When is it a tow? Salvage? Extortion?

“The thin veneer we call civilization can disappear where a shipwreck is concerned.” – Richard Loran, Shipwrecks of Great Britain and Ireland (quoted on Boat US’s web site)

We ran aground three times in the middle of the channel in the ICW between Cumberland Island and St. Augustine, Florida, so we were pretty frazzled when we finally arrived to the entrance of St. Augustine’s inlet. Each time Hideaway slammed to a stop on a sand bank, I had visions of our keel ripping clean off the boat, leaving us with a sinking home, an aborted trip and two angry, swimming cats.

And we weren’t at all reassured by the channel entrance markers as we approached St. Augustine, either. They seemed to lead in all different directions and conflicted with the markers on our charts, causing us to circle for 15 minutes in front of one particular green buoy until we could figure out which side to pass it on.

Eventually we worked out if we hugged red buoy #2 on the way in, we were likely to have enough water under our keel, though we still had to get over a 7-foot barrier without running aground before we were safely in the channel (which is not much room for a boat that draws 5′ 6″). So we proceeded slowly, with our eyes glued to the depth gauge.

That’s when we heard the call over Channel 16 – it was Jessica from Serendipity. She was hailing TowBoat US for help, saying she couldn’t see the next channel marker after red buoy #2 and didn’t know how to proceed.

Ryan and I spun around to look, expecting to see Serendipity directly behind us. But we realized that there must have been another red #2 out on the ocean, where they were. So we listened intently as TowBoat US explained to Jessica that red #4 was missing and she should approach green buoy #5A directly from red #2 and take a left, as illustrated in the satellite picture below:

Entrance to St. Augustine from Atlantic – red #4 missing at time of writing

We were too far away to reach Serendipity on the radio to find out more about their situation, so we continued on to St. Augustine with the volume on our VHF turned up. And I had just picked up our mooring ball in St. Augustine when we heard, “Coast Guard, Coast Guard, this is Serendipity. We’ve run aground. I repeat we’ve run aground.”

I quickly tied up the boat and hurried down below with Ryan, then sat with my knees folded up to my chest next to the VHF, listening for any sign that our friends and their boat were okay.

Amazingly, Jessica sounded perfectly calm as she answered the Coast Guard’s questions:

“How many on board?” -Two.

“Is everyone wearing life jackets?” -Yes.

“Are you taking on water?” -No.

I felt completely helpless as words like “run aground”, “slamming”, “breakers”, “ten-foot waves” and “drifting” flew out across the radio waves.

Then the calls went out from the Coast Guard to Search and Rescue announcing a “distress call” and asking boats to look out for “sailing vessel Serendipity” which was now “adrift.” I said to Ryan, “I don’t understand. If they’re adrift, then they’re not aground. Which one is it? What’s going on?!”

After almost an hour, when we finally heard TowBoat US on the radio telling the Coast Guard that they’d secured Serendipity and were on their way in, we exhaled. And then we heard Jessica’s voice on the radio asking how many lines were needed. She might as well have been asking the captain what he wanted on his sandwich, she sounded so calm and collected.

Then the towboat captain said, “I understand your engine failed, is that correct?”

Ryan gave me a look that said “I don’t like where this is going” and then nodded when Jessica replied, “Negative. Our engine did not fail. Our jib sheet got wrapped around the prop.”

“Good answer,” Ryan said, and explained that he wasn’t sure how it worked, but he’d heard that if you lost your engine at sea, TowBoat US could claim an exorbitant “salvage fee”, even if you are a TowBoat US member.

I stared at Ryan incredulously, figuring he had to be making this up. “What kind of company makes money rescuing boats and then holds your boat for ransom when you call them to help?!” I shouted.

It seemed too crazy to be true, so I had to research this one for myself. And sure enough, what I found was some very alarming language on TowBoat US Fort Lauderdale’s website referring to the question “When is it a salvage?“

Here are some quotes:

“A marine salvage takes place when we rescue your boat whether it is aground, on a reef, beached, stranded at sea, flooding, sinking or in any other number of situations.”

“What’s the difference between towing and salvage? …Generally speaking, the courts have explained that towage is merely speeding up a vessel’s voyage without reference to any circumstances of danger.”

But if all I was looking for with my Towboat US membership was “merely speeding up my vessel’s journey,” I’d argue my money would be better spent on a bigger propeller. Then I could at least speed up all my journeys rather than just when I call my towboat company.

And because of this murky gray area with maritime law, Boat US Towing Services, on their site, advise members to have insurance against salvage, saying “The best protection against a salvage bill is adequate insurance. Boaters should make sure the policy provides for salvage up to the full value of the boat, not a percentage of its value, and that there is no deductible for salvage costs.”

Boat US distinguishes between towing and salvage on their site, saying “Towing assistance, like the pre-paid service available to BoatUS members, provides help for breakdowns and light groundings.” But what is considered “light” and “heavy” with respect to groundings is not clarified.

