Misconception #1: Sea Tow membership
is included with your insurance.

Reality: An annual Sea Tow membership is NEVER … EVER … EVER… included with your boat insurance policy. And that is because membership benefits go far beyond what any towing coverage through insurance provides. You can choose to get a Sea Tow membership IN ADDITION TO whatever coverage you might have with your insurance – but don’t confuse the two. The biggest benefit you lose with just towing through your insurance policy? PRIORITY SERVICE. Without membership – you could be waiting for a while! Click here to read some FAQs that showcase the difference.

Misconception #2: Sea Tow membership
is too expensive.

Reality: In the grand scheme of boating expenses, a Sea Tow membership is likely the most affordable item to buy for your boat(s). The average cost of a tow without membership is now over $1,000, but an annual Sea Tow Gold Card membership is only $249. The current average cost of a gallon of gasoline is $3.45 on land and even more at fuel docks, dockage can cost $1,000’s a year – you do the math. Weigh your membership and upgrade options here.

Misconception #3: I don’t need Sea Tow –
my friends will help me.

Reality: We’ve all seen what happens when friends tow friends … there are certain pages on Instagram that make a living showing these blunders. The bottom line? This is what we do. We’re 24/7/365 and whether it’s 1 p.m. or 1 a.m. … we’re standing by to help you. Our most loyal members say…. “We love you … but we hope we never have to call you!” and we take pride in that!

MEMBER BENEFITS BEYOND 24/7 TOWING

As the premier leader in on-water boating assistance, Sea Tow members receive the most comprehensive benefits available. Membership includes a full suite of on-water assistance services for every boat you own, rent lease or bareboat charter. Learn more about our membership options today. To find the Sea Tow closest to you, use our service locator or call our Customer Care Team at 800-4-SEATOW.

The post Myth Busting: Top 3 Misconceptions About a Sea Tow Membership appeared first on Sea Tow.

• Can we really cruise across that cut at mid-tide?
• Where’s the nearest dock to gas up?
• Isn’t there supposed to be a channel marker off this point?

While these are the kind of questions you should be able to get answered over the VHF, getting the right answers from a trusted source is the key to charting your course. Continue reading to learn about the unmatched benefits of a Sea Tow membership.

Services Included with a Sea Tow Membership

Sea Tow Captains are your local resource on AND off the water. From navigational assistance and mishap prevention tips to getting you back underway without just towing you in, our captains always go the extra mile. Unmatched benefits with membership go far beyond boat towing. With a Sea Tow membership, you’ll benefit from:

• Free Boat Towing: Unlimited boat towing in your home area with no distance or dollar limits. Members get priority over non-members.

• Dock-To-Dock Towing on All Your Boats: 100% coverage on dock-to-dock tows from your homeport to repair facility (or trailer ramp for haul out) on all your covered vessels with Gold or Lake Card membership.

• Alternatives to Towing: Fuel delivery, jump starts, prop disentanglements (no diver), parts delivery, ungroundings; and that’s just on-water services. Use your local captains for everything from navigational assistance to tides and weather.

• Offshore Coverage: We always go the extra mile, especially when you are offshore. And we never limit how far offshore we will go; we leave that up to our captains and the situation.

Sea Tow Can Help

You can bet our Sea Tow Captains have explored all the flats, poked around the creeks, located trouble spots, and sampled the waterfront restaurants and attractions in their area. They’re current on weather conditions and on the fishing hot spots. Your local captains are a terrific resource when a Google search doesn’t provide a clear answer to what you’re looking for.

Unmatched Member Benefits

As the premier leader in on-water boating assistance, members receive the most comprehensive benefits available. Membership includes a full suite of on-water assistance services for every boat you own or rent. Learn more about our membership options today. To find the Sea Tow closest to you, use our service locator or call our Customer Care Team at 800-4-SEATOW.

The post The Unmatched Benefits of a Sea Tow Membership appeared first on Sea Tow.

