MAYDAY, MAYDAY : Trouble Adrift? Vessel Assist to the Rescue

It was hazy and somewhat overcast on June 24, a day John Minh of Torrance will never forget. While traveling home from a day of fishing near Santa Barbara Island his boat, Little Dolphin, stopped running, leaving him stuck about 15 miles off Marina del Rey, smack in the middle of the shipping lanes.

His 20-foot 1969 Crestline would be dwarfed by the giant tankers he could see in the distance, and he knew he would be helpless, unable to get out of the way, as they followed their thoroughfare, oblivious to anything in their path.

Minh immediately placed a call for help with the marine operator and reported his approximate location. Then all he could do was wait and hope for a bit of luck and a quick rescue.

The situation, borderline as it was, was deemed “non-emergency” by the Coast Guard, which left the job of towing the boat to the private company of Minh’s choice. Minh had recently subscribed to a Costa Mesa-based company called Vessel Assist and would soon find out if it was a worthwhile investment.

Within minutes after receiving Minh’s call, skipper David Glander was underway on Vessel Assist Redondo, a 28-foot fully equipped Luhrs docked in King Harbor. Estimated time of arrival: 70 minutes. It was closing in on 1 o’clock.

At 2:10 p.m. Glander, a 30-year-old captain with vast experience on various ocean-going craft--he once sailed on San Diego Yacht Club’s 12-Meter syndicate, Stars & Stripes and he holds a 100-ton Coast Guard ocean operator’s license--was on the scene of Minh’s reported position.

Little Dolphin, however, was nowhere in sight.

To make matters worse, Minh, unsure of his exact location, was now experiencing radio problems--he could call out, but could not receive. He had no idea whether anyone could hear his pleas for help.

“We saw big ships coming toward us, they came real close but I guess they couldn’t see us and didn’t stop,” he said. “I used all my flares and still nobody would stop.”

Glander, unable to reach Minh on the radio, slowed to five knots and began to operate in a search pattern, circling in a 2 1/2-mile radius. By now it was 2:15.

Meanwhile, Minh could be heard frantically calling for help on Channel 16, an emergency channel monitored by the Coast Guard. “Help, Mayday,” he screamed. “We are dying out here. The big ship is going to hit us. We are going nowhere.”

Hearing Minh’s calls for help, Glander locked onto Little Dolphin’s signal with his automatic direction finder and continued his search pattern. He was soon on the scene and had Little Dolphin safely under tow.

Incidents such as these are fairly common in the waters off Southern California and are usually very costly to the boater. So Minh was fortunate not only because he was returned safely to port, but also because he escaped the usual cost.

Vessel Assist Assn. of America, or VAAA, has become a popular answer to such routine breakdowns. It’s a concept similar to that of the Auto Club.

David LaMontagne, a 25-year-old USC business graduate, had the idea in 1983 at a time when the U.S. Coast Guard was providing the bulk of assistance for pleasure boaters in need of “non-emergency” service at sea.

While a student in USC’s entrepreneur program, LaMontagne planned a presentation on a boater’s club with benefits similar to those offered by the Auto Club.

Meanwhile, LaMontagne’s professor suggested he contact Bill LaFay, who at the time had a one-boat tow service in Redondo’s King Harbor. First-hand experience was the professor’s objective for LaMontagne, who would soon be putting his plan into operation in the real world.

After graduating and working with LaFay for a short time, LaMontagne negotiated a deal to buy the one-boat tow service. As luck would have it, a change in Coast Guard policy was about to make that purchase very timely.

On Jan 1., 1984, the Coast Guard ceased to provide “non-emergency” assistance, referring those tasks to private tow and salvage companies.

“Basically, that put the need there,” said LaMontagne, who is now president of Vessel Assist Assn. of America.

With the proper financing, including an initial investment of $139,000, LaMontagne proceeded to turn the one-boat tow service into a full-scale membership program aimed at giving the boater an economically feasible means of assistance, which, like the Auto Club, also includes an insurance program.

