Boat Salvage

[Cold Duck]

Sorta confused..... are you saying a Sea Tow in California AND Florida don't raise sunk boats? If so I would love to know who you called so I could follow up on it. Neither sounds right but it could have been unusual circumstances and I have no reason to doubt you.

Sea Tow does not operate in California. They subcontract to BoatUS formally known as Vessel Assist. But the refusal to raise the sunk boat had nothing to do with them subcontracting. Both companies work as subcontractors of the other when only the one company has assets in the area. I just had Sea Tow in Fl when there and just carried it back with me to my California vessels instead of dropping Sea Tow and joining BoatUS..

 

[psneeld]

Exactly...I said you inferred Sea Tow didn't raise boats which most franchises I know do and national supports this.

Before I post, I usually research to make sure my advice may be current.

I discuss things I know about...13+ years of assistance towing as a captain and talking with franchise owners up and down the Atlantic coast gives me a pretty good perspective. In the hundreds of boat owners I had contact with, they had little knowledge of the business. I see most of the time here on TF most people don't have a lot of knowledge of the salvage/assistance towing business. So if someone posts something that is generally not true and only has one tiny personal experience with that business...yes I find that interesting and worth commenting on. Sometimes that comment might just be a bit brutally honest.

I don't post in most TF categories because they are outside my experience level. I certainly don't go on medical, legal, building, manufacturing forums and give my tiny little experiences with those businesses.... I would be kidding myself unless I did huge amounts of research to see if my experience was an issue there.

So.... if you are insulted I am sorry for that but not my ensuring other TFers do due diligence before they take random experiences and think it may apply in their case.

In my experience Sea Tow and BoatUS aren't subcontractors of each other. They will pay for services done by others if their service is unavailable in a certain area.... and in cases outside of normal membership services like raising boats...sure they can subcontract each other or anyone for that matter. Like in the pic I posted where the local Sea Tow franchise probably called in Northstar because of their heavy lift capabilities. But believe me, in many areas the two assistance towers are not necessarily friendly until there is money to be made and the other can help.

 

[Cold Duck]

PS.... there is no Florida Sea Tow number. You are either calling a franchise in FL or the home office which is headquartered in Southold, NY. Franchises have to provide basic membership services. Whether they will raise a sunken boat or not may be out of their business plan or they just couldn't do it when asked.

I stand corrected. I called the 1 (800) number. Assumed the office was in Fl, my bad. You now have me thinking and I am going to call Sea Tow tomorrow and see what I get. It will be interesting, and I will come back with their answer.

 

[HopCar]

In this case since the boat owner was out of the country I called Boat US. I told them what was happening and they had Tow Boat Us call me. I sent Tow Boat US Charlotte Harbor a photo of the boat. They got back to me with a quote. When the boat owner arrived the next day he called them with a credit card. His insurance seemed to think the quote was ok as they paid $6000 of the $6240. In less than 24 hours after getting paid, Tow Boat Us had it floating next to the dock.

 

[Cold Duck]

I agree it is sometimes easy to see someone who has not had a lot of boating experience. Actually, before Vessel Assist became BoatUS, I was good friends with the local office and they did boat recovery. Therewas a very public incident on TV where he was caught under a derelict vessel he was raising for the govt and his wife and son had to operate the "Hooka" for 12 hours straight until they were able to extricate him. One reason I was taken a back when Sea Tow declined to raise our boat.

 

[Cold Duck]

Ok, I got the skinny from Sea Tow on vessel recovery. Yes, Sea Tow does recovery, No they do not cover it on your membership so it becomes an "out of pocket" cost that must be covered by you or your insurance. In my case of the 13' boat, it was covered under a Homeowner's policy by Safeco but that policy did not cover sinking. So Yes I could have got Sea Tow to subcontract to BoatUS to raise the boat but it would be totally out of pocket cost to me. So, in my mind, I was not covered for recovery by Sea Tow or my Safeco Insurnace policy. I hope this clarifies the experience. Since I would have to pay total cost for the recovery, I viewed the situation as I was not covered by Sea Tow and that got distorted to Sea Tow does not do recovery/salvage. If your insurance covers salvage, Sea Tow or any recovery/salvage company will work, but Sea Tow membership does not cover salvage/recovery costs.

 

[psneeld]

As posted before..... and I am happy you posted what you figured out.

Commenting on this forum about assistance towing services in error when you didn't understand your membership agreement with Sea Tow (don't feel bad, most boaters don't) is misleading and I felt it necessary to try and get TFers the best info I know.

I stick to what I know, double check it before I post, and stay out of topics that I have limited or no real experience.

Keeps the clutter down in threads that are mostly full of misinformation and then they drift all over the place with posts that try and straighten the errors out.

Again..... I know this is not a popular tactic... but I am here to pay it forward for all those that educated me well in all things nautical.

 

[Cold Duck]

We will just have to agree to disagree. I stand by my statement as accurate. Sea Tow does not include salvage in it's membership, period.

 

[psneeld]

We will just have to agree to disagree. I stand by my statement as accurate. Sea Tow does not include salvage in it's membership, period.

I know it doesn't as BoatUS doesn't either. I know both membership agreements nearly word for word being in the business. So we agree on that.

I just read some of your posts as they didn't do salvage...not that they didn't cover it in membership...as you finally cleared up in post #36 with this sentence ....." I viewed the situation as I was not covered by Sea Tow and that got distorted to Sea Tow does not do recovery/salvage. If your insurance covers salvage, Sea Tow or any recovery/salvage company will work, but Sea Tow membership does not cover salvage/recovery costs. "

 

[Lepke]

When you hire salvage, you are hiring their experience and their specialized equipment. Like any contractor you need to choose carefully. It's not 2 guys with a truck moving furniture. Most big salvage companies pay their crews year round, not just during a job.
Fiberglass boats are usually easy because the hull is usually complete. I use air bags most of the time. If the cabin is strong enough you can put bags inside. If the boat is upside down you mount the bags to turn the vessel first and then bring it up to where you can pump it out.
It's better to move your boat if a hurricane is coming. Usually you know 1-2 weeks ahead. Lazy people cause the rest of us higher insurance rates.