Bimini 2014-June 22

[upperdeck]

I don't plan to switch from state farm, the boatUS thing is only for towing insurance, kind of like AAA.

 

[steined]

As far as I can tell, we have three missing captains from this thread.

Steiner
Yaman
Tw00155

I will be PMing them shortly.

steiner is actually steined



That's me. I'm here and still confirmed.

 

[upperdeck]

steiner is actually steined



That's me. I'm here and still confirmed.

Got it! Welcome aboard!

 

[justason]

Upperdeck. this was a good lead....are you familiar with "restricted dock tows" terminology? Home dock towing to me is a non-issue.

 

[upperdeck]

I got the impression that a restricted dock was something like a fuel dock, courtesy dock, or similar.

Confirmed that with BoatUS...

 

[upperdeck]

So then the question is, what if they towed you to the fuel dock in the marina instead of your week long assigned slip.

BoatUS response was "We have no way of knowing where you were before you were at the fuel dock."

 

[justason]

Got it! Welcome aboard!

So we are 12 boats strong now !!! wow !!

 

[xoomer]

I'm a member of SeaTow which will service the Bahamas:

BAHAMAS

Vessels that cannot be serviced in the nearest Bahamas facility at Marsh Harbour, Nassau or Freeport, and require a tow back to the United States, must make arrangements with the local franchise, their home area franchise or Sea Tow Services International. These vessels may only be towed to commercial ports in the United States. Vessels may be towed from West End, Grand Bahama Island to Lake Worth Inlet, West Palm Beach, FL, Fort Pierce Inlet, Fort Pierce, FL or from Bimini to Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale, FL or Port of Miami, Miami, FL. In lieu of towing the vessel, it may be shipped via freighter to the United States. member is responsible for arrangements and Customs fees and paperwork; Sea Tow will pay freight charges only.
​

If you want to sign up with them the best place to do it, if possible, is at at boat show where they will give you a couple of months extra for free--not sure if that matters for people who mainly boat on lakes and rivers.

 

[Bruce]

SeaTow has a 30 day free offer http://www.seatow.com/free30days

 

[upperdeck]

Ok, what's the difference between seatow and boatUS?

 

[xoomer]

Ok, what's the difference between seatow and boatUS?

From what I've seen it is basically the same service at approximately the same cost. What's recommended is to see how many franchisees are available in your area, and where they are located in relation to where you boat, for quicker service--in my case there were more SeaTows so I went with them.

 

[Magic]

@RobA, Just have your passengers watch these the whole way there. They can watch your new videos on the way home.

#Bimini2014

AWESOME videos!!! Someday!

 

[upperdeck]

Well, since it's the only operation other than Bimini that I could use on Lake Michigan, BoatUS will be my choice.

 

[Bruce]

With SeaTows free 30 day offer I believe you could sign up a week or two before we go to Bimini then cancel once we are back with no cost.

 

[upperdeck]

With SeaTows free 30 day offer I believe you could sign up a week or two before we go to Bimini then cancel once we are back with no cost.

Interesting option too!

 

[justason]

Sorry to burst your bubble Bruce. But Bimini is a solid 10 ft above sea level. The background to this image is a tad suspect......foreground ..well...one can hope

 

[upperdeck]

So SeaTow is not confidence inspiring... Lady that answered the phone says that you pay up front, and they will reimburse you. You may also be covered only to the nearest repair shop, not necessarily back to the US.

I'm going to do more research...

 

[justason]

So towboat is not confidence inspiring... Lady that answered the phone says that you pay up front, and they will reimburse you. You may also be covered only to the nearest repair shop, not necessarily back to the US.

I'm going to do more research...

towboat..new name..did I miss something or is this meant to be seatow ?

 

[xoomer]

With SeaTows free 30 day offer I believe you could sign up a week or two before we go to Bimini then cancel once we are back with no cost.

I would double-check to see if they covered Bimini on the trial membership--some of the fine print reads:

30-day trial memberships do not include dock-to-dock towing and are only applicable to the member's primary vessel. To view complete member benefits see the Sea Tow Member Guide on www.seatow.com​

 

[xoomer]

So towboat is not confidence inspiring... Lady that answered the phone says that you pay up front, and they will reimburse you. You may also be covered only to the nearest repair shop, not necessarily back to the US.

I'm going to do more research...

I haven't seen anything about paying upfront with SeaTow but they do reserve the right to have parts flown in and repairs done locally instead of towing you back to the US--makes sense I suppose since a tow would be several thousand dollars and a repair could only be a few dollars. Not sure about BoatUS policies...