The answer? Sea Tow’s offshore coverage does not have any specific offshore distance limits. We’re only limited by the sea conditions, the fuel capacity of our boats, and our ability to communicate with you. If for any reason Sea Tow cannot respond, we will certainly assist in arranging for an alternate assistance provider and offer reimbursement up to $5,000 per incident. In most cases, if we are unable to respond, no other commercial assistance provider will be able to either, so we will defer to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Tip: In addition to a VHF radio, it’s essential to have a working GPS onboard in order to help Sea Tow or the Coast Guard locate you offshore, as it will allow you to provide your boat’s exact coordinates.

If you’re still unsure about the coverage your membership provides, please contact your local captain or call our 24/7 Customer Care Team at 800-4-SEATOW. Refer to the Sea Tow Membership Agreement.

UNMATCHED MEMBER BENEFITS

Sea Tow has been the premier leader in on-water boating assistance since 1983. With Sea Tow, you pay one annual rate and receive the most comprehensive member benefits available. Membership includes a full suite of on-water assistance services for every boat you own or rent. Learn more about our membership options today. To find the Sea Tow closest to you, use our service locator or call our Customer Care Center at 800-4-SEATOW.

The post How Far Offshore Will Sea Tow Come to Get Me? appeared first on Sea Tow.

The water was flat calm as Bob Matthews and his wife, Catherine, backed out of their slip and headed up the creek at no-wake speed. With clear skies and a windless forecast for the early morning hours, conditions were perfect for kicking off their fishing season. Striped bass was today’s target, but a lengthy cruise down the twisty two-mile tributary to the harbor would need to be made before making the 16-mile run along the beach to a rocky point where one of Bob’s friends had scored the limit the day before.

“We had some bad gas in the tank on our initial shake-down run a week prior,” relayed Bob, “so we just wanted to make sure everything was good to go before heading out of the harbor. Our mechanic had suggested we add some dry gas to the half-filled tank, change our filters, and top off with hi-octane fuel to clear up the problem. If the engine were still running rough at that point,” Bob continued, “we could always get the old gas removed and start with a clean slate.”

After an initial cough or two, the older, two-stroke outboard seemed to be working perfectly.

It purred softly at idle and slow speeds inside the creek and hummed appropriately out in the harbor. Bob cut the engine twice to make sure it would restart and, having no problems, pointed the bow east toward open water and his striper hot spot.

“Everything seemed to be going fine as we made our first couple of drifts,” revealed Bob, “Then, as we set up for a third pass off the point, the engine sputtered and died. I tried to turn it over a few times, but it would cough a little and then shut down as I kicked it into gear. I checked to make sure the fuel line was clear and fully engaged at both ends, pumped the bulb a few times to confirm gas was getting to the engine, and even tried waiting several minutes between tests to make sure I hadn’t flooded the system. Nothing worked. We were dead in the water.”

With no other choices, the Matthews allowed their vessel to drift clear of some moderate rips and dropped anchor as the tide graciously carried the 19-foot center console into a quiet cove with a clean, sandy bottom.

“I think it’s time to call Sea Tow,” said Catherine. “You can always keep trying to get it running while we wait for them to arrive.”

“Guess so,” responded Bob, “I have their number in the dashboard storage box. I’ll give them a shout. There’s a package of cut clams in the cooler, so we can fish the bottom for scup and sea bass while we wait. Maybe we can still put a few fillets on ice.”

Even if they keep their vessels well-maintained and take all the basic precautions necessary before heading out, most boaters at some point experience engine trouble or some other mechanical failure that can prevent them from safely arriving at their destination or turning around and heading back to port. Steering cables break, oil pumps quit, throttles and shifters seize, and submerged rocks damage bottom units. Like it or not, that’s all part of the boating experience.

While no one is ever happy with such occurrences, it can be a relief to know that Sea Tow is always ready to come to your aid when a trip slides off course.

