Sea Tow..Professionalism??

[jleonard]

So today I am in the Oyster Bay entrance, just about to make my turn into the bay to head for the nachorage.
I see a bopat headed toward me full bore, lights flashing. I slow a bit, then turn to starboard to clear a path for him.
He tirns to my bow.
I turn more. He turns. This continues until he is at my bow almost, so I slow to an idle. He starts circiling me.
I am on 16 so I say "Sea Tow, Sea Tow, this is Attitude Adjustment. What business do you have with me?"
Wait 10 seaconds, no reply.
I repeat my radio call. No reply
I go to Ch 9 and repeat the call. No reply. He still is "hounding" me.
I step outside the encliosure and yell the same message to him. No reply.
Back to 16 and I once more make the call, asking what his busines with me is. No reply.
Now the Coats Guard is in on the deal. They want to know WTF is going on.
Finally this BOZO in the tow boat says, "Oh. Are you the trawler? (like I'm 10 feet from him) I was mistaken".
Now he takes off to find the real guy who called him.
Do these idiots get trained at all? This guy is a complete bozo, no doubt.
Now the CG is calling, trying to find out who called an emergency and why the tow boat guy isn't answering.
It was very comical actually, but I hope I don't ever need Sea Tow.
The Boat US operators are much more professional.

[mike66]

I've used Sea Tow in RI and they've been fine. Did you get the boat name? They are a national company with local franchises; an email to corporate would be in order if you think he deserves it.

[DougSea]

Sorry about the local silliness but... are you staying in the area or headed home? You're directly across the Sound from us. I'll probably be out on the boat tomorrow evening.

[RobS]

Welcome to Long Island. Unfortunately LI waters are much more diversified than the tranquil and civilized places like Coecles and 3 Mile Harbor that you frequent. I am scuba diving in the Sound on eastern LI on Saturday, need a hull check?

[Pitou]

That Sea Tow Capt. sounds like some of the weekend warrior boaters that we all contend with, not a professional Capt.. Must've got his license from inside a matchbook cover .

To share my experience; I've had Sea Tow for the past 9 seasons for towing insurance and thankfully needed them only once .. last October when my starter quit. The capt. was a first rate professional from 1st radio contact to his departure from my dock.

If you can take the time, the Sea Tow Operator, his franchise owner and Sea Tow could only benefit from you sharing this less than stellar experience & behavior. No response when being hailed ... pretty bad ... circling ... even worse ... maybe a full beer can hurled aside his hull would have gotten his attention sooner, but that's right, most likely your Molson is in bottles! .... back to relaxation I hope.

[jleonard]

This was Sea Tow outof Huntington Harbor. I should have called the CG and asked them to call him in for a re-cert test.
Currently at anchor in Duck Island, (Westbrook) and headed to Portland tomorrow

[kjg1951]

Tow boat is the way to go ... They are the very capable captains here in Eastern N.C.

[hetek]

Definitely not my experience.

I subscribe to Seatow and have needed their services twice. The first time my brand new distributor grenaded on the test run. Seatow was at my boat in 20 minutes and towed me in. The towboat couldn't get under a low bridge that crosses the creek before my marina so they tied me up at their docks for the night and gave me a ride back to my car. The next morning they moved my boat using a smaller boat and tied it up at my slip. I couldn't have asked for more.

The second time my coil failed. Again, no more than a 20 minute wait and they towed me straight to my marina. Both times the captains were courteous, helpful and professional.

Seems like you just found the exception, not the norm. What's puzzling to me, besides the lack of radio communication, is the attempt to render assistance to a vessel (you) who was clearly not in distress or stranded.

[Jack]

Too bad. Oddball. I recommend reporting him to HQ. I have had good experiences on the 2 occasions I needed them. One was in Huntington Harbor in NY, just a few days after signing up. I left the frig on for 5 or 6 days and the battery ran out. The guy was there in 5 minutes and I was able to go on my short overnight trip to Greenwich CT. The second time was recently in the Connecticut River just north of Essex. I had an engine problem and they arrived from Old Saybrook in 20 minutes. Very good guy, good boat handler, towed when he should and alongside when it made sense. It would be good for other boaters to blow the whistle on that bad egg.

[jleonard]

Yes, I thought about reporting him but not woth the hassle at this point.
The Coast Guard called him several times, saying that they listened to the recording of the transmissions and coulldn't figure out what was going on. They were not convionced that a boat was out there somewhere in need.
So they finally got his cell number and were going to talk with him privqately to straighten it out. I'm sure that got the boss's attention.
I am a TowBoat member. Never had an issue with them either when I've used them or when I helped someone who called them, (but I got there first).