towing insurance

[kyle2601]

Does anybody here have boatus towing insurance and if so what are your thoughts on it. Me and the girlfriend left bridge bait yesterday about 11am saturday morning and went about 42 miles offshore. We found a spot that had a lot of ballyhoo running which was very cool to see so we set up camp and I starting rigging lines. While I was doing that the engine died so I thought no big deal, Went to restart the motor and the start would not engage the ring gear. Now The funny thing is I just replaced this starter to weeks ago after having the same problem. Put the new one in and it did the job.


Well I mess with it for a while and finally hail the houston/galveston coast guard to relay and message to boatus that I need to be towed in ok so this takes place about 3pm. When they get boatus on the phone the guy says he is 45 minutes from his boat so no problem I can wait. I get a meesage back from coasties 15 minutes later saying the guy wants me to try and tap on the starter with a hammer or something so I tell the coasties to relay a message back to boatus that I have now physically pulled the starter and I am in the process of reinstalling and that it is a no go.... So we wait!!!! and wait, and guess what still waiting.


About 630pm I hail coasties again which I cant say enough about those guys, And this time I ask just for my piece of mind because I hear the coasties relaying message to any near vessels to help if they can, I ask have they heard from boat us and have they hit the water. No my nerves are getting a little shot. They relayed back that boat us can not make it out.. So are start thinking about all the events that happened and understand this guy never wanted to hit the water. So we wait on the coasties to come get us and they are around midnight. As I said before the coasties are the Chit...... Very nice guys and sent the engineer over to take a look and we talked about it and they finally decided it was f^&*^&*^. So we rig lines and they tow me in behind the 65' cutter manta. Now I will say it was a slow ride but we were moving.

I was so happy to be moving at 11 knots. They brought me to the jetties where we met the 41 footer that is stationed in freeport. These guys rigged me up next to them and we were underway in about 15 minutes. I never got the guys names but they were very nice and asked if we needed anything and got us to the dock all the while they did a safety inspection which we passed with flying colors and they gave us a copy of the report and helped us load the boat and strap down.

These guys saw us all the way to the dock and I thought for sure they would give us a bill or take us to their dock and tell us to figure out how to get to my truck and get the boat to the dock but they hauled us all the way.

This all leads to one thing. When we hit the jetties I call boatus and wake this clown up at 430am and tell him I need a tow in from coast guard station freeport and I will be there in 5-10minutes. He tell me he can be there in 20minutes and I tell him YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW ****** OFF I AM RIGHT NOW. I tell him we are the ones you did not come and get last night and that we will be talking to boatus about it. HE then tells me the coasties will take me to the dock and explains that he had an engine go down. Ok so you are telling me that boatus has one boat in {freeport-san luis pass** "same phone number". I am not happy with this at all. I really thought I was getting a good deal when I paid almost 200 hundred for towing insurance for a full year. Guess I was wrong.

I am mad because i had to rely on the coast guard and take them away from more important things. The other thing that really has me worked up is that this ********* did not bother to call the coasties back and let them know he was not coming. I had to radio in and ask if they heard anything and they had to call him. I am so mad about it that if I run into this guy I will want to put a hurting on him.

But as I said before the crew of the Cutter Manta and the 41 footer from Freeport will be seeing me again with dinner or fish in hand for them. They are great and I cannot say enough about them.


PS.. Sorry about the rant just have to vent and I hope this did not go on the wrong board.

[mahiseeker]

The Coasties do a great job, at least our govt $$$ are going to a worthwhile organization. They flew me in on a chopper from a rig about 70+ miles 3 weeks ago, & I can't say enough about they're good work. I'd be mad as **** at Tow Boat as well. Not to add insult, but when venturing far offshore, this is why it's a good idea to have twin engines, or at least a kicker. Better yet, a buddy boat + twins. You cas at least rest a little easier today, since you're not out there bobbing around in 3-4 footers, & soon to be 5+ footers for the week.

[Mont]

I had a very good experience with TOWBOAT Us out of Clear Lake. Total pros. Captain Rick took good care of me and his boss called me on the way in to check up on things. I am glad things worked out for you. Like the others said, buddy boats are the way to go.

[Chase This!]

Thanks for sharing. Sounds like hell, and it sounds like you got a lazy SOB Tow Boat USA captain. He needs to be canned.

Glad yall made it home some.

Now, did you catch any fish?

Brandon

[Hotrod]

I called boat us 3 to 4 weeks ago trying to get a contract in Freeport. I was in the process of going to buy a towboat and work the Freeport area. They said 1 company has that contract and it is against their policy to let any others in. I said well what if his boat is down, they said well we have a secondary. I said I needed them a while back and he gave me a 5 hour ETA. They said if he is giving that type of service then they will do something about it. Shoot me a PM with your name and number and I will recontact them.

They also said the same guy has owns the galveston area also. It is rediculous to only have one company. Guess he wanted to watch the game or something.

[Rsnap]

Boat US is normally pretty good like Mont said, but sounds like this guy (Freeport)
could be replaced with someone that wants to work! Someone like Hotrod!
Go get em Joey!

[Da Ranger]

We had to get towed in about a month or so ago, Called the CG thay called Towboat USA got the same story about how they could not make it out. The CG out of Freeport came out and picked us up. Some real good guys!!

Makes you think what you pay Towboat for.

[Crossroads]

I have had a very positive experience with Tow Boatus out of Port Aransas, those guys were excellent . You need to call the national number and start complaining about the Freeport operator. If I had your experience I would call them every day until I felt I had chewed *** enough. Then I'd go by the local place and chew some more.

[random]

Went out a couple of weeks back. On the way in both engines gave warnings and died 20 miles off the Port A jetty (9:00 PM). Pulled out the Sat Phone and contacted Towboat US. He stated that there was a front with 30 plus knot winds hitting in an hour and he wasn't going to come out. The front had originally been scheduled to hit mid morning so this got us a bit concerned sitting offshore 20 miles without power. Checked out the satellite weather map and it still showed the front north of Temple. Made us feel a little better but still needed to get towed in.

Contacted the CG and they came out within a couple of hours. Towed us in and they were great. Secured the boat by 1:00 AM and went to bed. Front hit around 6:00 AM and it was ugly. Strong north winds 25 plus knots.

Don't know whether this is the norm for the Port A towboat US folks but they left us hanging out in what could have been a very dangerous situation.

Random

[SpecialK]

Port A Towboatus came and got me and my Father in law. It was 6-8 ft and nasty by the time they got there. We went back in the Packery Channel.

Freeport gave us the same downed engine story and said they were not coming to get us. Once I finally got the @h0l# on the phone he just told us to call the coast gaurd and wait...
I demand a little more "definate pick up" guarantee.