HELP - Give me a tow

[lanason]

As I approached the Marina today I saw newish 21 foot Rinker cuddy with about 6 people on, with the Engine covers open. So I asked, as you do, "are you al right".
Well it appeared not. They were badly overheating and drifting slowly onto a rocky outcrop.

So I did the honourable thing and towed them into the Marina.
They want my name and address to "thank me" - but I said they can take me out for a spin when they get it fixed. 5.7l merc so it should really go. Probably about 45-50 mph I guess - bit faster that my 22 Year old Kelisha !!!

Then on the way home in the car I thought. Can I claim Salvage rights and own take possession of their boat - broken cambelt and all ...... there may be a reward for any advice that leads to a conviction (or whatever) ;-))))

How you ever been towed and lost your boat ??
How you ever towed a boat and now own it ???

Adrian

Any jobs going ??

 

[Chris771]

As far as I can recall from my MN days many years ago, you would have had to given them a line, rather than taking theirs and asked them to accept a Lloyds Open Form Salvage Agreement as you took up the tow. Providing they were scared enough to accept it would not have mattered whether they understood the implications. Something along the lines of "No problem, I'll give you a tow on a Lloyds Open Agreement" would probably have done the trick as long as they said Yes and you had a witness. Of course, all your crew would be legally entitled to a share of the Salvage.

I got slated for towing an arrogant prat a little too quickly last week, so heaven knows what you will get for wanting salvage!

It is nice to know that powerboaters do thank you, a phrase that is often sadly missing from the sailing fraternity.

The moral probably is to give your line and agree terms first when you need a tow.

Chris

 

[Guest]

Ive towed a few boats in to port (nearly had to get towed in the other day myself). Ive never got funny with people about salvage - usually a few cans will do !!

If I had to go miles out of my way to take them into port then I'd arrange some kind of payment over the VHF, with witnesses on both boats before I would take the vessel under tow .

The only time I would clame salvage would be if the boat I towed was the C&W Adventurer or a fast sailing catamaran like Orange !!!!


My friend who works on Salvage tugs would have other ideas though. The tug he is on - Anglian Duke was on salvage station off the IOW until recently. The money for any salvage/tow is usually split between the crew after the company have there share. He got 6k for a job they did last year !!!

 

[oldgit]

Any hesitation on the part of a the owner of a disabled boat, because of financial considerations to not accept assistance,could result in certain situations of loss of life.
I would ALWAYS offer assistance to any boat I was CAPABLE of helping.
As an example you or I may be happy to bob around enjoying the silence when your engine stops,no probs ,no panic.However for non boat passengers it could be a terrifying experience.Having been on both ends of this problem I would not think twice about given assistance to anyone even if the problem was self inflicted.
Its just goes without saying.IMHO

 

[ccscott49]

I agree with you, wholeheartedly, we at least being sailors/motorers etc. Should take care of each other, I would never ask for salvage for offering a helping hand/tow, it just not my way, or for that matter the RNLIs' either. Asked to tow somebody miles out of my way, I may and I say MAY, ask for fuel costs.

 

[DavidP]

I would give anyone a tow ,working on the principle someday i may need then to tow me.

David.

 

[numenius]

Well said Olgit and others - what a sad state of affairs if we got too scared to ask for help. I think wihtout even asking around that at my club if anyone took adavntage of someone needing a tow no one would ever speak to them again! For commercial boats then its probably another issue - in spending time towing in those of us who don't actually need to be out there then it's thier time and money, and if life was not at risk then you can understand. I would hate to have to cross examine a good samaritan before accepting a tow if I needed one - if it was the other way round and I was offering the tow I'd be offended at anyone making the assumnption that I was so mercenary that I was just doing it so I could claim their boat.

http://members.lycos.co.uk/boaty1965/index.htm

 

[lanason]

Interesting views.

The Salvage idea was to understand what would happen if someone offered me a tow and then claimed something - I do have s ingle V**vo in my Boat so chances are high !!!!!
Well I bought a Mercury outboard as an aux. So that should help.
Never knoiw I may find a bottle of gin put on my boat when i go back down tomorrow - here's hoping.

Actually the feeling of being the "Hero on a White Charger" was enough for me.......

Adrian

Adrian

Any jobs going ??

 

[Guest]

Hear! Hear!

It would be a sad, sad day for all of us when we stop thinking and behaving like old git and the other posters below. To know the price of everything and the value of nothing is NOT a recipe for a happy life.

BTW, as a raggie sailor I would just like to remark that the majority of boats I have towed have been small, broken down power boats. The last one was well out to sea, in a thick fog and devoid of any navigational or safety gear. The young man asked me "which way to Mersea?" As if he could possibly have found it in the fog and without a compass and on a spring ebb tide. He was much too preoccupied with toughing it out in front of his girlfriend to think about thanks for the tow.

 

[MapisM]

Swim towing

I never lost mine, nor owned someone else's boat, after towing it.

But my first towing experience was very funny, and I was wondering if anybody else had the opportunity to smile a bit also in such occasions (which usually are not smiley at all).

I was returning home after a nice day of sun and waterski on the lake.
My first boat, a 16' with its 30 hp outboard seemed enough to conquer the world.
I saw at distance a Colombo 21 footer, the same boat which was afterwards - by chance - made famous by a picture of Lady D, beautifully smiling just besides the "Colombo" logo.
When approaching the boat, just to have a closer look at it, I realized that there was a man trying hard to swim against the wind, with a rope tied to himself and to the boat at the other end.
The rest of the family, one lady, a young boy and a couple of girls, were comfortably enjoying the last minutes of sun and relax on the boat.
They even seemed annoyed by myself and my wife approaching them.
But when I offered the swimmer our help, I saw his face changing. I guess he wouldn't have been any happier if he would have won the national lottery.

After towing them to their marina, the poor man kindly explained us that he did not explain his family how difficult the situation was, fearing that his lady would have been terribly angry with him as a result.

He also invited us to join them for dinner, but we declined.
...fearing what could have happened if we wouldn't have appreciated the menu !!!