Towed Home

[Basserman]

ok i had the unplesent expirance today of have some mecaniacl problems out side and as i waited and fished in a dead boat to help came i got me wondering

we see it almost every week with someone haveing trouble on the water and needing a hand

until now alot of the time i would think 'un-preparied' 'not looked after well' and things along that line

but after today it opened my eyes to how quick something can go wrong and how helpless you can be out there when it does also how something so small can become a big problem out there

so who has had to be towed home before of back to the ramp and what happined?

[Guest rzep]

I have not had to be towed before but I have towed someone else back to the ramp.

[Guest]

Thats exactly why for a mere $135 buxs you can join Seatow and get peace of mind up to 10 nautical miles to sea

http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/inde...showtopic=14786

Cheers Stewy

[Basserman]

yeh i could of joined but i think they would of taken a bit longer than i would like

VMR at port did a great job and i have no problems donateing them what they want

[Guest danielinbyron]

i had to tow a huge cat with my daughter in a little tinny , it was pretty david and goliath ...funny day

[Mik]

Basserman

Join the club mate. Although your situation was def more scary than mine. I dunno what I'd do out in the open.

I recently spent a fist full of cash to get my dads old boat back on the water afetr quite a few years parked in a shed. I told the guys (Who will remain namless) that I would be with my family alot & wanted peace of mind. He had some probs with the service (Couldn't get the leg off without using heat) but otherwise told me it was all good. 55 hp enirude done & 6hp johnno emergency ready too.

Second weekedn out & motor completey seized up (Sound like the gearbox / drive shaft to me) couldn't get the backup to start for love nor money & sat helpless whilst about 6 ski boats shot past us laughing. It was only after awile two saviours in a little 3.75 dingy came past & asked if we were ok. They towed us back to the ramp (Slow going dingy towing 1/2 cabin! fiberglass) Thank god for these two & their assistance or we might still be rowing.

This all took place at Burrendong dam, no tow companies there but I'd rather be adrift in a dam than the open. (Burrendong BTW is quite large - 4 1/2 times syd harbour I beleive, when full mind you)

Anyway, after this event I swear I will never, never, never go anywhere without a far more reliable back up & will always be happy to pay good dollar for good mechanical work!

If it were practical I'd prolly have 3 motors!

[Guest IFishSick.]

I've had to tow some people back just 2 weeks ago, brand new Evinrude E-Tecs had failed somewhere between the batteries and the motors. WHAT THE?

[Sammy0884]

I have towed a bunch of people...

notable experiences inclue 8 people in a 4.6m pongrass with an old 85hp merc that ran out of fuel (24L tank duh) at capt. cook bridge, i towed them to tom uglys in my old polycraft..

a 7m Whittley full cabin cruiser that was about to be wrecked on one of the port kembla islands in 2.5m swell, towed him back a few km to meet up with water police rescue fairly easily in the bluefin with CFD at the helm. The dude went home, did a dodgy fixit job at home then re-launced only to break down outside the breakwall again and have to flag down another tow... no thanks, obviously no brains either...

and one day, about half a dozen ski boats who were unable to start their supercharged race engines whilst floating out of the cooks river after a ski race meet was cancelled due to wind..

aren't i a nice guy! possibly why i am yet to have a 'situation' plenty of good karma left.

always makes it worth the effort when someone offers a beer or a coke, or cash which i seldom accept unless i have towed them for miles... gives me the shits when people arent appreciative...

[tricky]

Hi, makes me think of when i was fishing just up from como bridge suddenly a tinnie past me going around in circles with two young boys no older than 10 in it no life jackets on, one of the poor buggers was rowing his heart out with just one oar the other they had lost in the water when they decided to take the old mans tinnie out for a row on their own got into the channel, current got em and they were off they past me screamin when i got to them they were as white as ghosts. Towed them back to where they started their little adventure they were 2 releived young lads once they stepped foot on dry land again. tricky.

Edited February 4, 2007 by tricky

[madmac]

i was towed home about 6 years ago, i launched at shoalhaven heads, and ran down the crookhaven river and headed out to sea, my plan was to head south east to the banks to fish for kingies, got about 2 mile from the heads and the motor stalled, it would turn over but wouldnt fire. i pulled the cover off and checked all of the obvious but couldnt find anything. had to call coastal patrol who promptly sent out a boat and towed me back to the ramp (i posted them a $100 donation the next week), got the boat out of the water, then went looking for the fault. there is a large multi plug where all the wires meet the motor, too of the pins had shorted out, i cut the plug off anjd joined all the wires individually and it fired back up again,. i have had it break down one other time, but i was able to locate the fault and get it going again.

