunch of nutcakes on the water. But we did and it was amazing. I was scared to death but I'm sure the boat was even more scared than me. People had no respect on wakes and speed so it felt like we were on the ocean with everything getting thrown all over. I must admit, my hubby did an awesome job navigating thru the marina buoys and rush hour traffic in high winds. I thought we were goners when the little boats decided to cut us off when we were trying to keep away from all the nice big boats that were tied up in their slips. They probably thought I was a nut job when I started directing traffic from the front of our pontoon but thank god they listened to me!!!
We both made it safe and sound to shore with no mishaps. The boat performed great even in the high winds and our camping enclosure up.

[greghvac]

I will allway stop and help. It seem that they are all drifting 1st thing when you break down drop anchor. A few weekend ago I help 3 people. The last one They did not speak English Thank god my wife new Spanish. After towing them I was headed for dinner when storm started to roll in decided to head back to port when I run out of gas. As I was sitting in front of a no wake the 8 Boats that pass did not stop (because they where trying to out run the storm) I called a friend to bring me gas. After getting gas in I started right up. then the friend boat when he shift in to gear boat would stall. After about 10 min he brings up his motor and a line got raped around prop remove it. then we get back to port.

[Mosnowman]

I agree you did the right thing by helping out a stranded motorist without being a lake Tow Service! Tow them to a dock and you have done your due diligence.

My brand new boat...first time out...after fuel gauge showed half tank the needle suddenly dropped to empty and you guessed it...I ran out of gas! Luckily right by a Marina and a very nice boater in a toon stopped and offered to tow me to the Marina. He refused any money despite my I insistence and said pay it forward....

I now carry a 6 gallon spare tank of gas...which I have had to use for the same issue. Don't always trust those gas gauges!!

[NonHyphenAmerican]

Ive no problems helping/towing people that reach out...

MAYBE, helping someone in a bad situation will wipe out some of the bad stuff i've done to people in my crazy young days.... who knows... but i know that i owe a lot more than i've paid....

gosh... is my catholic wife rubbing off on me????

Can't Resist.


Isn't it FUN getting your Wife to rub off on you?


I for one am glad anytime my Wifey rubs off on me.

It's been a "Good Thing".


As for helping others?


I just figure it's that same old rule I was taught in Sunday School.


"Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself".

Seems to always work out pretty well when I follow that and simply treat others the way I want to be treated.

[Soonertoon]

Tow them to the closest safe launch/dock/marina etc. Offer them a quick ride to where they put in if they cant make a call and be done with it. I have been towed myself by the lake patrol. Took me to the closest spot and me back to my truck. Thats all I could ask and thats all they are required to do.

[OK Toon]

We are always on the lookout for anyone stranded -- but we have plenty of time since we only put along at 20mph .

But since our dock is the first one next to the launch in the private development, we saw a couple launching a boat a couple of weeks ago that wouldn't start. He asked if we had an electric outlet on the pole by our walkway so he could plug in his battery charger. I told him I didn't but if he'd bring the boat over to our walkway I'd bring him an extension cord plugged into our dock. He admitted he knew nothing about boats but he raised the lid to the I/O and hooked up a charger to the battery. After trying to charge for 30 minutes, still nothing. Then he mentioned he had 2 batteries so I climbed back there and realized he was attempting to charge the battery for the trolling motor. Got his primary battery hooked up but it still wouldn't take a charge after 30 minutes. So I ended up pulling my battery out of my pontoon so he could get his boat fired up to get around to his dock. We have ended up becoming really good friends with him and his wife and meet every weekend at the sandbar to hangout. They even brought a bottle of wine to us (along with our battery) for our efforts.