SMITH TOWING & R E C O V E R Y Contact Us
Peterbilt wrecker at sunset in Baytown — boat & trailer towing

BOAT TOWING

Broke down on the water, stuck on the ramp, or hauling on a trailer — we get you back to shore.

Marine

ON THE WATER, ON THE RAMP, OR ON A TRAILER

Boats break down on the water, not just on the road — and when yours quits with your family aboard, you need someone who can actually come get you. We run our own boat for on-water towing: we come out to you, put a line on your bow, and bring you back to the ramp, your marina, or your slip.

Gulf Coast means boats. And boats mean trailers that break down at the ramp, towing rigs that quit halfway home from Galveston, or vessels that need to get from a storage lot to the marina.

Our flatbed and medium-duty wreckers handle boat trailers up to typical bay-boat / ski-boat / pontoon sizes. For larger vessels (offshore rigs, yachts), we coordinate with your hauler or handle the trailer side.

Launch-ramp recovery, trailer-axle breakdowns, and dry-dock moves across greater Houston.

Capabilities

BOAT TOWING CAPABILITIES

  • On-water towing back to shore
  • Broke-down-on-the-water recovery
  • Bay boats & skiffs
  • Pontoon & deck boats
  • Ski & wake boats
  • Trailer recovery at launch ramps
  • Trailer axle / bearing breakdowns
  • Dry-dock & marina transport
  • Flatbed transport for oversize vessels
  • Long-distance hauls to coast

ON-WATER TOWING — BROKE DOWN ON THE WATER?

A dead engine, a bad battery, a fouled prop, or a rig that just won’t restart leaves you drifting with your family aboard and no easy way in. We run our own boat for exactly that: when you break down on the water, we come out to you, put a line on your bow, and tow you back to the nearest ramp, your marina, or your slip — at a safe, controlled speed so the hull and everyone aboard get back in one piece. We run anywhere on the water across the greater Houston area, any size boat, 24/7/365 — day, night, weekday, or holiday.

Call it in with your location (a ramp name, a channel marker, or a dropped pin all work), how many people are aboard, and what the boat is doing, and a real dispatcher — never a call center — gets someone headed your way. Once you’re back on the trailer or in your slip, we can also haul the boat to a shop or your driveway if it needs a mechanic, so one outfit handles the whole thing. If anyone aboard is in danger, call the Coast Guard or 911 first — then call us for the tow.

LAUNCH-RAMP RECOVERY

The launch ramp is where most boat-day disasters happen: a tow vehicle that won’t pull the trailer back up the incline, a trailer that slips off the bunks, a truck that buries its rear wheels in wet, algae-slick concrete, or a rig that just dies with the stern still in the water. We run ramp recoveries across the Houston area, winching the boat-and-trailer combination back onto solid pavement and getting your vehicle off the ramp so the line behind you can launch. Wet, steep, and slippery is exactly the situation a winch and the right anchor angles are built for, and our operators have worked these ramps since 2001.

LAKE HOUSTON, GALVESTON BAY & CLEAR LAKE TRANSPORT

Most of our marine calls cluster around the same water: Lake Houston and the FM-1960 ramps just minutes from our Crosby yard, Galveston Bay and the Kemah / Seabrook side, and the Clear Lake / NASA Road 1 boating area. We move boats on their trailers between these ramps, marinas, storage lots, and home driveways, and we recover rigs that break down on the run home up I-10, I-45, or the Gulf Freeway. Because we’re based in Crosby, the Lake Houston ramps are some of the closest water to our trucks. A real dispatcher gives you a straight ETA when you call.

TRAILER AXLE, BEARING & TIRE BREAKDOWNS

A boat trailer that loses a wheel bearing, blows a tire, or snaps an axle on the highway leaves you stranded with a loaded vessel you can’t move on your own. We respond to trailer breakdowns across greater Houston, get the boat-and-trailer combination loaded for transport, and bring it to a repair shop, a marina, or your home. If the trailer itself needs work, our enclosed Crosby shop handles trailer repair, so the recovery and the fix can happen in one place instead of two.

DRY-DOCK & MARINA TRANSPORT

Boats spend a lot of their life out of the water: in dry storage, in a marina rack, or in a driveway under a cover. We haul vessels on trailers between dry-dock storage, marinas, repair yards, and homes throughout the Houston area, whether it’s a seasonal move, a trip to the mechanic, or a relocation to a new storage lot. We load and secure the boat for the road so it rides level and damage-free, the same standard we hold on every flatbed transport.

