sea tow or towboat us

[riverviewpat]

im getting ready to buy a towing policy for my boat, i cant decide between seatow or towboat us. i will normally be boating out of riverview, florida, just south of tampa and around st. pete. but we take yearly trips to the keys so i want to make sure i will have the best coverage while boating in both areas. does anyone know which is best for me? thanks alot

[tommyr904]

for me it is sea-tow i am north of you,plus i know the owner so it helps.i think both are good may want to see if they have a boat near where you fish or boat at.closer is always better.lots of tow companies have one baot for say a 30 mile or so area.that can be time consuming when you need a tow

[frank1861]

They both have good coverage of the west coast of Florida especially around Tampa Bay, and they both have good coverage of the Keys. I have had Boat U.S. for about 5 years now and thankfully have never had to use them while on my boat. I have only one experiance with Tow Boat US while I was aboard my dad's boat and it went smoothly they got to us quickly and towed us back smoothly. I have friends that have used Sea tow and they are really happy with them too.

I also go to the Keys at least once or twice a year they both seem to have a strong presence in the keys too. You really can't go wrong with either.

[Menzies]

I like Sea Tow for the Bahamas coverage.

[Mr. Demeanor]

This is my understanding and please correct me if I am wrong.
Sea Tow business owners buy a franchise and work under the Sea Tow name.
TowBoat is more like an insurance policy. The business owner subscribes to be one of Towboats towing providers and gets paid by Towboat after the tow. Kind of like AAA.
If that is the case, then is would be best for SeaTow to get you in as quickly as possible and it might be best for the TowBoat operator to take his time. Other than that, go talk to both of your local towing providers and see what you think of them.

[riverviewpat]

thanks guys for all the replies, ill have to go check them both out

[vic33004]

I think Tow Boat US has some added benifits by being a Boat US member. if you need insurance and have been a long standing member of Boat US it will affect the premium. you may have to ask them for the consideration but it does work and may be handy if you have an older boat that some carriers are not interested in underwriting. cost being equal, my vote is with Boat US.

[Lazy_Iguana]

I use Boat US and am very happy with it. I have even used it once or twice, because of water in the gas. But both services are really just as good. In some areas there are more Tow Boats, in other areas more Sea Tow. I was thinking of getting both in case I am somewhere with better coverage by one or the other, or if one service is too busy and can not get to me for a few hours. You just never know.

Boat US has offers member services that Sea Tow does not. Sea Tow has the "Sea Smart VHF" system that will let people track your boat over the internet if they know your MMSI number - Tow Boat US does not have this system yet.

The important thing is to go with one of the two services. Get the unlimited towing insurance.

[Towbateau]

I know a bit about Sea Tow in the Keys. There is good coverage throughout. They also run out to the Dry Tortugas and up to Cape Sable to service their members.

[WildeOne]

There are other alternatives. I used to have one of the tow outfit policies, but now have an AMICA yacht policy. It provides liability, hull insurance and unlimited towing in US waters. The towing is a "no additional charge" included policy feature and doesn't limit you to any specific tow provider. I used it once to cover getting pulled off a grounding incident in a mismarked channel and got immediate reimbursement of almost $500. I checked with the insurer about getting towed from offshore (I routinely fish 50 to 70 nm out) and problem or limitations. Way less costly as well.

[FloridaDan]

You might want to read these three articles that Power and Motoryacht magazine chose to run about how ST really does business. They ripped off one of their own members for $ 30,000 for ONE hour of work on a very questionable tow.

http://powerandmotoryacht.com/features/0103badday/

http://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/fe...ow/index1.aspx

http://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/fe...ow/index2.aspx

[Team Ruby]

Someone earlier touched on a key issue, Sea Tow is a franchise set up and that can have its downfalls, especially if the franchise owner is not a good business man. I now have Tow Boat Us but I originally had Sea Tow. Long story short, years ago when I had Sea Tow I had to be towed in from quite a ways out. Sea Tow was on its way out but had to turn back because of a family emergency, understandable. Sea Tow arranged for another tower and I was to pay them and Sea Tow would reimburse me. It took me more than half a year to collect my money from my Sea Tow franchise and they would send me small payments, not full payment all at once. The franchise and owner were in financial difficulty. I even made calls to Sea Tow International and all they could do was try to be as persuasive as possible to the owner, it had little effect. When my policy ran out I switched to Tow Boat, like an insurance company, you are reimbursed through corporate if I can use that term, and they have the financial resources to take care of you in the rare event you have to rely on a substitute to come get you and then seek reimbursement for your out of pocket expense. The Sea Tow franchise I hear eventually went out of business. Go with Tow Boat. I am not suggesting that all Sea Tow franchises are run this way, you just have to mindful of the difference in how the two fund their claims.
Team Ruby

[bluehole]

I work for Boat U.S. in Florida both companies are very reputable.

The plus side with us is that we get paid by the tow from Boat US International. So when you break down in the Bahamas we are more than happy to get you because it's hours for us. Also time is calculated at 15kts and 6kts to tow you. So if your boat is a smaller vessel high speed towing can get you back to port at 18 - 22kts rather than 6 (depending on the tower and his experience); and we still get paid the same so we are not worried about burning more fuel at those speeds because we get paid the same fast or slow.

Unlimited covers up to 2500 and the gold 3000 after that it covers 1/2. $50 and $150 memberships are junk it's a slightly lower rate but you're always going to owe something, read the next paragraph and you'll understand why.

