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Who's been towed?!?

tcpip95 said:
We got towed shortly after we bought the boat - and I mean TOWED!  7 hours worth of towed.


We were living just north (about 40 miles) of where we are now in Ft. Myers (Punta Gorda, FL).  We had another couple with us and decided to make a nice day trip down to Ft. Myers.  Have lunch down here, hit the beaches, then take a nice leisurely trip home via the Gulf of Mexico.  We pulled in, had lunch at Doc Ford's restaurant, filled up both tanks, and went over to Sanibel Island for the afternoon.  Dropped anchor and had a great time.


It's getting on later in the afternoon - just before sunset - and we decide to haul anchor and head home.  We get about 2 miles and suddenly the alarm on my engine starts going off.  I pull the cowling, test the fuel filter - WATER!  A LOT OF IT.  Drop the anchor and proceed to try and wrestle with the Yamaha Fuel/Water separator filter.  Man, I swear it was welded on.  I didn't have a filter wrench with me.  I did everything I could short of destroying it before I gave up.  Called TowBoatUS (I'm a Gold member), they had to round up a boat, who proceeded to tow us all the way home - We were so far from home that they had to hand us off to another TowBoatUS boat from up in our area to bring us home. (they didn't have a filter wrench on board either).


Total trip home was just over 7 hours.  Got back to our dock at 3:00 am.


Gold membership was the best $150 I spent on the boat.


Got back home and next day cleaned the tank.  Had about 3 gallons of water in the bottom of each tank.  Talk about BAD GAS!
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Holy crap 7 hrs. of towing?!? And your Gold membership of TowboatUS covered the whole thing?!?

TomS said:
TomS said:
BIG Kahuna II !
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1Blderbob said:
DON'T WORRY,I'll bet one off the options on the Big Kahuna II would be thick payment book. I'm sure wife would love the boat. Good luck!
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Okay gentlemen let's not get carried away. I'm hoping for a full recovery for Big Kahuna! Kinda hard to buy a boat that costs more than my 1st house! Ha!
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Yeah, didn't cost me a nickel.  I did give the two TowBoatUS guys a good sized tip.  We motored along at 7 kts all the way home.


In addition to that, if you recall my boat nearly sinking at my dock, I had to have TowBoatUS come and tow it over to a boat ramp so that they could pull the boat.  That was also covered by my membership.  They put a diver in the water and had to inflate some fenders underneath to get it into a configuration where it could be towed.  I can't remember if my insurance (Progressive) paid for that, or if my TowBoatUS membership paid for that, but I know they covered the towing to the boat ramp, which was about 2 miles from our dock.


They were great, and have earned a lifetime customer with me.  Thankfully I haven't had to use them in over 3 years, but I'm happy to pay that renewal every year.
 
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tcpip95 said:
Yeah, didn't cost me a nickel.  I did give the two TowBoatUS guys a good sized tip.  We motored along at 7 kts all the way home.


In addition to that, if you recall my boat nearly sinking at my dock, I had to have TowBoatUS come and tow it over to a boat ramp so that they could pull the boat.  That was also covered by my membership.  They put a diver in the water and had to inflate some fenders underneath to get it into a configuration where it could be towed.  I can't remember if my insurance (Progressive) paid for that, or if my TowBoatUS membership paid for that, but I know they covered the towing to the boat ramp, which was about 2 miles from our dock.


They were great, and have earned a lifetime customer with me.  Thankfully I haven't had to use them in over 3 years, but I'm happy to pay that renewal every year.
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You definitely got your money's worth! 
 
That was a towing membership well spent. I've been debating on whether to join the SeaTow program. They charge $115/yr for service such as delivering gas, towing, and not sure what else, but like any insurance, it's not worth the money unless you are stranded somewhere.


I've been talking with a few folks about a little towing club among ourselves. If you break down, call one of us on the list. I have two others that have agreed to be ready to pull if needed. We have a group like this in our Jeep club.
 
Spoiledrotten said:
That was a towing membership well spent. I've been debating on whether to join the SeaTow program. They charge $115/yr for service such as delivering gas, towing, and not sure what else, but like any insurance, it's not worth the money unless you are stranded somewhere.


I've been talking with a few folks about a little towing club among ourselves. If you break down, call one of us on the list. I have two others that have agreed to be ready to pull if needed. We have a group like this in our Jeep club.
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Great idea! When the engine first shutdown we had called 4 different neighbors. They were either not home or didn't answer.......
 