[hustler57]

hey there.

about a month ago i was out on the port hacking with my wife and we got flagged down by a jet ski...... who had a broken throttle cable i happily towed him back to the boat ramp which was about a 20min tow got him back to the ramp and ge gave me $20 . i have towed a few people in the past and never ask for anything but a thank you. i havnt needed to be towed yet. i always double check the small things like plenty of fuel and good batteries ect.... but i really do feel for the people who break down on the water,

[Basserman]

hey there.

about a month ago i was out on the port hacking with my wife and we got flagged down by a jet ski...... who had a broken throttle cable i happily towed him back to the boat ramp which was about a 20min tow got him back to the ramp and ge gave me $20 . i have towed a few people in the past and never ask for anything but a thank you. i havnt needed to be towed yet. i always double check the small things like plenty of fuel and good batteries ect.... but i really do feel for the people who break down on the water,

yeh after beeing towed now i really really feel for anyone who breaks down now

[netic]

Once a few years back on a mates boat we broke down about 20kms offshore.

His motor just stopped and there was a 4 knot curent taking us south, thank god i had a cdma phone at the time and coastal patrol came and got us...we were out there for over 2 hours waiting and we drift 15kms or so further south.

[forever]

mate,join seatow.for the $135 it will be your best investment.we have a 2000 model haines signature,its a beast, we thought we would never break down ,in the last 3 months, ive been towed in twice.once from sydney heads and the other from the sydney fad.both times it was a minor electrical problem from all the wave jumping,but you never know when you will break down.it looks really funny when your got a $50000 boat and your getting towed behind seatow.

[traysexy]

Thankfully, so far I haven't required assistance on the water, although have helped many people in the past.

One I remember was an early morning going up the georges river once launched from the national park at revesby. Only a few hundred metres upsteam was a half cabin boat that had been fishing over night and the battery had gone flat. They had tried to use the jump starter a few times and that too was now dead. So I took out the battery on my vessel, allowed them to start their boat and head off home. Luckly I did arrive early as their bilge wasn't working very well due to the low battery.

It pays to have a two way. People such as Sea tow, RVCG, and water police are literally just a call away, and I'm sure there are many decent people on the water that will lend a hand if necessary.

Regards,

Peter.

[costello]

I needed a tow when i was up at Laurieton one year. Asked a guy but said he couldn't because he had an appointment to go to. When i finally got a tow i passed him about 200m down stream kicking back with a line out, thanks champ!

Mark

[femalefisho]

Jim and I have been towed a couple of times.

1. Hole in the fuel line thing and we lost all our fuel

2. Unsure what the prob was but Jim fixed when we got home.

No big deal to me - shit happens. We chuck in a bit of money when the coastal patrol boys came to get us.

Jim been towed another time by water police.

Jim carries tools and can fix pretty much anything that happens to his boat. It is only when there is no other option to get back to ramp that we call.

Once round at molineax the metal part connecting the steering cable snapped but we managed to get back to boat ramp by dodgying it up with a squid jig and me turning the motor manually!!!!!!!! Good fun!

Never boring when Jim is a round!!!!

[Basserman]

I needed a tow when i was up at Laurieton one year. Asked a guy but said he couldn't because he had an appointment to go to. When i finally got a tow i passed him about 200m down stream kicking back with a line out, thanks champ!

Mark

no excuse at all for that in my books

i will tow anyone who needs it as long as it is saft to do so and if i can't then i will either get help for them or try and help out in any other way

i have towed a few people over the times but it has been people who have gone and pushed off to start the motors to only find the motor dead or forgoten the key (not that i have done that on too )

when you say down stream i take it that was in the camden haven river and if so no matter what he should of towed you

[domza]

thankfully i have never been towed, and i hope i never have to.

My boat carries limited fuel and to tow someone back to ramp could shorten my fishing trip by alot, is this an excuse not to tow them, aslong as there are plenty of other boats around, and not offshore?

[Guest Jewel]

To tow or not to tow is a personal call.

Put yourself in the position of the one needing a tow...... would you like folks passing you by?

Karma is a wonderful thing.......... it always catches up.

It sounds like a few of our Raiders are chalking up big amounts of it......... well done!

For the record I wont drive past a boat in distress.

[harold]

i could never pass someone in trouble on the water, would always help regardless of cost

[Dorado 2]

I needed assistance when I had my first boat, was out of Brisbanewaters and motor would just not go. The water was not nice and even though I removed the cowling there was not much I could do cause I would have ended up in the drink. There was no Sea Tow them days anyhow coast guard came out and got me 2 hours later and once back on the ramp my young one at the time went to play with the prop and complained he could not turn it, found the gear linkage bolt had come off, so motor was still in gear. My new motor is only three years old but for a lousy $135 I joined SeaTow don't like hassling others for a tow on their fishing day.

Cheers

[james1990]

Hi guys,

about 5 months ago heading out off botany just out past south head we saw 2 old guys in a 4.6 cruise craft waving us down, there motor had crapped itself and they were on a collison course with the rocks the swell was getting very close to 2 meters they were no further than 200 meters from the rocks, they had no radio, NO ANCHOR, no flares only life jackets and a mobile phone, we towed them to the oil wharf where the water police met up with us and collected them.

cheers james