Boat Salvage

psneeld said:

Sorta confused..... are you saying a Sea Tow in California AND Florida don't raise sunk boats? If so I would love to know who you called so I could follow up on it. Neither sounds right but it could have been unusual circumstances and I have no reason to doubt you.

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Sea Tow does not operate in California. They subcontract to BoatUS formally known as Vessel Assist. But the refusal to raise the sunk boat had nothing to do with them subcontracting. Both companies work as subcontractors of the other when only the one company has assets in the area. I just had Sea Tow in Fl when there and just carried it back with me to my California vessels instead of dropping Sea Tow and joining BoatUS..

Exactly...I said you inferred Sea Tow didn't raise boats which most franchises I know do and national supports this.

Before I post, I usually research to make sure my advice may be current.

I discuss things I know about...13+ years of assistance towing as a captain and talking with franchise owners up and down the Atlantic coast gives me a pretty good perspective. In the hundreds of boat owners I had contact with, they had little knowledge of the business. I see most of the time here on TF most people don't have a lot of knowledge of the salvage/assistance towing business. So if someone posts something that is generally not true and only has one tiny personal experience with that business...yes I find that interesting and worth commenting on. Sometimes that comment might just be a bit brutally honest.

I don't post in most TF categories because they are outside my experience level. I certainly don't go on medical, legal, building, manufacturing forums and give my tiny little experiences with those businesses.... I would be kidding myself unless I did huge amounts of research to see if my experience was an issue there.

So.... if you are insulted I am sorry for that but not my ensuring other TFers do due diligence before they take random experiences and think it may apply in their case.

In my experience Sea Tow and BoatUS aren't subcontractors of each other. They will pay for services done by others if their service is unavailable in a certain area.... and in cases outside of normal membership services like raising boats...sure they can subcontract each other or anyone for that matter. Like in the pic I posted where the local Sea Tow franchise probably called in Northstar because of their heavy lift capabilities. But believe me, in many areas the two assistance towers are not necessarily friendly until there is money to be made and the other can help.

psneeld said:

PS.... there is no Florida Sea Tow number. You are either calling a franchise in FL or the home office which is headquartered in Southold, NY. Franchises have to provide basic membership services. Whether they will raise a sunken boat or not may be out of their business plan or they just couldn't do it when asked.

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I stand corrected. I called the 1 (800) number. Assumed the office was in Fl, my bad. You now have me thinking and I am going to call Sea Tow tomorrow and see what I get. It will be interesting, and I will come back with their answer.

In this case since the boat owner was out of the country I called Boat US. I told them what was happening and they had Tow Boat Us call me. I sent Tow Boat US Charlotte Harbor a photo of the boat. They got back to me with a quote. When the boat owner arrived the next day he called them with a credit card. His insurance seemed to think the quote was ok as they paid $6000 of the $6240. In less than 24 hours after getting paid, Tow Boat Us had it floating next to the dock.

I agree it is sometimes easy to see someone who has not had a lot of boating experience. Actually, before Vessel Assist became BoatUS, I was good friends with the local office and they did boat recovery. Therewas a very public incident on TV where he was caught under a derelict vessel he was raising for the govt and his wife and son had to operate the "Hooka" for 12 hours straight until they were able to extricate him. One reason I was taken a back when Sea Tow declined to raise our boat.

Ok, I got the skinny from Sea Tow on vessel recovery. Yes, Sea Tow does recovery, No they do not cover it on your membership so it becomes an "out of pocket" cost that must be covered by you or your insurance. In my case of the 13' boat, it was covered under a Homeowner's policy by Safeco but that policy did not cover sinking. So Yes I could have got Sea Tow to subcontract to BoatUS to raise the boat but it would be totally out of pocket cost to me. So, in my mind, I was not covered for recovery by Sea Tow or my Safeco Insurnace policy. I hope this clarifies the experience. Since I would have to pay total cost for the recovery, I viewed the situation as I was not covered by Sea Tow and that got distorted to Sea Tow does not do recovery/salvage. If your insurance covers salvage, Sea Tow or any recovery/salvage company will work, but Sea Tow membership does not cover salvage/recovery costs.

As posted before..... and I am happy you posted what you figured out.

Commenting on this forum about assistance towing services in error when you didn't understand your membership agreement with Sea Tow (don't feel bad, most boaters don't) is misleading and I felt it necessary to try and get TFers the best info I know.

I stick to what I know, double check it before I post, and stay out of topics that I have limited or no real experience.

Keeps the clutter down in threads that are mostly full of misinformation and then they drift all over the place with posts that try and straighten the errors out.

Again..... I know this is not a popular tactic... but I am here to pay it forward for all those that educated me well in all things nautical.

We will just have to agree to disagree. I stand by my statement as accurate. Sea Tow does not include salvage in it's membership, period.

Cold Duck said:

We will just have to agree to disagree. I stand by my statement as accurate. Sea Tow does not include salvage in it's membership, period.

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I know it doesn't as BoatUS doesn't either. I know both membership agreements nearly word for word being in the business. So we agree on that.

