# Towing fees from offshore?



## GAHUNTER (Jan 30, 2008)

I fished the Panhandle for 30 years and the only time I have ever been towed, a friend in another boat did the honors (spun prop on single engine Mako). Although I carried Boat US towing insurance, I never had occasion to use it.

I was just wondering, what does a tow for a 28-foot outboard boat from, say, the nipple, cost these days? How about the further reaches of, say, the canyon, double nipple or floaters? What tow companies operate out of Destin and Pensacola? (I know I've seen Sea Tow, but don't remember seeing Tow Boat US.)

I've been out of bluewater fishing for three or four years (that happens when you're a residential builder/developer in this economy), but I am curious as to what towing coverage I should carry if (when?) I dive back in.


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

Sea tow and Tow Boat US are both right around Holiday Harbor. Don't know about the costs, luckily.


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## boatnbob (May 31, 2009)

*About $250 hour - Portal to Portal*

This is what I found on BoatUS's web site:

Commercial towing companies charge based on “Portal-to-Portal”. In simplest terms, they charge from the time they leave their port until the time that they return. These charges average $250 per hour! The distance you breakdown from your home port isn’t important. It is the distance you breakdown from the towers homeport that matters. So, even if you only boat close to your port, if the tower’s port is 10 miles away, your cost could exceed the expected.

That being said, I would figure that a 28' boat would be towed at no faster than 12-15 kts, so you are looking at a sizeable bill for the areas you mentioned. Figure 1.5 hours to get to the nipple and 4-5 hours back under tow - if you are lucky. You are looking at probably a $1,200-1,500 tow bill at the least. Makes the $150 look pretty good. It would take 10 years of insurance to pay for one tow. 

I only operate in the bay, but recently signed up as well since I have two boats.

Hope this helps. I know the economic times are pinching everyone. I would hate to be pinched by a full priced tow.

Cheers,

Bob


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

I knew a guy that beached a 31 Contender. It was $500 +$100/ft to pull it off. Ripped the trim tabs off too. That's a hell of a bill. Of course, if you pull a boat that size onto a sand bar, you should know what the tide is doing.


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## bigrick (Sep 29, 2010)

I use boat US, I got a really good deal at west marine of all places. Probably never use deal and west marine in the same sentence again.


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## MillerTime (Jul 6, 2011)

I have sea tow. Had to use it on a buddys boat about 36 hours after I bought it. We were diving out at the timber holes so it took about 1.5 hours to get there and then about 4 hours to get back in really rough seas. When we got back it would have been $250 an hour from when they left.


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## JoshH (Sep 28, 2007)

its a lot. go down to the sea tow house under the theo barrs bridge and talk to captain john or one of the others there, they will help you out and they wont rip you off.


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## GAHUNTER (Jan 30, 2008)

Wow! Well worth the cost of towing insurnace, that's for sure.

Back around 1997, I was in a group of 12 boats that ran over and fished Walkers Cay in the Bahamas. On the return trip, one of the single engine boats broke down at Memory Rock, 50 miles east of West Palm Beach. It was a little roungh with storms coming off Florida. But one of our boats started towing him towards West Palm, while the rest of us ran balls-to-the-wall towards West Palm. When we got within radio range of West Palm, we called Sea Tow to meet the guys towing the broken boat mid-stream, which they did. I understand Sea Tow took over when they were about 20 miles east of the inlet with a storm bearing down on them. They made it to Sailfish Marina just as the squall hit.

The total cost back then was $500 (remember, gas was a buck a gallon). I'll bet that same trip would be $1,500 now. 

I'd wager that in a busy port like West Palm, a Sea Tow franchise makes a pretty good living.


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## Diesel (Jan 9, 2008)

I used to work for SeaTow Florabama back in the day. How it worked then was if you were more than fifty miles offshore the Coast Guard brought you in to the fifty mile point and SeaTow took over from there. Figure your worst case scenario is from fifty miles out. Call it 3 hours to get there and a tow back in averages 7.5 knots so 6.5 hours back in...9.5 hours total. Whooo... the insurance is totally a no brainer. No question about it. My vote is get both companies... one may not have a boat available right away during the summer.


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## sykomommie (Aug 9, 2011)

Funny you should ask. Just yesterday we had to call Sea Tow. They culd not find our memebership in their computer. We had to give them our credit card information and they said it would $350.00 and $250.00 more per hour after that. Luckaly we had our paperwork in the boat, so it was no charge. We are talking about a 2 or 3 mile tow in a 20 foot boat.


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## 20simmons sea skiff (Aug 20, 2010)

they charged my friend over 700.00 for 21 ft trophy. application says will only come 25 miles.. im going to have to get it when i save up


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## Diesel (Jan 9, 2008)

Their limit might be 25 miles now.


