BENEATH THE SURFACE B Y H E AT H E R S T E I N B E R G E R
When the Going Gets Tough
Boat sales are booming during the pandemic — but how has COVID-19 affected towing and service? e had less than five minutes between the “low brake fluid” warning and the complete loss of our ability to stop. Our Ford F-150’s master brake cylinder failed, and suddenly our quick trip for ice turned into getting marooned at a rural-crossroads convenience store on a very hot summer afternoon. It could’ve been worse. A day earlier, and we would’ve lost our brakes while towing on a major interstate highway. Upon discovering that this failure actually was a recall issue, we searched for a nearby Ford dealership that could make the necessary repairs. Perhaps they could provide a temporary tow vehicle, or at least a rental car to get us to the nearest truck rental outfit. No such luck. All the dealerships within an hour’s drive apologetically informed us that they were booked for weeks. After many phone calls (and skyrocketing stress levels), one service manager took pity on us and said he’d do his best to squeeze us in “sometime this week.” They didn’t have any car rentals left, though, and we were utterly stranded five hours from home. We called AAA and bid bon voyage to our truck, which exited stage right on a flatbed. A local gentleman insisted that we climb into his pickup, and he took us back to our camper and dog. And, fortunately, I located a sole proprietor with a single taxi who drove 40 minutes to collect my husband and another hour to get him to the nearest Enterprise Truck Rental. On the way home in our rented truck, I ruminated on the entire misadventure. In the recreational boating community, we’ve been so busy trumpeting the good news about booming boat sales, we haven’t asked one really important
24
OCTOBER 2020
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LAKELANDBOATING.COM
question: How has the novel coronavirus pandemic affected emergency towing and service — for boats as well as tow vehicles — and what does that mean for boaters? An ounce of prevention, plus a towing service According to Captain Pat Beckman with Traverse City TowBoatUS, COVID-19 had a discernible impact this season. His region experienced significantly heavier boat traffic — and more new boaters. “We’re seeing a definite uptick in towing and calls,” reports Beckman, who covers Lake Michigan from Manistee to Charlevoix, as well as popular inland waterways like Torch Lake. “We’re seeing a lot more non-BoatUS member calls too, at least five or six per day. “Our most common calls come from people who are out of gas,” he continues. “We are also seeing more people hitting stuff in shallow water; they’ve dinged their prop or ruined their lower unit. My impression is that these are new or very inexperienced boaters.” Normally, Traverse City TowBoatUS sees six to eight such calls per season. At press time in mid-August, Beckman said they had already reached the mid-teens. While it’s always a bummer to have a mishap on the water, it’s more challenging than usual this year. One ruined day can become weeks. “Everyone’s busy,” Beckman says. “Boats I towed weeks ago still aren’t back in their slips. I need to get my boat in for an oil change, and they’re at least a week out.” If you’re new to boating, or if you’ve recently returned to the lifestyle, remember the old idiom, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Steps you take right now might mean you won’t have to make that call for a tow later. For starters, put together a boat checklist; having enough anchor line will rocket right to the top of the most-important list if you break down, start drifting, and cannot set the anchor. Next, don’t skip regularly scheduled maintenance. “This is just my opinion, but I think a lot of people overlooked preventative maintenance on things like pumps and impellers earlier this year,”
P H O T O C O U R T E S Y O F B OAT U S FAC E B O O K
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