Either company is a good bet depending on your area. Make sure that you have something with either one of us. I get paid salary (not commission) on tows and hate having to charge someone 250-280 for a non member tow (billed from the time WE leave the dock to the time WE return to OUR dock. You may only be a mile offshore but that can sometimes be 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Grounders are an ADDITIONAL $12-20 Per Foot..

Remember boats break down constantly, without any coverage you're playing Russian roulette with your wallet.

[Giggity Goo]

I have Tow boat US, with the trailer tow assist... Luckily I have never needed it... I think the coverage is better in my area for Tow Boat US over Seatow,,, this is why I went with them,, The price is just about the same fore the unlimited plan that I chose.

[runabout]

I live in Tampa Bay and currently have Sea Tow. However, I always see boats from both Sea Tow and Tow Boat, as both have a strong presence here....same as in W Palm/Boca area that I boat alot in as well. I recently picked up a boat insurance policy through Boat US and strongly considering switching to Tow Boat in two weeks when my Sea Tow membership is up. I don't think you can really go wrong with either company in this area.

[CindyLou]

Originally Posted by WildeOne

There are other alternatives. I used to have one of the tow outfit policies, but now have an AMICA yacht policy. It provides liability, hull insurance and unlimited towing in US waters. The towing is a "no additional charge" included policy feature and doesn't limit you to any specific tow provider. I used it once to cover getting pulled off a grounding incident in a mismarked channel and got immediate reimbursement of almost $500. I checked with the insurer about getting towed from offshore (I routinely fish 50 to 70 nm out) and problem or limitations. Way less costly as well.

Interesting. I've never heard of boat insurance policies covering towing, but I've never thought to look into it! Anyone else find this? Is Amica the only one that offers it? Is your premium competitive with other providers?

[AncientMariner]

Three years ago we lost power departing Portland (ME) harbor. Managed to anchor in a cove out of the channel (and current). USCG Auxiliary came alongside and told us they would call SeaTow, as there was no Boat US coverage in the area. Not wanting to have a new co-owner of our boat, we stayed at anchor while I took the dinghy ashore to buy parts. I hear Boat US has a presence there now. If I ran these companies, I'd work out a mutual coverage umbrella scheme. Sort of like fire departments responding to neighboring towns needs. Meanwhile, I'm staying with Boat US, but will check coverage areas in advance if we take any long voyages (e.g. ICW to FL). If there are any, I'll consider both. Having a small rubber tugboat on davits on your stern helps, too, especially in inland waters.

AncientMariner
"Blue Dog" Mainship 34 Pilot Sedan, single 370 diesel.

[wctieman]

It's important to have coverage with someone, otherwise your paying a
large sum out of pocket.

TowBoatU.S. = $149 yr
SeaTow = $169 yr

I work for the local TowBoatUS company that owns Tampa Bay to Ceder
Key, so let me just tell you where our vessels are located and see if
that helps you.

2 – 26’ Shamrocks In Tampa Bay
1 – 25’ World Cat in Gulf Port Marina (Can be in Apollo Beach in 45
Minutes when needed)
1 - 27’ World Cat at Treasure Island Bridge (Can be at the St. Pete
Pier in 45 mins)
1 – 27’ World Cat in Madeira Beach City Marina
1 – 27’ World Cat at Largo Inter coastal
1 – 24’ Acqua Sport at home dock Dunedin Causeay
1- 27’ World Cat at Anclote Village in Tarpon Springs
1 – 27’ World Cat in Port Hudson
2 - 25 World Cat & 21 Flats Boat in Homosassa River
1 - 27’ World Cat in Crystal River
2 – 23 Mako & 18’ Flats Boat in Yankee Town

Under Normal Conditions, when you are within 10 NM of shore, we will
have a boat to you in 1 hour or less.

The business models of both companies are different at the local
level: one company gets its money through membership sales, and costs them money to provide service. The other
only gets money when it services its members.

When you join TowBoatU.S. most of the money goes to corporate offices.
We only get paid when our members break down and we provide service.
Thus, we want to service them as safely and timely as possible. By
contract we must service our members first.

Another issue that people talk about is the un-grounding policy:

TowBoatU.S. has no time limit to work on un-grounding your vessel and
will work with you as long as we think we can get the vessel
ungrounded without doing damage. We will come back at the next high
tide and continue to work with you again until we get you ungrounded.
We are working by the hour and get an ungrounding bonus from our
corporate office to refloat the vessel. Therefore. we take whatever
time is necessary to get the job done safely.


I believe our competitor has a different policy ; I've just copied and
pasted the following from the SeaTow Membership guide for your review:

http://www.seatow.com/membership/memberguide.pdf

Ungroundings: Sea Tow will provide free ungrounding
assistance to covered vessels when all five of the following
conditions apply, namely that the vessel: is in a stable, safe
condition, is not in dangerous surf or inside a dangerous surf
line, is surrounded by water on all sides, has some movement
(i.e. rocking), and can be refloated upon initial arrival or at the
next high tide in 15 minutes or less by one Sea Tow boat.
Ungroundings that do not meet the foregoing criteria are considered
salvage services and are invoiced to the member as such.


I hope that this will answer a few of your questions, for more
information about both companies check out their websites

Local: http://www.towboatustampabay.com/

National: http://www.boatus.com/

National: http://www.seatow.com