TowBoatUS expands to Rocky Point area of Lake of the Woods
Jun. 14—ROOSEVELT, Minn. — Boaters on the U.S. side of Lake of the Woods now have one more option if they have boat trouble on the big lake. TowBoat US 24/7 just added its second on-the-water towing and assistance service on Lake of the Woods, this one in the Rocky Point area on the west side of the lake.
Opened by Capt. Doug and Melanie Nelson of Baudette, Minnesota,
TowBoatUS Rocky Point
provides professional on-the-water towing, soft ungrounding, battery jump and fuel drop-off services. The new service at Rocky Point is part of a network of more than 300 TowBoatUS ports nationwide.
The Nelsons opened their first Lake of the Woods port, TowBoatUS Lake of the Woods, two years ago in Baudette. In a news release, Doug Nelson said it's all about going where their services are needed, providing faster response times.
"We have a lot of possibilities," Nelson said. "Being able to service the west side of the lake efficiently from our new west-side port means shorter response times to requests for assistance. We hope to grow BoatUS membership over here by providing great service."
TowBoatUS Rocky Point has a 21-foot red response vessel fully rigged for towing and salvage homeported at Arnesen's Rocky Point Resort north of Roosevelt. All of the company's captains are U.S. Coast Guard-licensed.
The Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) offers on-water
unlimited towing memberships
for freshwater boaters and anglers — much like an auto club for recreational boat owners — for just $109 per year. Membership comes with more than
25 BoatUS benefits
, including discounts at local fuel docks and transient slips at marinas. Also included are a subscription to BoatUS Magazine, free
DSC-VHF radio registration
and more.
Separate from BoatUS on-water towing, the company also offers boat salvage services.
In an interview with the Herald, Nelson said the rate for an on-the-water service call is $250 an hour for boaters who don't have the $109 BoatUS towing membership.
"If you're up by Garden Island, that's going to be an expensive tow," Nelson said. "If you're at Long Point and we come out of Arnesens, it's not going to be too bad. It does vary widely on the expense, but it can get up to $1,000 to $1,200, depending on the length of the tow. So, the $109 membership makes a ton of sense.
"We want to be able to take care of people, and then at the end of the tow, I would rather just wave and wish them a great day and not have to take their money because they're a member."
The Baudette location, now in its third season, is at the Lake of the Woods Campground marina on the Rainy River, Nelson says. Calls vary, he says, all the way from someone miscalculating and running out of gas coming back from the north end of the lake, to dead batteries, engine trouble or grounding on sandbars near Lighthouse Gap, Morris Point or Buffalo Point.
For BoatUS members who run out of gas, the only fee they have to pay is the cost of the fuel, Nelson says.
"We'll deliver fuel as a member," he said. "We'll do that for free."
Based on tows to date, the company is on pace to respond to about 60 calls this summer on Lake of the Woods, Nelson said.
"Obviously, our weekends are the busiest," he said. "We'll do several tows in a day on a nice weekend. ... And it keeps growing every year as more people know about us and memberships increase."
The company also has worked with the Lake of the Woods County Sheriff's Department to assist with boaters who need help, he said.
"We're not search and rescue — that is not our job," Nelson said "Because we're here on the lake, we can get out to a swamped boat a whole lot faster than they can."
Nelson and his wife, who also manage the marina at Lake of the Woods Campground and offer boat rentals, own their rescue boats but have a licensing agreement with TowBoatUS, which in turn provides branding, marketing and dispatching support, he said.
"They are the largest marine assist company in the United States, but we are locally owned," Nelson said. "We own the boats and we provide the captains."
To request on-the-water assistance, boaters can call the BoatUS toll-free 24/7 Dispatch Center at (800) 391-4869, call TowBoatUS Rocky Point or TowBoatUS Lake of the Woods directly at (218) 434-0087, or hail on VHF radio Channel 16.
The company also is certified through ACAPT, the Accredited for Commercial Assistance and Professional Towing organization, Nelson said.
"I think the biggest thing that we provide is the peace of mind that when you leave the dock, there's someone there, 24 hours a day, seven days a week," he said. "We've got your back if anything goes wrong."
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