Anyone recommend either sea tow or tow boat for Edisto? I believe both are based pretty far away. Thx
I have Sea Tow and I highly recommend them. We were @ North Edisto last year and had problems and they were coming from Charleston to tow me back to Edisto. Finally got the motor running, but they would not stop the tow boat until I had been under way for at least 20 minutes. Very professional. They stayed in touch with me the entire time.
I have never had Tow Boat so I can only recommend Sea Tow.
EWC
You gotta love the South Carolina Lowcountry.
I have Sea Tow, but (luckily) never had to call. I don’t get down there to the coast often enough, unfortunately, to get out much… I will definitely be renewing. That doesn’t really answer your question, but just throwing my two cents out there. I do have some sort of traler coverage, too, with my Sea Tow policy (in the event of trailer issues on the road). I think I paid about $150 for the year.
Hope that helps in some way.
Just trying to learn every bit I can about saltwater fishing…
Posting on a message board all the time doesn’t make you smart. Frankly, it just means you probably need to get a life.
Thx guys, i appreciate the reply.
I have Sea Tow but was wondering about that. I know one (maybe both) have a super high antenna so you can reach them from afar. Anyone have issues reaching either service from the S. Edisto?
2000 SeaPro 180CC w/ Yammy 115 2 stroke
1966 13’ Boston Whaler w/ Merc 25 4 stroke “Flatty”
I used cell phone from N Edisto and had no trouble.
EWC
You gotta love the South Carolina Lowcountry.
First of all this is embarrassing but here goes:
April 9 2010, headed up south edisto near ■■■■■■■ cut. Been there a hundred times. I was with a friend on his boat and he was letting his son drive. When we realized were weren’t in the channel, my friend took the helm and proceeded to correct our course. You guessed it…couple of hundred yard after our new heading we were in the middle of that huge mud flat in that area. I knew we were on a falling tide: checked it, sure enough, the tide was low around 1:00. It was 10:30 when we went aground w/5 kids and four adults. To get off, we would have had to wait to 4:00 at least. My wife rationed out the snacks and we called Sea Tow. Just so you know, ■■■■■■■ cut is the franchise limit for the Hilton Head station/charleston station. We waited 2-1/2 hrs. for Charleston Sea Tow to get there. Bill: $1700.00; because my now very wise friend had a Sea Tow account: $0.00. I figure we saved about 3-4 hrs of waiting on the tide to get high enough to float off. My 7 yr old hasn’t stopped talking about how great is was to be stuck on that mud flat. All in all, because the kids were cooperative, it really was a fun day.
G
Oh I forgot: Used cell phone with no problem. Used ch 68 once the Sea Tow captain got there to communicate the procedure to pull us off.
Good to know. Thanks for sharing CoastG. No shame… If you have boated in the S Edisto long enough, then you have run aground at least once, no? I know I have. 
2000 SeaPro 180CC w/ Yammy 115 2 stroke
1966 13’ Boston Whaler w/ Merc 25 4 stroke “Flatty”
I’ve been on that mud flat, but didn’t get stuck. First time going through there, I didn’t realize that flat was there. The tide was high enough that I couldn’t see. All of a sudden the alarm goes nuts on my depth finder. Less than 2 feet. UH OH. Of course, I pull back on the throttle, and sink down further coming off plane. I didn’t know which way to go to get to deeper water, so I went toward the cut and markers. Trimmed the motor way up, and was rooster-tailing mud like a crazy person. Managed to get to slightly deeper water, and then it dropped off again. WHEW. I thought I was going to get stuck. Scared the crap out of me.
Two embarrassing moments for me:
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Coming around the bend just past Peter’s Point. There’s a long sandbar out there that stretches about 3/4 of the way across the creek. Well, I hadn’t been there too much, and didn’t realize it. Cruising along at 30 or so…BAM. Hit it. Motor was OK, but had to get out and push off the bar. Lesson learned: stay close to the southern side of that part of the creek. Next time I was going by there, I saw an older couple in a boat that looked like it didn’t belong in salt water. There were right where I had been the first time when I ran aground on that bar. The other guy in my boat and I counted down as we knew they were about to hit the bar. BAM. Grounded…but they were not hurt or anything. The old guy looked around like “what happened?”.
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Catching bait last August up in a creek. My boat is 21-8 long. Was using trolling motor. I knew we were getting shallow, but I was so focused on the bait that I didn’t pay close enough attention. Suddenly realized we had no way to turn around or get out…CRAP! The tide was falling, and we ended up high and dry as you can get. Two hours later we were able to get out of there. Ugh. Once we got free, we said screw inshore…we’d had enough pluff mud. So we headed to the 60 and had a good rest of the day.