Neighbor wife - "Who is calling?"


Neighbor - "Daril"


Neighbor wife - "Probably broke down again huh?"


Neighbor - "Yeah probably"


Neighbor wife - "Let it go to voicemail, you just towed him home last night. He should just buy that new Benny already so we don't have to be TowBoatUS"
 
BigKahuna said:
Great idea! When the engine first shutdown we had called 4 different neighbors. They were either not home or didn't answer.......
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Yep, there is always that little issue. I've wondered if the guys in my circle would actually find a way to show, or would say, "hey, I'm out of town. I know, my car is in the drive, but we rode with someone else, so it won't do any good to ring the doorbell when you get home."   :D
 
We never have cars out of the garage so no one knows if we are home. Although Daril never called us.
 
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lakeliving said:
Neighbor wife - "Who is calling?"


Neighbor - "Daril"


Neighbor wife - "Probably broke down again huh?"


Neighbor - "Yeah probably"


Neighbor wife - "Let it go to voicemail, you just towed him home last night. He should just buy that new Benny already so we don't have to be TowBoatUS"
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Now that's funny right there!  I don't care who you are...that's funny.


I suspect Mrs. Daril...aka Dianne will have her way if they can't get it figured out soon.
 
lakeliving said:
Neighbor wife - "Who is calling?"


Neighbor - "Daril"


Neighbor wife - "Probably broke down again huh?"


Neighbor - "Yeah probably"


Neighbor wife - "Let it go to voicemail, you just towed him home last night. He should just buy that new Benny already so we don't have to be TowBoatUS"
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I love it! I think I'm going to have the saying put into a calligraphy print for the Beach house. Anyone want to reserve a copy for themselves? And please give suggestions for the background scene.Should be available by Christmas!
 
lakeliving said:
Neighbor wife - "Who is calling?"


Neighbor - "Daril"


Neighbor wife - "Probably broke down again huh?"


Neighbor - "Yeah probably"


Neighbor wife - "Let it go to voicemail, you just towed him home last night. He should just buy that new Benny already so we don't have to be TowBoatUS"
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That IS funny!!! Appreciate a good joke! Ha!

cwag911 said:
We never have cars out of the garage so no one knows if we are home. Although Daril never called us.
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We just called the people right around us that had a boat that we thought were easily accessible. We were actually on the phone w/TowboatUS when the Lake patrol showed up.....
 
So how many times has it cut out now? 
 
lakeliving said:
So how many times has it cut out now? 
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Twice. The first time we were cruising along at 30-35 and it shut itself down. A deputy on lake patrol towed us to the ramp. Then he took me home to get the trailer. Our mechanic disconnected the wire from the tach that was attached to the coil and it started right up. He determined that the tach was shorted out and prevented the coil from firing. Took the boat home. Put the boat back in the water started right up and my wife drove it home to our slip and picked me up. We were on our way to go see MH663 and his wife. They're forum members from Ohio vacationing on Lake Norman. We were about 15 to 20 minutes from home and almost to their vacation place and it shut itself down again. But it started right up and we went straight back home.............
 
Got it. I was thinking it happened about 4 times now! Glad I was wrong! 
 
We towed a fellow boater in while on the water test with my dealer. My first boat, first time on a pontoon, and first tow all in an hour!  Haha


Here it is against the law to leave a stranded boater. I don't know the specifics, but help must be offered. 
 
After hearing a couple of horror stories about having towing insurance, and realizing that what I had would be too little too late. I logged on and upgraded to unlimited towing with BoatUS for $48/ year.  Another thing I don't have to worry about.
 
Royo said:
After hearing a couple of horror stories about having towing insurance, and realizing that what I had would be too little too late. I logged on and upgraded to unlimited towing with BoatUS for $48/ year.  Another thing I don't have to worry about.
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I wish the SeaTow was only $48/year. SeaTow is about $120/year, here.
 
I think it's the smart thing to do.  I have unlimited towing with BoatUS as well.  I've never had to use it but it's peace of mind should I have to.
 
cwag911 said:
I think BoatUS would pick up the tow from SeaTow.
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I may not understand. Do you mean if I became a member of BoatUS, then the membership would auto roll over to SeaTow if that's all that's available to me at the reservoir, where I most frequently use? 
 
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