Boaters on Lake Sam Rayburn, the largest body of water entirely within Texas and one of the state’s popular fishing venues, now has TowBoatUS service.
On-water towing and assistance service for recreational boaters opened this spring with Zavalla resident James Small at the helm.
“Boaters on this lake have never had an easy way to get assistance,” Small, who enjoys fishing on the lake himself, said in a statement. “Now if anyone runs out of fuel, has a mechanical breakdown, needs a battery jump or runs aground, or other routine breakdown they won’t have to wait around for a friend to come get them. We will be there to assist 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
Small, who retired after 20 years in the Air Force, where he was an electronic warfare officer and computer programmer, began working in the boating business when he and a son opened a boat detailing and outboard repair business in Zavalla three years ago.
“Sometimes we’d get calls from people out on the lake asking if we knew how they could get help,” Small said, and sometimes the Smalls would go out to assist in their private boat. That led him to launch the TowBoatUS service.
