I generally try to keep my radio on 16 all the time, volume cranked. I find that nearly every time I go out I'm hearing some kind of distress conversation. Last fall one such call was about 5 miles from my location, so I hustled over with my 21' boat you see to the left. 38' sailboat with a family of 7 or 8 onboard, motor down, absolutely zero wind, two hours from dark and 5 miles from safe harbour. I managed to cobble together a rope from a couple dock lines (really not long enough to be safe), tied to a mount point on my boat that really shouldn't be towing a 38' sailboat. Tugged them to harbour at about 5 knots. All was well. Pulled the sailboat from deck mounted cleats...which made me very nervous, but it was all we could figure out that could work. Was very worried about the rig snapping and hitting me on my boat.
My lesson learned was to have a dedicated bridle so I could tow from the hardpoints at the transom, and a nice long rope with some stretch. Which I now have. Dock lines could be used to make a bridle for the boat under tow.
Is there a good way to help ensure a snapped line doesn't raise hell?
And listen to the radio.