TowBoatUS tows sailboat into bridge

Actually, I was referring to the possibility of ending up the defendent if someone thinks a line has been crossed between complaining and defaming. It's hard to justify protesting outside a boat show as having any purpose other than an intention to hurt a company. This needs to be handled in court and let the chips fall where they may.

That is not what matters here either. It's one thing to wish for a balanced story, it's other to wish for everyone to shut up on fear of defamation charges, not to mention it's not how those work. It's only dangerous if one is intentionally lying, which we have no grounds to suspect at all in this case.

Hi,

When you have been repeatedly lied to and ignored in your request for help from a company it sometimes takes rather blatant actions t get any result.

In 1989 I was on a boat that had a deck crane that was a real duffer, it had started to fall apart and it's safety system failed from a very poor overall assembly withing a couple of months of taking delivery of the yacht.

Repeated requests for service were always received well enough with promises of something to be done. Nothing ever happened other than more frustration and an increasingly un reliable piece of equipment.

We were at the Genoa Boatshow and came across the Manufacturers stand. They were not very receptive till we ( myself and the Captain) started telling people who stopped to look at their products that whilst they might look good they were in fact not that good in the flesh and offered to show people the problems we were having within 500 yards of this very stand.

Needless to say it didn't take long for the reactions to change and we had a visit from the guy running the stand for the manufacturer who seemed genuinely embarrassed that his company had supplied what he described as a pile of junk that he arranged for a complete new unit to be brought to the show and fitted the next day.

The new one was finished to a much higher standard and gave good service for the next two years I was on the boat.

Strange that the Bavaria was reportedly "destroyed" when the photo I looked at appeared to show only the top few feet of the mast as being broken or bent.

Anybody who has tried to screw me over has found it's not as much fun as they envisioned. So I'd be the last one to say don't take someone to task. Just be very sure of the ground your standing on or your life could get a whole lot more complicated and expensive. There is a lot of gray in this issue. It needs to be settled in court where cooler heads can prevail. Do I think the tow operator will be held liable? Yes. 100%? No. Could a person win his case and end up with a big net loss by handling things wrong? Absolutely. We've only heard one side of this, and my personal opinion is that the boat's owner is more than 50% responsible. The theory of the best defense being a good offense doesn't work out if your opponant has a better offense, especially if you give them the tools. This case belongs in court.

I wouldn't put too much stock in that. When you do that to the top of a mast a lot can happen at the other end. Ask anyone who's ever stepped on a rake and gotten whacked in the face.

you seem to know a bt more about blow boats than you are saying ?


Destroyed, one would imagine if there was so much damage at the other end the mast in the photo would maybe show a bigger angle than being pretty vertical.

It's entirely possible for the mast to have done some serious damage to the deck and hull where it is mounted to the boat. I saw a sailboat that ran aground coming in St. Augustine inlet.....it bounced off the keel a few times. It looked perfect on the outside, it wasn't until you went inside the boat and every single bulkhead from bow to stern was cracked and snapped.

a grounding is a bit different than hitting the top of a mast especially when the keel bounced a few times

I really don't see much wiggle room for the tow boat captain. Once he takes the vessel in tow the sailboat captain has no control over his vessel. It is up to the tow captain to determine whether the tow can go through a certain area. This is no different than if he had towed the sailboat onto a sandbar or another boat.

The only out I do see for the tow boat captain is if he was given incorrect information. For example if he was told the air draft of the sailboat was 60' and he verified the clearance at the bridge was 62' feet at the time of the tow.

The sailboat captain should have informed the tow boat captain of the height of the mast and depth of the keel. However if this information was not volunteered the towboat captain needed to ask for those dimensions and recorded them. Further more it had to be obvious to anyone watching that it was going to be close so a cautious approach to the bridge was warranted.

I'm willing to bet that the experienced captains on this forum don't operate vessels without knowing their dimensions.

A bit. But I also know a lot about stepping on rakes.

Hi,

I just got the Palm Beach Post article to load for me after a few tries when it wouldn't.

The yacht shown has a fractional rig and the top part above the headstay fitting has broken off - hardly grounds for claiming destruction.

If you have ever been all the way up a fractional rigged yachts main mast at sea you will see how flexible top part can be.

If breaking that off caused major damage elsewhere on the boat then there must have been some other issues involved.

Adding to the guessing, the mast might have bounced up and down under the bridge and caused damage to the deck and interior. And it wasn´t a Swan...

thank goodness

First of all, no matter what the master of the tow vessel is at fault. The only way he/she would not be held responsible is if the towed vessel's master got the boat running and proceeded to attempt to motor off while still under tow (happened to me more than once).

