Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

[koolerb]

Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

I ran a rental boat out of gas about 20 years ago. The first boat that passed us close enough to be in yelling distance immediatly stopped, and towed us in to the marina.

I've been a boat owner for five years now, and I've towed three boats in distress. But it wasn't until after I overheated my outboard towing that third boat, that I asked a good boat mechanic "how to" tow another boat without overheating the motor. Wish I had asked sooner.

 

[jonesg]

Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

every sport has its share of jerks boating is no different

a guy moves from NYC to rural pennsylvania , he asks his new neighbor "so ,what are people like around here"?

Neighbor asks "what were they like where you came from"

He says "plenty of jerks up there in NYC "

Neighbor says "I expect you'll find them here too".

We find what we seek.

To the original post, it would be more profitable to just assume the other boater didn't hear you correctly, trust me , he was half deaf.

I have found, almost without fail, when I am finger pointing and judging others I am just projecting my own imperfections onto them, blaming is a trick the ego plays to blind us to our own defects.

Yes it would be very annoying to have someone refuse to render assistance, but I have never met anyone like that, I do meet a few with bad hearing though. What?

"We dance in a circle and suppose...
the secret sits in the middle and already knows."
Frost.

 

[captharv]

Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

Got to clarify a statement made above: "The C.G. used to tow but don't anymore". This is absolutely true. Why? Read on....
Thank seatow for that one.
When seatow came into being, the CG was doing "courtesy tows". define a courtesy tow: A tow where no life is in danger, The Seatow people ( not just seatow but a generic term for all the private assist agencies) took the CG to court on the basis of competing with private enterprise. Because the seatow companies use memberships or plain charge, the CG was "taking money from them". The CG lost.
So, about 15-20 years ago, the CG came out with the following directive for CG AUXILIARY boats on patrol:
" Upon discovery of a non-distress tow, you MUST put out a Marine Assistance Radio Broadcast MARB stating (paraphrasing) " anyone else want to tow him, either a good samaratin or for pay" for an hour. If nobody responds, then you can assist. There was documented cases where the assist companies let the Auxiliary tow a boater 20 miles then when they came into the inlet, the company boats would radio: "he's one of our members, I'll take it from there". Anybody wonder why the auxiliary lost 25% of the membership that year?
So, now, the CG and many other law enforcement agencies will make sure the boats occupants are not in immediate danger (distress) or have a medical condition, and refer the case to others. However, if there is a real distress, they will handle it.
To reinterate what I said above, I will help a fellow boater in need, but sometimes upon arriving on scene, you look around and your little voice says "I don't think so...." I'll hanng nearby until I can arrange competant help.
Again, learn how or at least read very carefully the Chapmans book. And, practice....

 

[Pierutrus]

Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

Guy's,

Let's get back to boating courtesy and safety.....

You see a boat in distress......

You GO HELP!

Turbo, I'm on Lake Mead myself....

If I ever saw that stuff, where boater's don't help boater's.

LOOK THE FREEK OUT!

Just grab the reg #'s. That really pisses off the Park Cop's!

You got at least one Lake Mead boater watching your back.

We're not all assh@@les at Mead!

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

But it wasn't until after I overheated my outboard towing that third boat, that I asked a good boat mechanic "how to" tow another boat without overheating the motor. Wish I had asked sooner.

I'll ask... what pearl of wisdom did the mechanic share in regard to towing?

I've towed a few times and didn't have overheating problems, but I wasn't towing fast and pulling an equal sized boat, just a few miles back to the marina.

 

[marine4003]

Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

a guy moves from NYC to rural pennsylvania , he asks his new neighbor "so ,what are people like around here"?

Neighbor asks "what were they like where you came from"

He says "plenty of jerks up there in NYC "

Neighbor says "I expect you'll find them here too".

We find what we seek.

To the original post, it would be more profitable to just assume the other boater didn't hear you correctly, trust me , he was half deaf.

