Lending a hand to boaters in need

Paul Clinton

For the legions of boaters who get themselves into a jam on the high

seas, Dave Peck provides comfort at the other end of a two-way radio.

Peck co-manages the Newport Dispatch center of Vessel Assist, which he

describes as “the boat owner’s auto club.”

When boats run out of fuel, stall or any other number of unforeseen

occurrences, Peck and an army of dispatchers send out one of their crafts

to manage the situation.

“We’re your voice on the radio,” Peck said. “You have very little time

to enjoy your boat on the weekend. If we can get them going, that’s what

we try to do.”

For an $89 annual fee, Vessel Assist will tow a boat, speed out with a

can of fuel or deliver a spare part. The company will also monitor a

boat’s trip and call authorities if it doesn’t arrive on time.

The company will respond 24 hours seven days a week, Peck said. Along

the state coastline, the company covers the wide area from Palos Verde to

San Diego.

Based in the Newport Beach, the company was founded by David

LaMontagne, a Balboa ferry captain. LaMontagne started the company in

1983 after graduating from USC. He came up with the idea while watching a

stalled car as it was pushed off the ferry.

If autos could be towed, why not boats, LaMontagne theorized, Peck

explained.

The company took off in 1984 when Congress passed a law limiting the

Coast Guard to emergency-only situations, Peck said. Today, the Newport

Harbor Patrol also assists the Coast Guard.

Peck, 31, has worked for Vessel Assist since 1994. He lives in

Manhattan Beach.

On an average summer weekend, Peck said his dispatch center -- located

inland from the harbor -- will handle between 15 and 20 calls from boats

in Newport Harbor.

Many of those calls come in early Sunday morning from boat owners who

have been partying it up the day before.

“People have been running the batteries all night,” Peck said. “We do

a lot of jump-starts on Sunday morning.”

Peck has also had his share of wacky phone calls into the dispatch

center. People call for directions and weather conditions, but they also

have been known to call and ask for a delivery of pizza, beer or

cigarettes, Peck said. Those are, of course, low priority, Peck said.

He got a call one time from a boater who was lost out to sea and was

struggling to locate any identifiable landmarks.

“He told me he was near a cloud that looked like Abraham Lincoln,”

Peck said.