Summer Boating Safety 7-19-2026

We are in the peak of the summer boating season and that means more work for Noah Santos and his company, TowBoat USA. They've opened a new port in Falmouth. We wanted to talk with Mr. Santos about his company, the work they do in assisting disabled vessels, and boater safety in general. Mr. Santos, good morning and welcome. Good morning. Nice to be here. May I call you Noah? Is that okay? Yes, sir. That's perfect. Noah, what is TowBoat USA? How does your program work? TowBoat USA is basically a membership program that does marine assistance on the water for members. It's kind of like AAA for the water. There's over 330 locations and over 630 red towboats around the nation. Nationwide, we service about 110,000 customers and our goal is just to get people home safely. We do help on the water, towing, fuel deliveries, jump starts, soften groundings, and we also offer recovery services. All right. Tell us about your new port in Falmouth. State of the art? Yes. Falmouth is our newest port. We also own TowBoat U.S. Provincetown, Chatham, Bass River. It's kind of nice. We have about nine boats throughout Cape Cod, servicing all the Cape Cod waters. There's also TowBoat U.S. in New Bedford, and there's a TowBoat U.S. in Onset as well. So we have the area covered pretty well. All right. So what prompted the expansion and how does it change your team's ability to respond to boaters in need? Well, it just gives us a little bit more flexibility. If one area is a little busier than the other, we can push the boats to the different areas. Prior to that, we would have certain zones that we're supposed to stay in. So now that we have the area, we can shift forces to the east or to the west or south. We cover all of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. So it's just an important thing to kind of have. You have a lot more flexibility in how you can dispatch your towboats. Do a lot of work in Buzzards Bay? We do an awful lot of work in Buzzards Bay. There's a lot of mariners going in and out of Woods Hole. And we usually hand off the TowBoat U.S. to Bedford to go back to Buzzards Bay, back to New Bedford, excuse me. So we're quite busy in the area. All right. So how many calls do you get, let's say, in a month? In a month? Well, annually we're somewhere around 900 to 1,000 calls. So the month of July and August is usually our busiest season. We're averaging probably between 10 to 20 calls a day. And just making sure the community and everybody gets home safely. Sure. Can you share a bit about your family's legacy? I understand there's a story there on the water and what inspired you to take on, you know, operating four different ports across the Cape and southeastern Mass. Well, I grew up in Provincetown, Massachusetts at our family's boatyard, Flyers Boat Shop, and Flyers Boat Rental. I've developed a long passion for being on the water. Spent a lot of time driving boats and taking care of the public on our seasonal moorings and the boat rental service that we provide. My grandfather used to fix all the fish and draggers back in the late, early 50s and up through basically 1995. That's basically when we stopped working on the wooden fishing boats and draggers. And then we kind of switched over to a recreational type facility for what the public needed or asked for. So we've had a pretty good run at it. I'm the third generation of Flyers. And then the towboat, I kind of got into just by chance and we were kind of already freelancing for Towboat U.S. back in about 17 years ago now. And we used to just go out when it was really awful out and get people and bring them back. And then I kind of got in with one of the representatives and they gave us a port. And from then we just kind of grew with Towboat U.S. Chatham and then Towboat U.S. Bass River and now Towboat U.S. Falmouth. So just trying to help the community and take care of the people on the water. You're listening to Town Square Sunday. I'm Jim Phillips. My guest is Noah Santos, president of Towboat U.S., a New England-based firm that comes to the aid of disabled vessels. And as you heard him say, it's all about getting people home safe. When we talk about pleasure boating in the summertime, what's the number one mistake or issue that leads to a lousy day on the water, Noah? Well, number one is a lot of people don't check the weather before they get underway. And Boat U.S. has a wonderful app that they come up with that shows you the weather and also gives you capability to get dispatched a towboat if you have a problem. The second issue is they don't usually check to make sure that they have gasoline. A lot of people run out of fuel when they're out on the water, and they don't take the right calculations on how much they have to how far they're going. How would that happen? How would you go out and not check the fuel? Well, a lot of times the fuel gauges get stuck too, and it's hard to realize if it's just stuck on half a tank or something like that. But they also need to make sure they file a float plan with a friend and make sure they tell them where they're going, when they'll be back, and make sure they give somebody a phone call. And also check, you know, make sure you have life jackets and flares and your horn works. And if you're going to be out at night, make sure your navigation lights are active. And make sure you consult the chart before you end up trying to navigate through different parts of Cape Cod or anywhere, for that matter. What's the absolute must-have list? I think you mentioned these items. Before you leave the dock, anything else you wanted to add to those things you just mentioned? Checking the fuel gauge, life jackets, notify a friend, telling when you're leaving and when you're getting back, those kinds of