New TowBoatU.S. Service on Lake of the Woods
Lake of the Woods is a big lake. As boats get larger, motors get larger, and electronics get better, boaters and anglers are making longer trips and utilizing the entire lake. If you boat or fish on Lake of the Woods with your own boat, even just once in a while, ask yourself, would it be worth it for you to have peace of mind that if your boat quits running for any reason, you run out of gas or run aground, you can simply make a phone call and TowBoatU.S. will be dispatched to your location and provide assistance? For $99 per year, this new service is now available.
Doug and Melanie Nelson are providing the new service out of the newly remodeled Lake of the Woods Campground and Marina on the Rainy River. If you recognize their names, they started out renting boats out of the Lake of the Woods Campground and Marina on the Rainy River for the past two summers. There is definitely a need for rental boats, but last year, due to the flooding, was brutal. “The first summer we were in business, the boat rentals were super busy,” explains Doug Nelson. “Last year due to the high water and flooding, business was way down. This year things are back to normal with water levels and business is good.”
The Nelson’s manage and run the Lake of the Woods Marina and were speaking with the Lake of the Woods Campground and Marina’s new owner, Mike Reed, about other services that they could offer that might be in demand, and the towing service entered into the conversation. There is a lot of boating on the lake and river with no towing service and the need for a towing service made good sense.
The TowBoatU.S. membership is unique and as Nelson explained, it covers both the boat and you. “If you borrow your boat to some friends and they are using the boat up near Knight Island and the boat stalls, like it did last week for a group borrowing their friend’s boat who had the membership, they were towed back to port on the south end free of charge. That same cost could have been over $800 otherwise,” explained Nelson.
If you as an individual have the membership and are using someone else’s boat that breaks down, your tow is also covered.
There are two tow boats being used. The first is a 31 foot Halter Marine. “This is a boat often used by various agencies such as the Coast Guard,” explained Nelson. The second boat is a 25 foot Sportcraft, which many may be familiar with as many of the charter boats on Lake of the Woods are Sportcrafts.
The membership covers inland waters. “As a member, all inland waters in the U.S. are covered if there is a TowBoatU.S. service on that water. If by chance there isn’t a TowBoatU.S. service, another company or resort can tow you in, you pay them for the tow and you can turn in that receipt to TowBoatUS and they will reimburse you.”
Their website advertises “Whenever you are on a boat, you are covered”. This includes out of fuel, dead battery, motor problems, running aground.
Many have asked over the years if there is a tow boat service on Lake of the Woods. As of June 10, 2023, that answer is now… Yes!
If you are interested into looking into a TowBoatU.S. membership on Lake of the Woods and the Rainy River, you can check out the website at LOWTowBoat.com, email at lowboatrentals@gmail.com or call 218-434-0087.
The towing service on Lake of the Woods runs from May 1st through October and includes the entire U.S. side of Lake of the Woods and Rainy River.
Click Here to view the press release from TowBoatU.S.
