How about some "Tow Karma"

[Big Shasta]

I never had the pleasure of towing anyone (yeah, it feels good to help) but we did jump start a few boats over the years. Carry a long set of heavy gauge jumper cables. You might need them for yourself one day, you never know.

@justason Tied to your abdomen? Yikes, that sounds like a bad idea.

 

[Ronnie]

Most of the experiences I've had towing people in have been good. The people with me never complain as most have been with me on the occasions when I've needed to be towed in (mostly due to sucking in a tow rope before I had a jet boat with clean out plugs). The people being towed sometimes offer me cash but I turn it down, not because I don't like cash but because taking it would make me feel like I just did a job instead of a good deed.

What still surprises me, even though it seems to be the norm in every instance, is that there are many other boaters around and none of them offers to help the boat in distress. I've even had boaters going the other direction slow down as they passed me to point out a boat that needed help.WTF?

I've learned some of the lessons touched on here the hard way while towing people in or trying to. First day with my single engine Seadoo I was asked to pull a cabin cruiser back to the dock a mile away. Ended up getting pulled into the weeds with him. To save my day, I jumped in the water, cleared the intake by hand and swam my boat to clear water by pulling on the bow eye. Detached my boat from his and wished him luck. I should mention this was on a cold November morning, I wasn't planning on getting in the water at all that day. Lesson learned, as a boater you have an obligation to assist other boaters in distress but not an obligation to tow them in. As @tdonoughue mentioned, your first duty it is to keep your crew safe.

On another occasion I towed a 30 plus foot sail boat a few hundred yards to the dock. Never again, the size of the keel on that thing made it very difficult to control, most of the time it was dragging me around and close to the rocks. Lesson learned, take a minute to evaluate if I and my boat are capable of doing what is being asked of me by a highly distressed boater.

Last note, another way to help if you can't tow a dead boat in is to help or make sure that they are anchored in place if possible. I wouldn't want to lend out my box or other anchor but would to keep the other boat from drifting on to rocks or into some other hazards.

 

[Ajax]

Just don't tow from the tower or the waterski rope connection - I have seen a few pull out of the hull making a mess. Only use the trailer strap connection points as they are very strong. It is a pain since it is not centered. Cam.

I have a triangle harness on board for this purpose only. Works great and distributes the load.

 

[blacksapphirez]

I have a triangle harness on board for this purpose only. Works great and distributes the load.

show us where you got em!

 

[Bruce]

show us where you got em!

Tie a heavy dock line between the stern tie down points. Then tie the tow rope to the middle of the dock line. I would use a bowline knot or taught line hitch to secure the ends of the ropes as either should be easy to untie after the tow.

I use 3/8" or 1/2" dock lines so I would have a nice heavy line to tie between the tie down points. Then I would use the 3/8" x 100' anchor line from the stern anchor to connect the boats. I have heavy stainless clips on each end so it would be an easy matter of clipping the tow rope into place.

 

[Ajax]

show us where you got em!

 

[Topper232]

Here's a good article in the Oct 2016 edition of Boating magazine regarding towing safety

http://www.boatingmag.com/rendering-aid-how-to-safely-tow-other-boats