I was reading another thread where somebody was happy they had seatow after a breakdown on the water. I did some research on seatow and boat tow us. They seem like inexpensive insurance for what could be an expensive problem. Before I join one of these organization, I would appreciate the input of anybody who has used these services. How expensive is a tow? I'll bet it aint cheap! Are the services reliable. Pros and cons etc. I'll be doing most of my boating out of Port Aransas Rockport and Corpus Christi.

There was a comparison in a recent issue of either Sport Fishing or Saltwater Sportsman Magazine. I'll look through my back issues. As I remember, they even have options to cover boat trailer breakdowns on the road..........Something like $140-150/year??

BoatUS has home ports where you will be fishing.

So that is a bonus..


-Z-

I'm the one that was glad to have SeaTow because I had a starter go out 10 miles out.

I chose Seatow because they operate on Lake Lewisville, as well as Port Aransas and North to Galveston and out to either 20 or 40 miles off shore I don't recall exactly how far out though.

My experience was AWESOME, as well as I learned a little too. When I called they were polite, and courteous. They took my information, asked if I was anchored or drifting. Put me through to the captain of the tow boat who again got my coords and told me it would be 1.5-2 hours before he was on scene.

He got there close to 2 hours, circled a few times and the comein close enough to tell me what he needed me to do. I couldn't reach my towhook on the bow, so we had to tie off to the bow cleat.

I know from my sailboat experiences not to tie off to just one clean, I tied off to the bow then back to the side cleat.

An hour later I was at the marina signed all the papers and I was done. Smoother than anything I've done before on or off the water.

I did break my bow nav light with the tow rope but I saw that coming before I tied off to the cleat. I needed to replace it with a raised one anyway so no harm done.

I'll never go off-shore without Seatow again, and I'll never go offshore without a short tow rope attached to the bow towhook either.

I didn't get their trailer tow coverage. I figure there isn't much that they can do for me on that one that my insurance coverage doesnt do for me already.

Just for the record, I had gone over the engine a dozen times to make sure everything was going to be fine on this trip. My mechanic went over it as well. In the end Murphy wanted to remind me that no matter how prepared I was he could still ruine my day.

Thanks for the info Mike, I was concerned that sea tow did not cover Port Aransas as it was not on their web site. Any idea how much the tow would have cost without sea tow?

Being towed in can cost you hundreds, if not thousands, depending on how far out you are and what size boat you have. Especially if you run aground in on of the bays, and have to be dragged off a shelf reef.

Bust buy is to go ahead and purchase the towing insurance.

llama

Double check to make sure they cover Port A. If they don't have a boat in the area for towing, then all they do is put you in contact with a local tow company, and you are responsible for paying that company, they they reimburse you.

I was once told that anything outside of the jetties started at $900 and went up from there based on distance.

I don't know what the cost was to SeaTow, but it was WELL worth the $30 tip I give the driver, and I'd have given more if I had the cash on me.

The thing you have to be careful with when being towed offshore is that an unscrupulous person towing you can file a salvage lean on your boat that can cost up to 50% of the value of your boat at the time you tie it off to a dock from the tow...

Wow! Thanks all. I still have soooo much to learn. That salvage lean thing can be scary. Does anybody have any experience with Boat Tow US? They are located right in Port Aransas. They seem to be about as big as SeaTow. I'm defininately going to buy towing insurance but just not sure which yet.