I have found, almost without fail, when I am finger pointing and judging others I am just projecting my own imperfections onto them, blaming is a trick the ego plays to blind us to our own defects.

Yes it would be very annoying to have someone refuse to render assistance, but I have never met anyone like that, I do meet a few with bad hearing though. What?

"We dance in a circle and suppose...
the secret sits in the middle and already knows."
Frost.

Good Stuff Jonesy !!

 

[koolerb]

Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

With a carburated engine don't be in a big hurry, and keep the RPM's low. Has to do with manifold pressure, and engine timing as you advance the throttle while the prop is turning lower RPM's than normal at a given power setting. He explained it really good, alot better than I can. He said the new computer controled injected engines are a little more forgiving. On the last tow we were covering alot of distance, towing a slightly bigger boat, and we were trying to beat a thunderstorm in to the ramp. I pushed a little to hard.

 

[mike176]

Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

Last time I towed somebody in he was amazed I offerd. I could see they had the cover off there motor so I went over. I asked if they had a problem and the guy said he ran out of gas. Once I had pulled the guy's boat back to the ramp he offerd me for cash. I told him I've been pulled in myself so next time you see somebody broke down on the water pull them in and consider it even.

 

[GypsyJon]

Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

I tell you what....IF you mess around with boats long enough, the day WILL come when you need a tow....Point is, I never turn down helping some guy out there on the water. I have been towed more than once in my 32 years of messing around with boats.

GypsyJOn

 

[mthieme]

Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

Well put Jon.
My day has not come yet I get a little more paranoid every year. I also try to be a little more prepared as time goes by too.

(I'm not counting running the jon boat of gas as a kid and rowing 1/4 mile home.)

 

[QC]

Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

Although I agree with jonesg and even preach the same to my kids etc. . . . Let's not pretend there are not jerks out there . . . That would be stupid . . . I had forgotten about my worst example of this towing discussion. Required me to be an idiot, but this one still blows my mind: Set myself and boat on fire

Scan down to the paragraph starting with BTW if you want to avoid the long post, but the sequence of events can also confirm GypsyJon's point . . . My main squeeze:

 

[Nandy]

Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

I have always stopped to help and tow when needed understanding I am taking some chances. However you dont have to tow anyone especially if you dont have the tools and the knowledge. Remember, you have to help if the vessel is in distress if it dont put your boat, you or your passengers in danger. If you are not properly prepared and trained to tow you are just doing that. However, you can move people to your boat and stay at the location until prepared help arrive.

 

[mthieme]

Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

Just this morning I'm heading through the ice and got about 1/2 mile when I start smelling antifreeze. I look down and my temp gauge is pegged. I look back and see steam coming out of the doghouse AHHHHH. I go to nearest pier, throw a line around a pole, open the doghouse and quickly determine that a hose clamp decided to fail after 20 years. Goo figure. It was a clean break in the middle. I couldn''t have made a prettier cut with snips. Of course the frsh water cooling system was empty. I walk up to the house and inform the owner what had happened (since I'm tied up at his pier). Wifthout hesitation, he went out to the garage, got me another clamp and a screwdriver and bam, back on my way. He told me he was in the middle of something and just lay the screwdriver back on the front porch. Of course I thanked him profusely.
I was headed out to bay ( a 4 mile run) where I passed two boats coming in. Noone else but me and gulls. Waves were threatening to come over the bow, whitecaps, and the wind was so strong I couldn't keep a course at trolling speed. Couldn't have been much worse. While not a tow, it's the same spirit 'round these parts.

Guess I better replace all the hose clamps! What else can go wrong on a
20 year old powerplant!

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

That is so great to hear. Sometimes I think societal standards have just gone to the dogs. I'm not talking about the moral standards that most people get hung up on - what I mean is just basic human kindness.

While it is true that there will always be people who abuse the kindness of others, I just can not imagine becoming so jaded that I wouldn't lend a helping hand to someone in need.