I just read some of your posts as they didn't do salvage...not that they didn't cover it in membership...as you finally cleared up in post #36 with this sentence ....." I viewed the situation as I was not covered by Sea Tow and that got distorted to Sea Tow does not do recovery/salvage. If your insurance covers salvage, Sea Tow or any recovery/salvage company will work, but Sea Tow membership does not cover salvage/recovery costs. "

When you hire salvage, you are hiring their experience and their specialized equipment. Like any contractor you need to choose carefully. It's not 2 guys with a truck moving furniture. Most big salvage companies pay their crews year round, not just during a job.
Fiberglass boats are usually easy because the hull is usually complete. I use air bags most of the time. If the cabin is strong enough you can put bags inside. If the boat is upside down you mount the bags to turn the vessel first and then bring it up to where you can pump it out.
It's better to move your boat if a hurricane is coming. Usually you know 1-2 weeks ahead. Lazy people cause the rest of us higher insurance rates.

“It's better to move your boat if a hurricane is coming. Usually you know 1-2 weeks ahead. Lazy people cause the rest of us higher insurance rates.” Going to disagree with that statement, you’re lucky to get two or three days notice.

more said:

what rules, also in my video is salvage first step havy lift 3 hour job,diver 2 hour job,tow 30 minute ,dry dock lift, dry dock 1 week,repair ruder,repair hull ,antifouling paint ,epoxy paint price for all 4000€

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Incredibly cheap,a real bargain! Can you post the bill?

NoRain said:

There is no €100,000 glass of champagne in your reply. The bill you linked to shows a *bottle* of Roederer for approximately €1327 (10,000 kuna). Expensive but not insane. It also shows what appears to be a Methuselah of Armand de Brignac for 120,000 kuna (€16,000). That is a 6 litre bottle, which then equates to €2000 per 750ml. That is undoubtedly premium priced because of the rarity of Methuselah sized bottles of champagne, as is evidenced by the same champagne charged at €800 per 750ml when purchased as a Magnum lower on the bill, or by the actual 750ml bottle one line lower on the bill.

No €100,000 glass of champagne.

This is now ridiculously off topic, my apologies for my contribution to that situation…..I’m outta here.

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this all don't finish in the newspaper and I easy find. 100000€ is not for 1 glass champagne is total bill .but this up is not a scam ,normal bar/restaurant.
this night club scam working .men come on table come exotic dancer,men order drink for girl.girl order glass of champagne . ussualy no problem girl stay short on table men pay bill,sometime girl stay longer because nobody come in barr last week,expense must be covered. (I don't know I don't going in this bar in night)
o yes find Dom Pérignon Rose Gold bottle 122 thousand euros!(this year price)
like girl order this champaign .Normally club maybe have original empty bottle because all this shady go-go night club have chain similar club around eu. all have root in Germany.

BruceK said:

Incredibly cheap,a real bargain! Can you post the bill?

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Not my boat,my friend i help buy this boat. but really cheap,to cheap. and I think the owner of MCI marina Split make special price for this guy. This is only dry marina in Split who don't demand insurance. But I know some American complain on youtube price to high,move boat to turkey .
here is bill offer for my 2 boat 6 month dry dock in shipyard one is bavaria 40 ft second neptunus 57,2 ft fly bridge 25 000 kg

HopCar said:

“It's better to move your boat if a hurricane is coming. Usually you know 1-2 weeks ahead. Lazy people cause the rest of us higher insurance rates.” Going to disagree with that statement, you’re lucky to get two or three days notice.

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Unfortunately true. Last year hurricane Otis made a direct hit on Acapulco. They had roughly 36-hours notice of formation from tropical depression to a Cat 5. The devastation was unbelievable (we spent three days anchored there 3-months afterwards).

Hurricane Milton, a rare west to east hurricane, formed very quickly off Veracruz MX in GoM. I don't recall exactly, but there might have been four days notice. And then the question becomes where will it make landfall, and what direction should you go. For us, we paused cleanup of our home from hurricane Helene to prep for Milton, then evacuate 100 miles north. Had Weebles been here, she would have been in her boat lift - prep would have been trucking straps and raise the bunks as high as possible. I'm sure she's be fine though Milton, a Cat 3 at landfall, is likely the extremis of safety for a boat in a lift.

Peter

psneeld said:

Your arguement is thin air. Understand the business, understand the pricing.

If competitors charge nearly the same, courts call the awards mostly fair, insurance companies pay without arguement and even people who pay out of pocket think the charges are OK..... pretty hartd to agree with you.

The occasional whiner on the internet doesn't compare to the hundreds or thousands of salvages around the US every day or week that seem to move on without exaggerating the unfairness of salvage.

Calling it a scam is an insult to a lot of good people. Wish to reveal your occupation so I can pick it apart like you have never heard?

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I know he doesnt write well, but you could do a better job reading. I didn't see any cogent argument, nor did he call the salvage a scam.

I kinda read post #5 that's what he meant (bolded).

How did you read this post ..... "this is scam. my friend ground 46 ft sailboat on rock. team people diver and heavy lift,tow to dry marina he pay 4000€" (post #5 copied/pasted)

Plus...were most of his posts even relevant to the discussion?