FLATBED & DAMAGE-FREE BOAT TRANSPORT

When a boat has to ride without its trailer, or when the trailer can no longer roll, our flatbed wreckers carry the vessel itself, cradled and strapped so the hull and the running gear stay protected. Flatbed transport is the safest way to move a boat that’s been damaged, that has a seized trailer, or that simply doesn’t have road-worthy running gear. We secure each load with the boat’s weight and balance in mind, not a one-size hookup.

LONG-DISTANCE & COASTAL HAULS

Not every boat move is a quick run across town. We handle longer hauls between the Houston metro and the coast (Galveston, the Bolivar side, and points down the Gulf) as well as relocations to or from out-of-area storage and marinas. You get a quoted rate up front for the run before the truck rolls, so a long haul doesn’t turn into a surprise invoice at drop-off.

COORDINATING LARGER & OVERSIZE VESSELS

Our flatbed and medium-duty wreckers handle boat trailers up to typical bay-boat, ski-boat, and pontoon sizes, and our heavy fleet (35-ton wrecker and 50- and 75-ton rotators) gives us real lifting and pulling capacity when a recovery calls for it. For genuinely oversize vessels such as large offshore rigs and yachts that need a specialized marine hauler or a travel-lift, we’ll be straight with you about what we can move directly versus where we handle the trailer side and coordinate with your hauler. We’d rather tell you the right way to move a big boat than overpromise and risk the vessel.

BOAT TOWING ACROSS GREATER HOUSTON

We dispatch 24/7/365 from our 4-acre Crosby facility and cover the boating areas across the metro: Lake Houston and the FM-1960 ramps, Galveston Bay, Kemah, Seabrook, Clear Lake / NASA Road 1, and the runs down I-10, I-45, and the Gulf Freeway. Whether you’re stuck on a ramp, broken down on the shoulder with a loaded trailer, or just need a boat moved between storage and the water, a real dispatcher takes the call and gets a truck headed your way.

Local coverage

SERVING CROSBY & GREATER HOUSTON

We provide this service 24/7 across Crosby and the greater Houston area, including:

CrosbyBaytownChannelviewPasadenaDeer ParkLa PorteKingwoodHumbleAtascocitaHighlands

Common Questions

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Yes. We run our own boat for on-water towing anywhere on the water across the greater Houston area — no boat-size limit, 24/7/365. When you break down, we come out to you, put a line on your bow, and tow you back to the nearest ramp, your marina, or your slip at a safe, controlled speed. Call it in with your location and how many people are aboard, and a real dispatcher gets someone moving. If anyone aboard is in danger, call the Coast Guard or 911 first, then call us for the tow.
Yes. Stuck-on-the-ramp situations are routine: a tow vehicle that won’t climb the wet incline, a buried rear axle, or a trailer that slipped off the bunks. We winch the boat-and-trailer combination back onto solid pavement and clear your vehicle off the ramp. A real dispatcher takes the call 24/7.
Yes. Those are our most common marine areas: Lake Houston and the FM-1960 ramps, Galveston Bay and the Kemah / Seabrook side, and Clear Lake / NASA Road 1. Because we’re based in Crosby, the Lake Houston ramps are some of the closest water to our trucks.
Call us. We respond to trailer breakdowns (blown tires, failed wheel bearings, broken axles) across greater Houston, load the boat-and-trailer combination for transport, and bring it to a shop, marina, or your home. If the trailer needs repair, our enclosed Crosby shop can handle that too.
Our flatbed and medium-duty wreckers handle boat trailers up to typical bay-boat, ski-boat, and pontoon sizes, and our heavy fleet (35-ton wrecker and 50- and 75-ton rotators) adds real lifting and pulling capacity. For genuinely oversize vessels like large offshore rigs and yachts, we’ll tell you straight what we can move directly versus where we handle the trailer side and coordinate with a specialized marine hauler.
Yes. When a boat needs to ride without a trailer, or the trailer can no longer roll, our flatbed wreckers carry the vessel itself, cradled and strapped so the hull and running gear stay protected. It’s the safest way to move a damaged boat or one with a seized trailer.
It depends on the boat, the distance, and whether it’s a ramp recovery, a trailer breakdown, or a long coastal haul. We quote the job up front before the truck rolls, same as all our work. No surprise invoice at drop-off. We accept all major cards plus Cash, Cash App, Venmo, and Zelle.

NEED HELP RIGHT NOW?

Our dispatcher picks up personally: no voicemail, no queue.