BOTTOM LINE : Tow, Tow, Tow Your Boat

David LaMontagne is one of the few people who actually got a job as a result of federal cutbacks. In 1984, when the Ronald Reagan Administration was seeking to unload some government financial burdens, a panel recommended jettisoning, among other things, the Coast Guard’s non-emergency towing services. Seizing the moment, LaMontagne, fresh out of USC and with $50,000 worth of loans, contracted with several towboat owners and formed the Vessel Assist Association of America, a sort of AAA service on water.

LaMontagne, 31, got the idea for the service when he was a teen-ager working as a Balboa Island ferry operator. “Cars would frequently stall and I’d have to push them off or call to have them towed. I thought, ‘There’s a Triple-A for cars, but what is there for boats?’ ”

VAAA now has 17,000 members and about 40 towboat affiliates from San Diego to Vancouver. At the company’s nondescript office in Costa Mesa, a dispatcher receives radioed calls around the clock from powerless, mastless or leaky boaters--last year there were 4,000 of them. The calls are then relayed to one of the affiliates, who offer towing, refueling and minor repairs.

Dues range from $49 to $180, depending on the size and type of boat, where it will be towed and the territory the service will cover. The most popular plan, at $79, covers a disabled sailboat or powerboat for a tow of 30 miles. Which is an awful long way if you’re swimming.