 

[special_kaye]

Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

Hey, I'd help. I even carry a tow-strap in my Jeep for helping on the road. Or in the mud, or up the ramp....

 

[SG Goobacks]

Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

Problem is these days, There are people out in boats that shouldn't even be allowed to drive cars. They have not either learned or cared about common courtesy.
We carry a tow line and a set of jumper cables with us, it's part of my emergency pack. Have towed many many people in and have either loaned the cables or actually jumped peoples batteries while out on the water. I never want to have that guilt feeling of not helping when needed.
One time out on the lake, we came upon a small cabin cruiser with a man waving like crazy. We pulled along side noticing he had his young (10ish) son with him and asked if he needed assistance, he replied that we were the 1st ones to stop after 4 hours of him trying. Incredible, not 1 person on a very crowded lake would stop and lend a hand. It took all of 5 minutes to get this guy and his son started up and all was good, he offered me a 100 bucks for helping out and of course I told him to keep it and to use it for a back up battery.
I truly believe in Karma, hopefully when I or my family is in need on the water it will come back.

 

[tx1961whaler]

Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

I never want to have that guilt feeling of not helping when needed.

You nailed it. Most people don't have that guilt feeling at all. Your parents did a good job of instilling that in you. Other's parents didn't.

 

[Starppy]

Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

In my experience, the bigger the boat, the bigger the prick.

Last year I was sitting, anchored and fishing on a reef up on the north end of Winnebago, not far from Neenah. A huge Sea Ray cabin cruiser comes up on me at full throttle and passes withing 50 feet of me. The wake broke my anchors loose it was so violent and this nimrod has the guts to wave at me from the bridge.

About 50 yards or so on, he crossed the top of the reef where it is only maybe 3' deep (Winnebago is large, but notoriously shallow). I actually witnessed the back end of his boat rise slightly and heard his engine(s) surge. He immediately killed the engine(s) and got down off the bridge and started looking over the stern down into the water. Maybe he shouldn't have came so close to that big red buoy.

I just smiled and laughed loudly as I pulled up my anchors and headed home.

 

[puddle jumper]

Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

In my experience, the bigger the boat, the bigger the prick.

That's funny I have always found the opposite.When i had my 14 foot home made cigar hull with a 40merc on the back the only boats out on the water were the big ones. All of the 17-24 footers would not even look at me when i was stuck on shore in some bad weather. Only the larger boats came over to see if they could give a hand and then complemented me on my boat.
I think it was due to that they could not keep up to me on derby day.

Its amazing how fast 5 door skins and 1/2 sheet of 3/4 plywood will go with some 1x2 ribs.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in

I had a V20 Stingray deep V I used on lake Erie. One time out, the idle circuit in the carb clogged up. We got to our fishing spot and when I pulled the throttle back, it died. We stayed there and caught our limit and headed back in to the Portage river. Once you enter the river, it is a no wake zone for a mile or so. We pulled anchor and I pumped the gas and got it running and straight into WOT. We get back to the river, I pulled the throttle back, and it quit. I was able to get out of the channel and tossed out the anchor. Got my tools out and pulled the top of the carb off. No water, nice and clean, jets are clear and then put it back together. Still wouldn't start at idle. So I took the carb apart again and found a twist tie off a bag of buns. I used that to poke around in the passages of the carb. Put it back together and still no idle. So I just closed everything up. A 32'er asked if I needed help or a tow. I explained to him that I needed to get past the cantilever bridge past the no wake zone. He said he was going up my way and no problem. I offered him some of my catch as I didn't have much cash on me. He said thanks, but no thanks.

He towed me up to the bridge and the boat fires up and runs again at WOT. Now the problem of getting into the no wake zone at the marine to dock. I get to the mouth of the marines channel, pull the throttle back and it keeps running at an idle. Go figure that one out?

BTW, there were other bigger boats that offered help while I was trying to fix my problem.

One thing I have noticed is that some people will not use their distress flag and then complain about nobody stopping.