TowBoatUS, the on-water towing service that gets boats home after they break down or run aground, is expecting a very busy 2021 summer boating season, according to the BoatingIndustry magazine website.

TowBoatUS forecasts the volume of requests from boaters for routine, non-emergency on-water help–a traditional barometer of boating activity–will be up 20 percent over last year. Boaters will need to prepare for congested waterways, launch ramps and anchorages.

“In 2020, our nationwide TowBoatUS towing fleet saw volume of requests for routine on-water assistance up 20 percent over the prior year, which at the time was the highest single, year-over-year increase in the history of on-water towing dispatches,” says John Condon, vice president of towing.

More than 81,000 boaters made requests for on-water assistance in 2020. “This season we predict recreational boating activity, as measured through the volume of requests for on-water towing, battery jumps, soft ungrounding services and fuel drop-offs will again be up 20 percent over last year,” says Condon. “That reflects a phenomenal increase in on-water boating activity in just two years.”