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## BananaTom (Feb 16, 2008)

*Last year a buddy needed a tow, it cost him $650 from the entrance to little sabine to Bayou Chico Pelican's Perch. I called and got a price of $125 per hour, before I sent the tow boat to rescue my buddy.*

*I asked him if he had a tow boat package, he replied, I had thought about, but did not want to spend the $135.*

*Last I compared off shore towing, Boat US had a mileage limit then more fees applied, Sea Tow's Package was truly unlimited.*


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## shootfirst (Aug 8, 2011)

Been towed 1 time - sea bouy to Bayou Texar. would have been $ 700 - fortunately had Seatow. a boat is a breakdown waiting to happen - I'd be crazy not to buy the tow insurance.


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## flounderslayerman (Jun 3, 2011)

Tow Boat US Pensacola is based out of Mac's Marina on Bayou Grande. There nunbers is (850) 453-3775 aso for Kathy she can tell you all the info you should need. Towing prices differ from day, night, and fowl weather.


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## DreamWeaver21 (Oct 3, 2007)

Figure $250/hour from when the tow boat leaves his dock. Also figure on getting towed in about 7knts and do the math from where you are at.


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## SHunter (Jun 19, 2009)

I have BoatUS. It is cheaper than my other insurance. Their magazine has a lot of good information and offers discounts at marinas.


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## Instant Karma (Oct 9, 2007)

Anybody who does not have Tow Boat Insurance is just asking for it. I have Sea Tow & have used them several times. 

I would never leave someone stranded but probably not would tow them in. I will stand by until the tow boat gets there. Not going to risk damage to my boat because they were too cheap to buy insurance.


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## [email protected] (Feb 11, 2009)

I would be glad to answer any questions you have give me a call at 850-492-5070 or stop by my office on periodo key next to the oyster bar or in downtown ft Walton beach. We do charge by the hour for non-members, 250.00 an hour during the day and 300.00 an hour at night. Our membership is 169.00 per year. We have seven boats locally to service the area. We do give members priority service so as a non-member response times may vary. We do try to get to every call inside an hour.o


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## Sea-r-cy (Oct 3, 2007)

SeaTow: Don't leave home without it! :thumbsup:

I've been a member since I bought a saltwater boat. When I had the Johnson on my boat, I got to know quite a few of the SeaTow captains. :whistling:

I would have thought they would have sent me "Thanks" card when I bought the Honda. :whistling:
Sea-r-cy


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## JoeyWelch (Sep 25, 2009)

[email protected] said:


> I would be glad to answer any questions you have give me a call at 850-492-5070 or stop by my office on periodo key next to the oyster bar or in downtown ft Walton beach. We do charge by the hour for non-members, 250.00 an hour during the day and 300.00 an hour at night. Our membership is 169.00 per year. We have seven boats locally to service the area. We do give members priority service so as a non-member response times may vary. We do try to get to every call inside an hour.o



Captjohn do y'all have a maximum distance that you will go? I'm a member and often find myself out 50 miles or so.


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## [email protected] (Feb 11, 2009)

Your Sea Tow membership does not have a distance limit. Every Sea Tow Franchise has the capability to respond out to 40 nautical miles offshore. If you are further out than that we will pay up to 5000.00 per incident to get you towed within range of a Sea Tow boat. Here locally we have a 36' Twin Vee and respond further than 40nm on a regular basis. I hope this helps. If you need more info you can give me a call at 850-492-5070 or go to www.seatow.com Thanks

Capt John Ward
Sea Tow Destin/Pensacola/Orange Beach


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## oxbeast1210 (Jun 21, 2010)

Captain John. 
When one has seatow is there other fees you have to pay per incident or does the yearly membership cover everything


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## [email protected] (Feb 11, 2009)

There are no hidden fees. 169.00 per year.


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## eddy2419 (Oct 28, 2007)

[email protected] said:


> There are no hidden fees. 169.00 per year.


I understand hard groundings and gas/oil are extra? What about the use of a pump in a "salvage" situation?

Edit:

Salvage Operations:​​​​​​​​​_Salvage operations _are not covered by
the membership. Vessels wrecked, beached, on fire, taking
on water, in the surf or surf line, sinking or sunk are not
covered by the membership.​


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## MGlover54 (May 11, 2011)

I got sea tow about 72 hours before I ended up needing it. Paid the $10 for the trailer package.

Had a blowout at 6:15am. Didn't have a spare or jack. Called the 800 number. Was told I would have to pay $85 for the tire and an hourly charge for the delivery and labor to put it on. The repair man wouldn't be there for almost 3 hours.


