“After the call, I dispatched one of our Captains (Dan) at 2:30pm. Dan was near the Cape Coral yacht club when I dispatched him, so it took him approximately 2hrs to arrive in Labelle. Upon arrival, Dan saw that the 28’ sailboat had been pushed ashore because of the wind.”

After ungrounding the sailboat, Captain Dan took the stranded boater in tow at approximately 5:30pm. He then towed the sailboat to the east side, Franklin Lock park, where the sailboater had arranged for a mobile mechanic to repair his engine the next morning. However, because Franklin lock closes at 7pm, TowBoatUS was not able to continue through to the towboat ports along the coast.

At 10:00pm Captain Richard Paul, owner of TowBoatUS in Cape Coral, came to meet Captain Dan at the Franklin Lock boat ramp with a boat trailer. The towboat was then trailered to the downtown Fort Myers and launched at that boat ramp to travel back to its port. Captain Dan finally arrived home from the rescue at 1:30am.

“This was definitely an out of the ordinary rescue,” said Captain Richard Paul. “We were happy that we were able to bring the captain and boat to safety, after a long night and unfortunate series of events. But, the good news is that this particular boater had a TowBoat unlimited membership. So, the services did not cost him anything out of pocket, even though it was a 10-hour rescue!”

ABOUT TOWBOATUS CAPE CORAL

TowBoatUS Cape Coral, (a.k.a Marine Towing and Salvage of S.W. Florida), offers marine assistance towing, fuel delivery, part delivery, jump starts, contract towing, marine salvage, diving services, and contract oil pollution clean-up services to recreational and commercial boat owners in Lee County. Visit www.TowBoatUSCapeCoral.com for more information or to apply for a membership.