But they also put the responsibility on boaters to know the difference between a tow and a salvage before requesting assistance, stating, “Since the same marine assistance company often provides both towing and salvage services, it is essential that the boat owner reach an understanding with the marine assistance provider before action is taken… BoatUS Towing Service Providers are required to inform the captain of a boat before beginning any work if the procedure is salvage, not towing. If this isn’t possible due to wind and sea conditions, the towing company should tell the captain as soon as possible. However, boaters should not assume they will always be told. Boaters should always ask whether the job is towing or salvage before they accept a tow.”

So, basically, we pay for TowBoat US membership for those times when our boat might be in danger and we need help. And yet, according to the letter of the law, this is exactly the time we should be wary of calling Towboat US because if they succeed in rescuing our boat, and they can claim we were in a “circumstance of danger,” and they couldn’t notify us up front because of “wind and sea conditions” that the rescue was a salvage, they can demand payment of an amount equal to the value of our boat. What?!

Now, I understand that more often than not this law applies to compensating towboat companies or individuals for actual salvages, like when a boat is sinking, has sunk or is permanently stuck on a reef or abandoned. Like these images taken from Towboat US Fort Lauderdale’s “salvage photo gallery“:

Salvaged boat on fire

Salvage operation – capsized tugboat

But there are also times when a boat isn’t taking on water, and could be pulled off a shoal with a little help from Towboat US. In those situations, the boat owner would most likely be thinking that this is exactly why he or she pays for an annual membership, for those times he desperately needs a tow. But, if Towboat US manages to pull the boat off a shoal and then claims “salvage” based on the idea that the boat may have drifted away or been wrecked if they hadn’t rescued it, when their very job is perceived to be to aid boats in need, wouldn’t that be more appropriately referred to as “legalized extortion”?

Apparently, though, if it’s any consolation, in the case of successful rescues deemed to be salvages, the “boat value” is often negotiated down to a much smaller amount (a few thousand bucks), which is settled out of court. As TowBoat Fort Lauderdale put it on their site, “most times we can reach an amicable resolution.”

Fortunately, Serendipity wasn’t asked to reach any such “amicable resolution” on top of the ordeal they’d already been through.

When Matt and Jessica arrived at their mooring, we knew they would be shaken up, but we wasted no time in dinghying over to see how they were doing and if they wanted a ride to shore. And it was over fried fish at a local pub that we heard the whole story and learned that the Towboat US captain, though extremely helpful in coming to Serendipity’s aid, had said they were “lucky” he wasn’t going to claim salvage. Which left the impression that though TowBoat US of St. Augustine were acting scrupulously in their treatment of this particular situation, the opportunity to claim salvage was there.

In truth, though, Serendipity’s so-called “luck” may have been more due to the fact that the legality of claiming salvage in this situation was muddied by the Coast Guard’s involvement in the rescue. Initially, TowBoat US couldn’t get through the breaking waves to reach Serendipity on the shoal and was about to give up. But the Coast Guard had already sent out Search and Rescue on jet-skis to help, so they were able to run lines between Serendipity and the towboat, which allowed TowBoat US to finally pull Serendipity off the shoal. And because there was a third party involved, it’s possible it was no longer clear who had “salvaged” the boat.

Of course not every local TowBoat US is looking to exploit the “salvage” gray area when rescuing boats that have run aground. After all, the company has a reputation to uphold. And it would appear that cases where boaters feel they have been taken advantage of are rare. But if it happens even once that a boater receives what he/she understands to be a simple “tow” and it is instead deemed a “salvage” by their towboat company, then it could be argued that this is wrong, even if it is legal. And, as the opportunity for this to happen is there, it should be noted that each TowBoat US is an individual franchise and, according to TowBoat US Fort Lauderdale, whether a situation is exploited or not depends on the towboat operators themselves and their “philosophy.” As stated on their site, TowBoat US Fort Lauderdale “strongly urge you to get to know your local salvor before you’re faced with a salvage situation. Learn about their reputation within the community and find out their philosophy on salvage. Knowing who to call will make all the difference!”

And if you’re at all doubtful that a towboat company, which you pay membership fees to, could claim salvage after dutifully towing you and your boat to safety, all you have to do is hear or read stories like that of Martin Manin. Manin, a SeaTow member who ran his boat aground in South Florida and was advised by the SeaTow operator who came to his aid not to run his engine or attempt to motor into port under his own power (though his engines had started), only to find out later that this established the very grounds which SeaTow used to claim salvage for his boat. They put in a claim for $82,500 to Manin’s insurance and settled for a $30,000 payment.

SeaTow would claim that they deserved the $30,000 for the risk their boat and crew assumed in this “salvage” situation. Manin, in his story, states there was no such risk and he understood the situation to be a simple “tow.” The question I and other Boat US and SeaTow members would ask is, if the fees are based on risk, then why not charge a flat rate for risky “salvage” situations, and inform your members of those rates which are not covered by your towing insurance? Why go after the value of the boat, if the compensation is, as they claim, about the risk assumed by your equipment and crew?

So, the next time we run aground, our engine fails, or we have a fire on board, we may have to think long and hard about whether we want Towboat US to get involved. Which is unfortunate because as Towboat US members in an emergency situation, that is the last thing I want to be worried about.