I ended up cancelling the service, disconnecting the trailer, driving to my shop for the spare and jack, waited til 730 for the auto part store to open to buy a four way lug, fixed it ourselves, and were in the water by 815.


Is this normal? I'm seriously thinking of cancelling the membership.


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## eddy2419 (Oct 28, 2007)

MGlover54 said:


> I got sea tow about 72 hours before I ended up needing it. Paid the $10 for the trailer package.
> 
> Had a blowout at 6:15am. Didn't have a spare or jack. Called the 800 number. Was told I would have to pay $85 for the tire and an hourly charge for the delivery and labor to put it on. The repair man wouldn't be there for almost 3 hours.
> 
> ...


I think you pay the service guy then file a claim with Sea Tow. The tire would have been covered as I read it.


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## MGlover54 (May 11, 2011)

eddy2419 said:


> I think you pay the service guy then file a claim with Sea Tow. The tire would have been covered as I read it.


That's what I thought, but they never explained a single bit of that. They just acted like they were doing me a favor by sending someone. :blink:


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## JoeyWelch (Sep 25, 2009)

[email protected] said:


> Your Sea Tow membership does not have a distance limit. Every Sea Tow Franchise has the capability to respond out to 40 nautical miles offshore. If you are further out than that we will pay up to 5000.00 per incident to get you towed within range of a Sea Tow boat. Here locally we have a 36' Twin Vee and respond further than 40nm on a regular basis. I hope this helps. If you need more info you can give me a call at 850-492-5070 or go to www.seatow.com Thanks
> 
> Capt John Ward
> Sea Tow Destin/Pensacola/Orange Beach



Can't ask for any better than that. Thanks CaptJohn.


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## [email protected] (Feb 11, 2009)

mglover54

You are correct, there would have been a charge for the tire as parts are not included, but the rest of your service should have been sign-and-drive,(not out-of-pocket), up to $300. 

As far as the ETA goes, I had my corporate office look into this and according to our records you were quoted a 90 min. ETA. Which seems a little high. I apologize for that. 

I am sorry you were unhappy with the service, but glad that you were able to get back on the water quickly. I hope this helps and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to give me a call at 850-492-5070 or go to www.seatow.com

Capt John Ward
Sea Tow Destin/Pensacola/Orange Beach


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## oxbeast1210 (Jun 21, 2010)

Capt.do you get anything if we order it from you. ?
I'm going to be getting it and would rather get it from you if it helps you any if not I'm just getting it online
Thanks


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## [email protected] (Feb 11, 2009)

I make the same rather you purchase the membership online or through our office. However my girls in the office are paid commision so if you don't mind please call the office at 850-492-5070 in Pensacola or 251-980-5070 in Orange Beach or 850-837-4152 in Destin. They would appreciate the extra money going into the slow season. Thanks 

Capt John Ward
Sea Tow Destin/Pensacola/Orange Beach


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## MGlover54 (May 11, 2011)

Cap, I appreciate the apology but you didn't do anything wrong. I think I had a little misconception about how the trailer package worked. I only had one example to go on from before and he made it sound like he 1) blew a tire at the ramp 2) called sea tow 3) went out on the boat for the day 4) came back and everything was fixed.

I'm still going to hold on to the membership until it expires.

BTW, I saw your cat on 98 yesterday. Man, I want a cat!!!



[email protected] said:


> mglover54
> 
> You are correct, there would have been a charge for the tire as parts are not included, but the rest of your service should have been sign-and-drive,(not out-of-pocket), up to $300.
> 
> ...


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## Gone Fishin' Too (Oct 3, 2007)

I have a Sea Tow Premium On-Water Assistance new membership package for sale. I won this membership as a door prize a couple months ago and currently have a Tow Boat US membership and have my boat stored at Mac's Marina which is Boat US's home port - this would be a conflict of interest for me, and possibly an insult for the good folks that store my boat, so I'm not going there!

This Sea Tow membership package is worth $169. http://www.seatow.com/membership/default.asp I am will to sell this new package for $120!!! It's a $50 savings!!! 

Anyone that has boat - a on water towing service is a no brainer!!! You get 1 yr of free towing, 24/7 service, Nationwide coverage, fuel drops, jump starts, prop disentanglements, covered undergroundings, nav assistance, weather and tide reports.

Many boaters that needed on water assistance will tell you that tow companies charge about $200 per hour starting when they leave their homeport dock. A simple breakdown without a towing service and/or friends close by could easily cost over $1000.

Contact me - Chris by e-mail [email protected]


































__________________


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## oxbeast1210 (Jun 21, 2010)

Will do thanks


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