This is a question for Heiny and all others reading this.
When you meet a person who is broke down,out of gas, no power anything. I understand it is a courtesy to tow them back to port.
I had a friend get hailed down by a "stranded" boater last week and wanted a tow back in. He towed the guy for thirty minutes back to the ramp where he was parked. The towed boater offered no compensation for my friend's time, trouble, or fuel.
We all see stranded motorists on the side of the road and rarely stop to offer assistance, and don't tow them home for sure. So my question is Are we obligated to stop and tow someone in?
I have towed a fair number of boats back to port. Small boats out of gas, not enough power to go against the wind, sailboaters that don't know how to navigate in the wind, and one guy who ran out of battery power on a trolling motor only lake.
Give me some feedback on this, please.
I mean we are all supposed to have insurance on our cars, or we pay a towing company to haul our cars home. So why not have a policy for our boats, which makes more sense to me. In a car, you can stay there til your tow truck arrives. In your boat, who is to say if anyone will come by, or where you will wind up when the wind gets a hold of you.
Here is a link to BoatUS that is a reasonable insurer who will come and get you wherever you are. Check out the website.
If you are a boater who spends as many days on the water as some of us do, it's a good idea to have this. They even cover your boat on the highway.
http://www.boatus.com/
