Here in the Vero Beach, Sebastian area, it is not uncommon to come across a stranded boater. This area is full of fishing Captains and tour guides  as well as recreational boaters, and I am betting you that most of them have some type of Tow Boat Insurance. No matter how well you maintain your boat, there are going to be unforeseen situations where you could need a tow, and if you don’t have insurance, a breakdown  could be a very costly situation for you.

United Yacht Sales publishes a newsletter for its dealers called the Rudder, I may have mentioned it in other posts. If you are on my email list you may have seen this already, but if not, please take a moment and read this:

“TOWING INSURANCE, GREAT VALUE!

  I hate paying insurance premiums — premium upon premium. I own a lot of insurance: Life, homeowners, health, auto, boat, business liability, errors & omissions…. I pay tens of thousands of dollars in insurance premiums every year. The one insurance premium I don’t mind paying is towing insurance for my vessel. First of all, it’s so inexpensive, about $125 a year. I have Tow Boat U.S. towing insurance and recommend it to everyone. To my knowledge, the only other good policy is Sea Tow.  I personally prefer Tow Boat U.S . since they service south Florida so well and Stuart, in particular (772-286-8123 / Woody Woodruff). Tow Boat U.S. also services practically every boating community on the Atlantic east coast.

  Recently, my wife and I were cruising on our 40’ Island Packet Down East cruiser from Florida to New England. Two miles off the coast of New Jersey, in 3-5’ seas, we ran over a stray fishing net. My first inclination was to strip down, get out a knife and dive in to cut the net from the props. As I got closer to diving in, my good senses got the better of me and we called Tow Boat U.S. Within a couple of hours they arrived and we were rescued by a strong, pleasant, young, professional captain who hooked us up and we began the 1 hour tow into the Manasquan River. Upon arrival, they had a diver waiting for us, who immediately cut the netting from the props. Then they presented the bill: $600 for the tow and $200 for the diver.

  As I am Tow Boat U.S.  member, I paid nothing!….No questions asked! Away they went to save someone else and I hope that those folks have the same wonderful insurance.

  My advice: Buy towing insurance. It’s painless, will save you a lot of money, and gives you an incredible sense of security. “

Again, this post was originally published in the United Yacht Broker newsletter, The Rudder.

Robert Powell

United Yacht Brokers of Vero Beach