Launch Ramp Days: Towing a Boat Around San Diego County

San Diego has more places to put a boat in the water than almost anywhere: Mission Bay, the ramps on San Diego Bay, and reservoirs and lakes up in East and North County. Getting there means towing on freeways, up inland grades and through some very crowded parking lots. The legal rules are few; the coverage questions are the ones people get wrong.

The speed limit changes when you hitch up

Vehicle Code section 22406 limits a passenger vehicle drawing any other vehicle to 55 mph on a highway, whatever the posted limit for cars. The DMV handbook says the same: 55 mph for vehicles towing trailers. On a 65 mph freeway that puts you well below the flow, so stay out of the fast lanes, signal early, and give yourself far more stopping distance than you would solo — a loaded boat trailer adds a lot of weight behind you.

Grades and wind on the way inland

Lakes in East County mean climbing. Watch the temperature gauge on the way up, and on the way down use a lower gear so the engine, not the brakes, holds your speed. The DMV's high-wind advice applies with extra force to trailers: reduce speed, keep a firm grip, and watch for debris. A boat on a trailer is a big side surface; if a strong wind is forecast for the passes, the trip can wait.

At the ramp

• Practise backing in an empty lot before the first weekend of the season. The ramp is not the place to learn which way to turn the wheel.
• Use a spotter and agree on hand signals before you start.
• Watch the lot, not just the ramp. Most damage on a launch day is low-speed contact with another trailer, another car, or a post.
• Rinse the trailer after salt water. Bearings, brakes and lights on a trailer that lives near the coast corrode quickly.

Who covers what

The gap people discover too late is the middle of that table: the trailer, and the boat while it is being towed. Ask both insurers the same question — "if the trailer jackknifes on I-8 and the boat is damaged, which policy pays?" — and make sure the answers fit together.

Before the first launch of the season

Lights working on both sides, tire pressure on the trailer checked cold, the coupler and safety chains secure, the load balanced, and your tow vehicle's rated capacity above what you are pulling. None of that is an insurance question, but every item prevents the kind of day that becomes one.

If you tow a boat or any trailer, send us both policies and we will check the hand-off between them; it is a short conversation and the answer is often surprising.