things. Anything else? Also make sure your anchor is in proper working order and you're able to anchor if you have a problem. A lot of times that can really help. And like I said, the weather is really important as well. If you don't check and you have thunderstorms coming in the late afternoon, the wind picking up to 25, you know, you just want to make sure that you're going to have a safe day and you get home safe. And that's the most important part. Now you come to the aid of other vessels besides pleasure boats, but I assume July and August, it's mostly pleasure boats, but you assist other vessels as well. Is that right? We do. We assist anyone that needs assistance, basically. Anyone that our vessels are capable of towing. There's a lot of things that happen on the water and, you know, recoveries and things like that. And we tone a lot of commercial vessels if they need help. And basically anything that anyone has a problem with on the water. All right. Cape and Islands waters, beautiful, but famously tricky to navigate in some cases. What local hazards do boaters most frequently underestimate? Well, I think in the Falmouth area, Woods Hole is definitely an interesting place to navigate. And it's just really important that people are aware of the rules of the road and the proper sides of buoys to pass on. And currents can be tricky in there as well. But for most of Cape Cod, it's pretty much a very forgiving area. But in that area, there's a lot of rocks and things. So I want everyone to be careful. And if they do have a problem, just make sure they, you know, they call Towboat U.S. and we'll talk them through it and get out there and make sure that they get home safely to their families. If a boater finds himself, if a boating family finds themselves in trouble on the water, whether they've run aground or lost power or taking on water, what's the very first thing they should do to keep everybody on board safe? Well, the first thing they should do is don their life jackets to make sure that if anything does happen, at least they'll be able to float away with a life jacket on and be able to get clear of whatever's going on. The second thing would be to get on VHF and hail the U.S. Coast Guard if they have a problem with taking on water or such matters like that. If they just need general assistance, a non-emergency thing, they can hail us on Channel 16, Towboat U.S., and we'd be happy to get out there and help them. Our goal is to be to everyone within 60 minutes. And we have quite a large coverage area with the amount of boats that we have, and we'd be happy to assist them. All right. What's the biggest piece of advice you have for someone who is renting a boat or is relatively new to captaining? That's a strange word, huh? Relatively new to, you know, running a boat, their own vessel this summer. What's the biggest piece of advice you can give them? Well, they have the new law with the boating licensing, and I think that's important. But I wouldn't just stop there. I feel like there's really a need for to try to get some experience on the water with a knowledgeable person before you get out on the water by yourself. And at least, you know, get to know the basics on, you know, winds and directions and how to dock a boat. And always make sure your VHF is in proper working order and make sure you have your BoatUS app handy. It's a lot easier to call for a tow that way. It's as easy as clicking a button. All right. And where can people learn more about TowBoatUS, Noah? Our website is TowBoatCapeCod.com, and it basically lists all the different areas there. And if they need more information than that, they can also be reached at BoatUS.com, and they can read more about all the different things. There's a lot of, with the membership, you also get like discounts for fuel. You get prices off of moorings in certain areas. And it's just, I guess you've got a great magazine to read with a lot of tips and handy things that people need to learn about. And it's nice to read about it before it happens to you. Yeah. I know boating, obviously very, very important from New Bedford through the Cape, South Shore, North Shore, people love to go out on boats and love to have a great time on boats. You have to think about being careful though. You have to think about some of the steps you need before you untie your vessel from the dock and head out. It's really important to think about some safety things and don't take it for granted. I know that you've probably seen, and I know I've seen people take these safety steps for granted, but they are very important. They are very, extremely important. And it's at least the basics, just make sure you're safe and your family. I mean, especially if you're driving the vessel, you're in charge of it and you're in everyone's safety on that vessel. So it's really a large responsibility that people take for granted. So be safe out there. All right. My guest has been Noah Santos, president of TowBoat US, a company that goes to the aid of vessels in distress. They've opened a new port in Falmouth, joining three other ports in the region. Noah, thanks for giving us some time today and good luck with your business. And hopefully you don't have to respond to too many emergencies, but I know if there's not enough emergencies, that's not good for your business, but let's hope that people are wise and take the steps they need. True. And I mean, and accidents happen as well and you never know. And it's really important just to know the basics and be safe out there. And if you have a problem, please call TowBoat US and we'll come out to help you. All right. Thanks again for giving us some time today. Still more to come on Town Square Sunday. Stay with us. Another game day. 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