|
Martin
Manin is the first to admit that the boating accident he had last winter
in South Florida was his fault, and he remains grateful that Sea Tow came
to his aid in mere minutes. But he’s so bitter about how that tow
was handled financially that he’s willing to share his nautical
embarrassments with the world if it helps some of us to learn about the
darker side of the boat towing business.
It
was around noon last March 31 when Manin headed his 46-foot Sea Ray, Sony
Boy III, out through Hillsboro Inlet. He and his family—young grandchildren
included—were en route from Fort Lauderdale to Lake Worth, and it
was such a lovely Sunday for boating that he decided to take a leg outside.
The skies were clear, winds had been less than ten knots from the southeast
for more than 36 hours, and predicted seas were one to two feet. What
Manin did not anticipate was the nearly full-moon ebb tide current that
could both square those small seas and set him slightly sideways toward
the inlet’s notorious south reef.
Just
outside the breakwaters, when Sony Boy III started slamming as
current met waves, Manin got nervous, considered turning around, and throttled
way back. In that moment of indecision, he let his boat drift out of the
channel, then felt a crunch, indicating contact with bottom, and both
engines shut down. Manin issued an anxious distress call on VHF channel
16. However, moments later, by his recollection, further wave action floated
Sony Boy III into the calmer waters inshore of the reef, and he
was able to restart both engines. Shortly thereafter, TowBoatU.S., Sea
Tow, and a local sheriff’s deputy arrived on the scene.
When
Manin told Sea Tow that he would try to take the boat in under her own
power, Capt. John Estey, who was at the helm of the Sea Tow boat, advised
him that running with damaged props and/or shafts could cause serious
transmission damage or worse. Manin accepted this inarguably sound guidance
and says he then tried to show Estey his Sea Tow membership card. According
to Manin, the captain said, “I’ll get your card later,”
passed him a line, and towed him approximately one and a half miles to
a public dock.
Next,
Sea Tow Fort Lauderdale owner Tim Morgan arrived and did an underwater
inspection of Sony Boy III. Manin says Morgan told him that his
boat had suffered an estimated $10,000 worth of rudder, prop, shaft, and
hull damage (close to the actual $14,000 repair). When Manin again tried
to offer his Sea Tow card, Morgan reportedly explained that this case
was a salvage operation not covered by his membership. According to Manin,
who admits to still being stressed about the incident, Morgan then said
that his fee, paid by Manin’s hull insurer, would be a percentage
of the repair cost and asked Manin to sign a standard salvage agreement,
which he did.
Next page >
Bad Day continued > Page 1, 2,
3
|