Tow companies take to the open seas

Memberships gain popularity with boaters

By Paul Harber, Globe Staff, 8/21/2003

Dave Winkler and Mike Goodrich are to boat owners what AAA is to automobile drivers.

Winkler operates Sea Tow with his brother Steve, while Goodrich has the regional franchise for Tow Boats US. All three men are certified sea captains and they spend their days and nights towing boats that cannot get back to port. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week they are available to assist boaters who break down, ground themselves on sand bars or need fuel.

For example, Winkler said, the owner of a new 23-foot boat was traveling from Martha's Vineyard to Baypointe Marina in Quincy when his craft suddenly seemed to lurch out of gear and stop dead in the waters off Plymouth, 35 miles from home port. Fortunately, Winkler said, the boater had Sea Tow membership. He called the company on his radio and within 20 minutes a Sea Town boat patroling off Scituate was able to respond, Winkler said. Without the contract, he said, the seven-hour tow to Quincy would have cost about $1,000.

The tow companies charge annual fees of between $110 and $120. This allows boaters to receive unlimited tows, fuel drops, and on-the-water assistance.

The Winklers operate one of three Sea Tow franchises along the Massachusetts coast. Their six boats patrol from Rockport to Cohasset, and they have rescue tow boats stationed along the coast. More than 46,000 boats in the region are registered with Sea Tow, which responds to about 1,000 calls during the summer. Goodrich, who operates Tow Boat US in the Boston area, has three boats stationed at Marina Bay in Quincy to cover Boston Harbor and the waters south of Boston.

Tow Boat US also responds to about 1,000 local calls during the boating season. "Most of the educated boaters have this sort of insurance," Goodrich said. "It makes sense. You don't hesitate to call for help. Many times when you try to fix yourself, you get into big problems." He said most boaters have "ordinary problems such as running out of fuel, dead batteries, or mechanical problems. But there are tricky waters out there. Devil's Back and places like Brewster Spit can ground a boat easily."Captain Gerard Duffy of Marshfield is one of the region's Tow Boat US operators. He cruises waters south of Cohasset and estimates he has assisted about 75 boaters.

"The cost of towing somebody into port in negotiable," said Duffy. "If they don't have insurance for it, it can run anywhere from $150 to $300 an hour. It doesn't take us that long to get to a distressed boater; we can get out there pretty quick. It's the tow back. You can only go about 6 miles per hour."Tow Boat US, based in Alexandria, Va., says it is the largest network of towing companies in the United States. It covers 225 ports and has about 550,000 members.

Sea Tow, based in Southold, N.Y., has similar services and prices.Until 1982, the Coast Guard provided towing service to boats. But a policy change that year prohibited nonessential tows. Now, when boaters call the Coast Guard, it refers them to towing firms.

"VHF radio, other than life jackets, is one of the most important facets of boating safety you can have," said Dave Winkler. "Yes, cellphones are becoming more and more common. But you never know if you are going to wind up in a dead zone out at sea. With a phone, you are calling only one person while everybody in boating, including the Coast Guard, monitors Channel 16.""I haven't used [a towing service] yet, knock on wood," said John Buckley of Weymouth, who keeps his 42-foot powerboat, Two Bucks, at Captain's Cove in Quincy. "But it gives you peace of mind when you are out on the water. I think there are two types of boat owners. Those who have broken down out on the water and those who eventually will. It's only a matter of time."

His brother, Kevin, who also keeps his boat, Shauna B, at Captain's Cove, purchased a towing company membership at a boat show in Boston during the spring and it quickly paid off. "My battery went dead when I was fishing out in Boston Harbor. I called and within 15 minutes, I had help," he said. "It paid for the insurance right there."