He started operating from Dana Point to Point Dume, then expanded to Point Conception, then to the Mexican border, then into Mexico itself.

According to Coast Guard public affairs spokesman Charles Embleton, certain private companies, some of which have been termed modern-day pirates by disgruntled boaters, began to spring up to take advantage of the Coast Guard’s policy change, leaving the average boater at their mercy.

“There are still a lot of glitches in the system,” Embleton said. “For example, somebody, say a salvage or tow company, would listen to our scanners and we’d say (to the boater) ‘these are the people who you can call.’ The tow company would give them an estimate and other tow companies would hear that estimate on the scanner and they’d call and say ‘we can be out there in less time and for less money’ and so they’ll (the boater) say ‘OK, you come and get us.’ Well this guy, now that he had the other tow company out of the picture, he’d take his good time gettin’ out there.”

This particular type of scam has been stifled somewhat by the Coast Guard, which has threatened to “pull the (operator’s) ticket” if it continues. (All tow services must adhere to Coast Guard regulations in order to keep their licenses.)

Nevertheless, unprepared boaters would still be advised to take their checkbook along on a typical Sunday outing.

“The recreational boater now has to pay someone $125 an hour for just a tow,” LaMontagne said. “Let’s say your home port is Newport and the guy (who comes to get you) travels out of King Harbor and you’re off by the Isthmus (near the West end of Catalina). He’ll charge for the time it takes to come get you, and then the time it takes to get you to Newport, then the time it takes to get back to King Harbor.”

A situation such as this might run well over $1,000. The going rate for most commercial service is $120-$150 an hour.

That’s where Vessel Assist comes in.

For an annual cost of $79, the company provides unlimited free towing service up to 30 nautical miles offshore anywhere from the Mexican border to Point Conception (excluding inside-marina tows).

If the boater is outside the 30-mile area, the cost becomes $60 an hour until the boat reaches the “free-zone.”

In addition to the towing, Vessel Assist also provides for members free delivery of fuel and parts, jump starts and minor mechanical assistance at sea within the 30-mile range.

Had Minh not been a member, his tow would have cost more than $500. “Probably much more than that because they had to look for us for two hours,” he said.

For the boater who frequently travels beyond 30 miles, VAAA offers “Gold Card” service for $120 a year. Gold Card members are given free service up to 40 miles out and also are provided service in a 30-mile radius area from Point Loma into Mexican waters, which includes the Coronado Islands and other popular fishing areas.

Members are also entitled to a reimbursement policy of up to $1,000 for services by other vessels that are specifically authorized by VAAA.

“If we can’t get to a member for some reason, or if a qualified, insured vessel can perform the service faster, we want the member to receive that service as soon as possible and we will reimburse that member,” LaMontagne said.

Other benefits offered by Vessel Assist include a computerized float plan (so members can be confident that someone is aware of their whereabouts); unlimited use of the VAAA message center; marine fuel, service and product discounts; a VAAA theft protection plan, and personal memberships for mariners who use several boats and wish to be covered by any boat he or she chooses to use.

Vessel Assist has recently expanded to the San Francisco and Peugot Sound areas and future expansion is expected on the Gulf Coast.

Said LaMontagne: “The idea is to continue to push so regardless of where the mariner is, he’s got the one membership,” LaMontagne said. “There’s one on the east coast just like us and they’re workin’ as fast to solidify their coast as we are to solidify our coast. Chances are we’ll meet in the middle somewhere and have a big pow wow and the one membership will become valid for both.”

Since reorganizing in 1985, Vessel Assist has experienced a 150% increase in gross revenue each year and its projected membership sales for 1987 is expected to be in the neighborhood of $280,000.

With the possible exception of some of the private towing companies, Vessel Assist has been happily accepted by those who know of its existence. Just ask John Minh.