Re: Fellow boater wouldn't help tow me in
Providing assistance doesn't necessarily mean towing them in.
But if their vessel is sinking, you are required to assist in anyway possible, provided that you don't endanger your own boat or crew. That means not to over load your boat, or cause yourself any damage.
If you can't tow them, it's your duty to help any way you can, even if it's only to call for help and stand by. It's not your responsibility to recover the boat, but it is yours to make sure they are safe or that the Coast Guard is alerted.
Towing a boat is up to you, and if done right, shouldn't damage either boat.
Slack must be taken up slowly and towing should be done slowly.
I've pulled boats far larger than mine and have even towed some pretty big boats even with my 12' aluminum boat with a 6hp motor. It don't take much to get a boat moving on the water. I wouldn't have tried it in any serious current but I had no problem towing a 19' ski boat up stream in the river. I simply took my time and just kept it moving. I also attached the rope with a knot that I could pull loose in a split second if needed. I towed that boat up to the dock and got out of the way so they could drift into the launch ramp area.
That boat had to weigh in at over 2500 lbs, mine at about 650 or so with me in it. They had motor trouble and were on the water for the first time that season and apparently hadn't winterized the motor over the winter and the motor took on water and seized. The boat looked like new. They had gotten only about a mile from where they launched when it quit.
I was on my way back to the ramp when I saw them, they actually didn't flag me down but I stopped after I saw them bailing water from the engine compartment and sitting off to the side of the channel in the reeds. It only took me a minute to decide that they had to be towed, the water in the boat wasn't the problem but it was getting dark and a call to Sea Tow would have left them there well into the night. I just grabbed a rope they already had tied to the bow eye and tied off to one of my transom handles, which aren't super sturdy but they never moved and I figured that the 6hp would never apply any real force. It took me only about 15 minutes to get them back to the dock, they loaded at the only ramp, I loaded mine along side of the ramp. They were nice enough to offer to pay but I refused. That incident was simply a case of a newbie not knowing anything about their boat. If they had been told to winterize it, it most likely never sank in. I told them the manifold and risers were cracked, (visibly cracked and spewing water), but they had no clue what I meant.
A newbie on the water who don't know don't bother me as bad as the guy who's been boating for years and constantly takes risks, even though he knows better. I've seen boats out there in such disrepair it's amazing they still float.
I had a neighbor with a 15' trihull with a 115hp Johnson V4, (has an 85hp max), which had a section of 4x6" lumber and several long pieces of all thread through the rotted transom, with two pieces of 2x6" wood shoved down in inside the transom to keep from crushing the two lone layers of glass. There was no sign of wood left in the transom. There was a load of silicone all around the edges of the transom where cracks had opened up as well. The top cap was completely separated from the lower hull, it had 4 or 5 bilge pumps and the seats were lawn chairs screwed down to the plywood deck, which was about 4 layers thick. The boat must have weighed about a ton due to the soaked foam and wet wood on the deck, they had a 140qt cooler screwed to the bow across the front, the bow rider seats were replaced with plywood with holes drilled in it for holding rods, and there was a dozen or more holes in the gunwale tops with siliconed in PVC pipe sections for rod holders. The fuel tanks were shoved under the lawn chair seats, with the fuel lines laying out open on the floor. The dash was gutted, only a steering wheel. The middle windshield section was gone, the two side sections were plywood. To his benefit, there were four fire extinguishers, and a dozen or more life vests all about the little boat. The owner regularly runs this boat out in the open bay, and even the ocean, and has for may years. I've even fixed a few things on it for him, but I often feel I'm only prolonging the inevitable. I asked him the other day if he's ever done the spark plugs or water pump in that motor, he said it works fine and don't fix what's not broke. He feels that since he's in his 80's, any money he puts into it will just be a waste since he most likely won't live long enough to get his money back. That was the same thing he told me a few years back when I first saw the boat. One of these days I'll take some pics of it, it's that bad.