On this mildly ill-fated trip, the Matthews decided to sit back and drop their fishing lines over the side while waiting for Sea Tow to make the hour-long run. Before the yellow response vessel drew close, they managed to ice a dozen slab porgies and two tasty black sea bass. Several additional attempts to start the engine had failed, so their Sea Tow captain secured a tow line and, safely connected, they all headed home against what was by then a stiffening breeze.

“The trip home took nearly two hours, but it was, all things considered, pretty relaxing,” recalled Bob. “In fact, at one point I had contemplated putting out a couple of trolling rigs. I know of another Sea Tow member who did that on a return tow from offshore waters in Florida – he actually caught a couple of Mahi. We had enough fish in the cooler already, though, so we decided to just take it easy. We had plans to meet friends for an early dinner and drinks at a waterfront restaurant back near the marina. Thanks to Sea Tow’s prompt response, we managed to make it with time to spare. We even had time to run home, shower, and freshen up before heading out to eat.”

Of course, the convenience and reassurance of having a Sea Tow membership provides a feeling of security whenever you hit the water, but it was when they got back to the dock that Bob and Catherine also got a good look at the monetary side of their membership privileges.

Once their vessel was safely secured, their assisting captain assured them there would be no charge for the service. As a Sea Tow member, their invoice was $0.  The typical charge in their area runs $300 per hour from the time a tow vessel leaves the dock to the time it returns, so if not a member their tow would have cost $1200.!

“Getting our Sea Tow membership was one of the smartest boating moves we’ve ever made,” laughed Catherine. “It’s saved us a lot of money in the time we’ve had it.”

The Matthews have since had the bad gas removed from their tank, changed all their fuel filters, and made a practice of keeping their gas tank filled through the cooler months after a full winterization. They are currently in year six as boat owners, and year five as Sea Tow members.

“It is good to know that Sea Tow is out there 24/7,” concluded Bob. “We’re friendly with our local Sea Tow captains. In fact, we wave at them when cruising past. Sometimes we even pull up and get a fishing report. After all, membership privileges go far beyond just towing.”

UNMATCHED MEMBER BENEFITS

Sea Tow has been the premier leader in on-water boating assistance since 1983. With Sea Tow, you pay one annual rate and receive the most comprehensive member benefits available. Membership privileges include a full suite of on-water assistance services for every boat you own or rent. Learn more about our membership options today. To find the Sea Tow closest to you, use our service locator or call our Customer Care Team at 800-4-SEATOW.

Interested in boating safety tips from the Sea Tow Foundation? Click here.

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“Many of the calls we receive are a result of operator error or lack of knowledge,” said Capt. Jack Moran of Sea Tow Cape May in New Jersey. “I would say that half the time, we can help the member get started and on their way again just by asking them to try a few different questions.”

Capt. Jack explained that something as simple as the boat not being in neutral or the engine cut-off switch being disconnected can cause a boat not to start and a member to call. Those are easy things to talk a member through. When someone is out of gas or stuck on a sandbar, it takes a different approach.

A recent survey of Sea Tow locations indicated that the top reason members call varies by location, but the leading service provided as a result of member calls is actually the same across the network. That #1 service being a tow.

Every year more than 55 percent of the calls Sea Tow receives result in a tow, even though the cause of those tows differ greatly by location.

Capt. Trey Hill of Sea Tow Southcentral Alaska recalled a recent situation that while different, is more common than not. “A member had ventured out for the first time this year and struck some debris disabling their prop,” Capt. Trey said. “People don’t realize the amount of debris that is in the water. You have to really be careful and watch for logs and other floating objects up here. It’s not unheard of for us to have a member call and say they tore their lower unit off.”

In Southern Florida, Capt. Ryan Helmig of Sea Tow Palm Beach, has had members call for just about everything. However, the top two reasons members call him are for gas and having dead batteries.

“It’s basically a toss-up between dead batteries and members running out of gas,” Capt. Ryan said. “Running aground onto a sandbar or shallow area is a close third as well. What we have found through it all is that people look at us as a tremendous source of information.”

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