Boater in trouble, what do you do?

Good Grief said:
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I'm a big believer on VHF on navigable waters over cellphone, as Coast Guard's RESCUE-21 system provides direction-finding by USCG. YMMV.
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Nowadays there are advantages and disadvantages to both. R21 is light years ahead of the old NDS “high-site” system with the patchwork of radio consoles and Zetron recorders and standard “blink and you miss it” RDF’s, but it’s not quite as perfect as it’s said to be - especially in areas with a fairly even coastline and a nearshore transmission. Then even the most proficient operator that has the proper application open and knows what they’re doing will likely only get a single line of position, not a fix. Or two near reciprocals. Then your area of uncertainty is huge.
Cell phones reliably give their Lat/long to E911 PSAP’s, and some Sectors have the same technology. (That position MUST be converted from pure decimal to D/M.M or D/M/S!!! VERY important and often overlooked!) There’s also the impatient, ‘let’s just go find this guy and get back so I don’t miss Jeopardy’ way of getting all the info you can, and asking them to call 911 and ask them to call us with positioning data.
 
I would have also leant a hand in towing them out of danger, but I would consider a side tie configuration instead of a tow line, much more control that way. I have a friend that owns a TowBoat US company here in Seattle, and he nearly always does his tows that way unless he's going for a long distance. I've seen him assist a boat right in to their slip that way, he could never do that with the towing configuration.
 
This reminds me of a towing experience a couple of years ago when I had to get my boat to the yard up the Miami river for the repower. Local tower wanted $2500 for the job... a neighbor gave me a hand with his 20’ CC and single outboard but the clear placement didn’t work out for a hip tow. Impossible to steer. So we used the “office” tender at the bow to steer while the CC provided propulsion. At first Naomi refused to drive the dinghy thinking I was nuts but by the time we got to the river she had gotten over her fear... and even steered us around an outboard cargo.

don’t try this at home ...

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Trick to a hip tow is the powered vessel needs it's stern well astern of the towed vessel - otherwise, steering is extremely limited or non-existent.

Again, safe towing is much more than just putting a line over and looping a cleat. Here in NY, we in the USCoast Guard Auxiliary do far more towing than our active duty counterparts (mostly due to the existence of SeaTow and BoatUS services). So join your local Aux and learn how! (Yes, a shameless plug for volunteering!)
 
I've always stopped to render assistance as needed. Stand by until a tow arrives or take under tow if no other option.

We actually became very good friends and boating buddies with a couple due to a tow situation. Came across them with a sheared pulley and dead in the water about 40miles up lake. It was late in the day and we were heading back to the marina. Since it was so late and Lake Powell is not a lake I want to be out on after dark and we had no chance of making the marina until hours after sunset we decided to tow them to a safe beach for the night. The original plan was to get them secure, run to the marina and send a tow service for them in the morning but once we got to a safe beach I found out they were just day tripping (open bow) and did not have provisions to spend the night. We decided to spend another night on the lake and share our dinner, facilities and let them sleep in the aft cabin.
That night we found out we had a lot in common and a friendship was born. We towed them to the marina the next day and got them secured and a mechanic on the way and made plans to meet on the lake in a few weeks.
A few weeks later the plans materialized and when we met them on the lake they surprised us with the fact they had bought a cruiser as well so they could spend days up lake - with us.

We meet them on the lake quite often now.
 
Like all situations...it depends. In your case Brian, there was exigent circumstances that required action and what you did was appropriate. Sometimes I come across people who have run aground hard, and being on a lake, they are not going anywhere. There is no need for me to help them beyond calling for help and standing by. Pulling them off could cause greater damage, sinking or a host of other misadventures. Equally so, someone broken down, with no chance of misadventure deserves making a call and standing by for the tow boat.

My rule is I will act if there is chance of misadventure, otherwise I wait for the professionals with professional equipment to arrive on scene. I will not tow someone just so they can save a buck. I will tow them only to save a life or a vessel. A BoatUS membership is cheap enough.
 
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