There is no good reason for a commercial assistance towing vessel to not be in communication with their customer. I always kept a fully charged portable radio on board to hand to my customer if their own radio wasn't working. If they can't communicate with you during the tow then how do you, as master of both vessel and tow, know if something is amiss?

Not all bridges have ledger boards. Those that do frequently are damaged, unreadable, and/or inaccurate. Reliance on reader boards, particularly when it's a "close call" is folly. Local knowledge is best and the tow boat operator should have had a wealth of local knowledge. He/she also had an office to call for additional information if he/she was unsure at any point. Based on the damage I would surmise that the operator had no moment of concern and pulled the towed vessel into the bridge at speed. IMO, having done at least 1000 tows of a similar nature but not being familiar with this particular location, it would be between 5-7kts under most circumstances.

There is also no excuse for the tow boat operator failing to inquire (and make note of) the towed vessels length, beam, draft, and overhead clearance.

I can conceive of no circumstance where the TowBoat US operator will not end up paying for the repairs. Likely, the tow boat operator will have actions taken against his license as well for careless operation. I wonder if he was boating while texting?

Being under tow does not relieve a master of the responsibility to safeguard his vessel.

Except if the boats owner is not monitoring his radio.

We don't know that conversation didn't take place nor how it was conducted if it did. Remember, the boats master didn't seem to have any concerns about clearing the bridge until the very last second.

I agree that he'll most likely be paying something, but the courts will have to decide his degree of culpability.

That's highly unlikely. I see no intentional act or negligence here. Someone mistook 63' of clearance for 64' and it's not been determined who bears what amount of responsibility on that. Anybody here ever clip an antenae on a bridge 10' over your head (thinking it was 10'2"). It happens.

That kind of speculation borders on slander. Did you read, see or hear anything remotely addressing that? You're talking about a professional's reputation.

Only Captains

I think the fact it was the highest tide in 18 years that day, should have kept the towboat captain on alert?

Here is what the yacht owner wrote on the Cruisers Forum;

"Tow-BoatUS did not file an incident report as required with US Coast Guard and I have been busy doing this.
US Coast Guard is now doing a full investigation of this incident.
My boat height above water line is 64' and the published Blue Heron Bridge clearance is 65'.

The Tow-BoatUS Captain shortened the tow line to less than my boat length when entering Palm Beach inlet and the Tow-BoatUS Captain asked me to take the helm and follow directly behind them as one of the tow lines attached had broken. This took my total concentration as boats were passing in the narrow channel we entered.

The Tow-BoatUS captain only asked my draft and never asked my mast height.

When turning into bridge from NW channel I only saw the bridge water mark at the last few seconds, it was between 62' and 63'. I only had time to start to say a prayer. The Tow-BoatUS Captain told me after the collision that the higher tide was the result of the Moon. The US Coast Guard have told me that Sunday 20th March 2011 was the highest tide in 18 years.

Tow-BoatUS was towing at 5+ knots. My sailboat speed under power is only 3 to 4 knots and if I was in control and going under a bridge I would have been doing 1 knot. I would have had plenty of time to notice the bridge clearance height if I was in control. I am a sailor with 40+ years of experience with Ocean crossings. The reason for the call for assistance was engine failure.

My wife (crew) was injured and boat damage is estimated at about $105,000.00. The boat is totally disabled and we are stranded in Florida.
From information and documents seen I believe that charges could be laid against Tow-BoatUS and the captain by the US Coast Guard.
I think that Tow-BoatUS Palm Beach might not have a valid insurance. They have lied to me and my attorney regarding reporting this to the US Coast Guard and have refused to provide a copy of their insurance.

Tow-BoatUS immediately after the incident admitted being responsible and liable for all repair costs and subsequential expenses. They have now gone back on that promise and deny any liability for the accident.
I have not met a single person yet who says that they are not liable.

Can anyone advise why Tow-BoatUS would not be liable?"

Well, I guess he has now.

I guess this thread answered that for him. In fact he added one more reason:

He was at the helm of his boat controling at least some of what his boat was doing. He further states

Those were the same circumstances that the tow captain was dealing with. That's the tow captain who apparently recognized that the height of the mast would clear the posted height of the bridge except for

Sure would have thought a sailor with 40 years of experience, who supposedly knows his boat intimately, would have been

more and questioned the wisdom when they were still a 1/2 mile from the bridge instead of realizing it when he

Seems he's expecting a lot more from (probably) part-time tow boat operator than he does of himself.

"The Tow-BoatUS captain only asked my draft and never asked my mast height."

This is one of the parts of his story that I really don't get. If the tow captain never asked about his air draft why the heck would he stay silent!?

It makes no sense. And IMO doesn't make an owner with "40+ years of experience" look to smart.