There are many great aspects of boat ownership. Perhaps none is more fulfilling than sharing the experience with your kids.
For many families, what starts with toddlers in life jackets grows into decades of quality family time together on a boat. Before your kids can grow into boaters capable of operating a vessel on their own, they must learn how to do it. There are no better teachers than parents. What follows is our guide to teaching kids the boating basics. This will provide a solid foundation, from which you can add skills through time.
First Things First: Safety
The most important consideration when teaching kids boating is a familiar one: safety. Never put your child, or anyone one else for that matter, into a situation that is more than they can handle.
When teaching your kids, this means:
How ever you go about teaching your kids how to boat, keep in mind that the experience should be fun—for you and for your young boaters. Supportive words from a calm, engaged parent go a long way toward ensuring that they enjoy
the activity.
The Foundation: Rules of the Road
Another great first step in teaching kids about boating is to explain the rules of the road. Show them channel markers, explain what the colors mean, and teach them about when you have the right of way and when you should yield to other boats (vessels coming from the starboard—right—generally have right of way). The rules for boating can change a bit depending on where you are—there are inland rules, international rules, rules for the Great Lakes and for Western Rivers. The U.S. Coast Guard publishes the boating rules* here.
If you know them well enough to recite the basics to your young boater, you are in good shape. If you need a bit of a refresher, this is a good resource. You might also explain how to read navigation lights at night and how to determine the direction of travel at night. It’s also never a bad idea for your young boater to know how to read charts—both paper and electronic varieties. Understanding depth contours, channel markers, and no wake zones is always a good idea, too.
Safety and Abiding By Regulations
Safety is one of the most important considerations to teach a young boater. This includes many things—some obvious, some not so.
First, not only does your kid need to wear a life vest while on the boat, but it’s good to teach them the habit of checking to make sure that you have enough life vests on the boat anytime you leave the dock. You need at least one life jacket for every passenger.
While checking life jackets, you’ll also want to inventory other necessary supplies and preparations: boat tool bag, spot light, making sure that your navigation lights are fully operational, and checking the gauges before leaving the dock are all good habits.
You’ll also want to check dock lines and fenders. Teaching kids the proper way to tie off the boat is a great confidence builder. The cleat hitch is not only one of the most useful knots your kid can know, but it’s simple to learn and is used around the world on boats of a variety of sizes. As your young boater is learning, stress the importance of being aware of who is on the boat and where they are situated.
Before throttling up, the boat operator should make sure that all of the passengers are prepared and secure. Teaching your young boater to be aware of this can not only keep everybody on board safe, but make the ride more comfortable as well.
Back to Blue Life
For many families, what starts with toddlers in life jackets grows into decades of quality family time together on a boat. Before your kids can grow into boaters capable of operating a vessel on their own, they must learn how to do it. There are no better teachers than parents. What follows is our guide to teaching kids the boating basics. This will provide a solid foundation, from which you can add skills through time.
First Things First: Safety
The most important consideration when teaching kids boating is a familiar one: safety. Never put your child, or anyone one else for that matter, into a situation that is more than they can handle.
When teaching your kids, this means:
- Start in a calm place that is absent of boating traffic. By starting in a place with plenty of space, you allow the young boater to understand the basics of navigation without undue stress. This will not only help your kids get comfortable, but it will make the experience enjoyable. By teaching in a low-pressure, stress- free environment, you’ll keep boating fun. When they are starting out, keep them insulated from the crowded Saturday afternoon boat dock scene. As you do this, take it slow. Slow in terms of boat speed and pressure on your youngster.
- Adult Supervision Required. Teaching your child boating is a hands-on activity. Whether you are teaching them to tie off a dock line or how to navigate, you’ll want to be close enough to intervene if you need to.
- Start with the basics, build from the foundation. When teaching something new, it is best to start with the basics. Once your kid learns how the boat handles in a calm, open area, he or she can add to their skills incrementally. Don’t throw them directly into a crowded docking situation that’s full of other boats, wakes, pilons, and other boaters who are in a hurry.
How ever you go about teaching your kids how to boat, keep in mind that the experience should be fun—for you and for your young boaters. Supportive words from a calm, engaged parent go a long way toward ensuring that they enjoy
the activity.
The Foundation: Rules of the Road
Another great first step in teaching kids about boating is to explain the rules of the road. Show them channel markers, explain what the colors mean, and teach them about when you have the right of way and when you should yield to other boats (vessels coming from the starboard—right—generally have right of way). The rules for boating can change a bit depending on where you are—there are inland rules, international rules, rules for the Great Lakes and for Western Rivers. The U.S. Coast Guard publishes the boating rules* here.
If you know them well enough to recite the basics to your young boater, you are in good shape. If you need a bit of a refresher, this is a good resource. You might also explain how to read navigation lights at night and how to determine the direction of travel at night. It’s also never a bad idea for your young boater to know how to read charts—both paper and electronic varieties. Understanding depth contours, channel markers, and no wake zones is always a good idea, too.
Safety and Abiding By Regulations
Safety is one of the most important considerations to teach a young boater. This includes many things—some obvious, some not so.
First, not only does your kid need to wear a life vest while on the boat, but it’s good to teach them the habit of checking to make sure that you have enough life vests on the boat anytime you leave the dock. You need at least one life jacket for every passenger.
While checking life jackets, you’ll also want to inventory other necessary supplies and preparations: boat tool bag, spot light, making sure that your navigation lights are fully operational, and checking the gauges before leaving the dock are all good habits.
You’ll also want to check dock lines and fenders. Teaching kids the proper way to tie off the boat is a great confidence builder. The cleat hitch is not only one of the most useful knots your kid can know, but it’s simple to learn and is used around the world on boats of a variety of sizes. As your young boater is learning, stress the importance of being aware of who is on the boat and where they are situated.
Before throttling up, the boat operator should make sure that all of the passengers are prepared and secure. Teaching your young boater to be aware of this can not only keep everybody on board safe, but make the ride more comfortable as well.
Back to Blue Life