That stuff happens though, and you learn from it as you get more experie
Believe it or not, I actually got two mobile calls out at the 60 that day, too. Crazy! Had barely a bar of reception that kept coming in and out.
Just trying to learn every bit I can about saltwater fishing…
Posting on a message board all the time doesn’t make you smart. Frankly, it just means you probably need to get a life.
Opti - You may be interested in this if you don’t already know. My renewal is coming up with seatow. I called to check on the coverage for my little boat. Glad to hear that the “membership” covers my entire fleet no matter who the operator is. That is big for me as my boys are going on their own some now. I was also told that they would call me as the owner of the vessel and tell me what trouble my kid had gotten into if they came out to assist.[:0] And I promise you they have some kind of story to tell every time they go so that is a huge bonus.
Key West 2300 SS
Yamaha f225
14’ Malibu
Johnson 25
triple - thanks, I didnt know that. Thats great news. How’s the Malibu? Catchin fish in it? I’m loving my Whaler. Had it out last week twice.
edisto9871, me and my son almost got stuck way up store creek in the stretch before the “appliance center”. We were planing down the middle of the creek when the motor comes kicking up and we all slammed against the console! I killed the motor and put everyone to the front while I pushed us off. No damage and no one hurt. Got lucky that time. Wont do that again!
2000 SeaPro 180CC w/ Yammy 115 2 stroke
1966 13’ Boston Whaler w/ Merc 25 4 stroke “Flatty”
Opti- I really would not know about the malibu. I heard it is great. I can’t seem to get it away from McColl! He has mostly been going to the fresh water side of Bushy Park. He caught a bunch of Crappie in it yesterday. He uses it, cleans it up, cleans the fish and then cooks them. All I do is eat! It is not a bad deal for me. Every trip he learns something so it has been a good experience.
Key West 2300 SS
Yamaha f225
14’ Malibu
Johnson 25
triple - yes thats a good deal for you! Jake hasnt taken the Whaler out yet by himself. He has to pass the boaters ed course first. I do let him drive if I am in the boat with him and he is a good captain.
2000 SeaPro 180CC w/ Yammy 115 2 stroke
1966 13’ Boston Whaler w/ Merc 25 4 stroke “Flatty”
I went with TowBoatUs. It is my understanding that the coverage follows me, so whatever boat I’m on is covered. Also I believe TowBoatUs’s coverage was further offshore. That’s what really sold me. I think SeaTow’s limit was 25 miles offshore.
EDIT: I see on their website that they don’t have a distance limit offshore any longer. Just a $5000 per incident limit. When I bought my contract a few years ago I think they had a limit on distance offshore.
If you ain’t hooked, you ain’t doing it right.
14’ Duracraft w/twin 25 Johnsons
http://www.myspace.com/myduesouth
our offshore response distance is, well, wherever you fish…we have no offshore limit…in fact my longest tow was from 78nm off Edisto and back into Big Bay (18hrs)…we have done quite a few jobs this year into Edisto, some years just go like that…we have the highest commercial assistance antenna around and a unique VHF radio system…we have a radio system that can link up towers and shift towers if needed…and we (Sea Tow) also have the highest re-imbursment rate around up to $5000.00 per event…
and we are based out of Charleston Harbor…Sea Tow Beaufort is next up south of ya’ll…and we have done a couple of hand-off tows with them…
Mike Crouch
Sea Tow Charleston
843-881-8949
Sea School Charleston
843-747-1000
www.seatow.com
www.seaschool.com
Thanks for your input Mike!
2000 SeaPro 180CC w/ Yammy 115 2 stroke
1966 13’ Boston Whaler w/ Merc 25 4 stroke “Flatty”
Thanks for being Sea Tow members…I would rather have you as a member (and I speak for Anthony as well) than pop you for a tow bill!
Mike Crouch
Sea Tow Charleston
843-881-8949
Sea School Charleston
843-747-1000
www.seatow.com
www.seaschool.com
quote:That's not exactly the way it works. You must be the "captain" of the vessel for your coverage to follow you. It will follow you on all your other boats or if you rent a boat. It does not follow you if you are out fishing on your buddy's boat and he isn't covered but you are. Got this off the FAQ section of TowBoat.
I went with TowBoatUs. It is my understanding that the coverage follows me, so whatever boat I'm on is covered.
quote:
Q: Does BoatUS Towing Service apply if I am a guest on a friend’s boat??A: Every BoatUS towing level provides Towing Service for any boat which the Member owns, borrows, or charters. In these cases, the Member is considered the Captain and responsible for the care and control of the boat. If the Member is a guest on a boat and the owner is also present, regardless of who is at the helm, the owner would be responsible for having the appropriate towing service, not the guest member on board.