Letting your kid take your boat?

[IcePro]

Saw this in the Bass Forum.

Even the Pro's have problems

[Tom7227]

The only thing that would concern me would be who she had with her while using the boat. Get a foursome and some beer and there could be trouble. The other concern would be if there was a set of skis or a tow behind inner tube jobberdo. If you have the proper safety equipment and water/snacks then it would be a go for me after I did the one ride along to see how she does.

[TruthWalleyes]

Toyota...Let's Go Places

I would spend the next time or next few times your out on the water with your daughter watching and coaching her, then when your confident she is ready you let he take the boat with conditions - like #People, No Beer, etc...

[Alagnak]

+1

It sounds like she's more than ready for that step.

I could never thank my dad enough for letting me take his boat before I had my own. Not even 16 with a learners permit with his boat on the back of my truck- to go guide the governers opener in WI. That's how it started. I sure hope I have that level of trust with my own kids when they reach that age. I'm not sure how he did it. LOL

I feel age has nothing to do with it.

Demonstrating that she knows how to operate, trailer, load, etc. is far more important.

I know some adults that I would not trust.

[Doufish2]

When we lived on the lake up in Alexandria, my wife and I were out for a pontoon ride one afternoon. All of a sudden, we could see our Ranger backing off the lift, thought it was our daughters boyfriend. Well, you can see where this is going. Yes it was our daughter, started it, backed it of the lift, came screaming over to the pontoon, she was 16.

Now, when my wife and I meet our daughter and husband to go fishing, my wife and daughter take the bass boat, I jump in their 17 ft boat. She was taught well, and I have no problem with her taking my bass boat anytime she would wants.

[CANOPY SAM]

In my profession from time to time I have to train inexperienced people how to run very expensive, very complicated equipment. A good way to train them properly is to introduce scenarios that hamstring the operation.

If I were you I'd take my daughter out as stated earlier, with her completely in charge. Then take the plug out of the boat, disconnect the battery cable, unplug the safety key plug, and short the boat a couple life-jackets. Let her trouble-shoot and work thru problems on her own. See what she can "catch", and let her spend some time figuring things out without interfering. This will teach her a ton about being aware of the big picture, as well as tiny details that can make or break her experience.

If there are issues she over-looks, that are either regulatory infractions, or issues related to simple boat operation, these are your teaching moments. Remember, she'll be stressed, and children often "sharpen their teeth" on their parents, so don't flip out if she gets frustrated and angry with you for demanding her full attention to the process. She needs to fully understand that trailering and operating a boat can be dangerous, even life-threatening, if it isn't done properly.

I like the statements above regarding our kids being our pride and joy, and the boat is just more stuff. After raising four kids, I can tell you from experience that this couldn't be more true. However, I do like the idea of letting them take the "crummy" boat before they start taking out the $15,000 rig!

Be patient, and have a great time with this. Remind her that it will be a great skill in life for her to know this process on her own, and be proficient at trailering a heavy piece of equipment, backing up a trailer, and operating a boat by herself. But it goes without saying, she cannot, and will not be allowed to take the boat out with her friends if there are any shenanigans, and not until she can repeatedly show she is responsible and proficient with every step of the process.

[Craigums]

One thing that I havent seen mentioned is have her take a boater safety course. You can do them online for around $20 and they have lots of good info even for experience boaters. Other than that I say just go out with her one time and let her do EVERYTHING. Back it in, launch, run the motor, trailer it. If she can do all of that then let her. You can always get insurance on your boat if your still concerned about it.

[JONOV]

The question that no one has asked, which should be asked, is where/what/why/who? Fishing for the afternoon with her boyfriend? Skiing and tubing with people you generally trust? Or going out to party island with five people in the boat? I've done all of the above, and one was a poor decision. I've also had to rescue my teenage brother and cousins (I was a teenager at the time as well) in my Grandfather's speed boat when it went dead in Green Bay. My brother and one cousin were both mature enough to handle the situation. My other cousin was not and was in hysterics when I arrived. It sounds like she's reasonably competent with the boat and not the type to fall to pieces. If you trust her, go for it.

[chasineyes]

Quote:

Saw this in the Bass Forum.

Even the Pro's have problems

Maybe they were gator huntin, and had to "jump" the canal to get to that thar honney whole!!!

[bobbymalone]

As far as I'm concerned it isn't any different than letting them drive away in a car I own. The boat is probably a whole lot safer. This is a personal decision based on whether you think your daughter has the know how and maturity to handle it. If the answer is no, then the answer is no. Might be time for some dad, daughter and boat time.

That's what I was thinking. Do you let her drive on the freeway?

[Capt. H (Ret.)]

I let both of my son's use my boat (18 foot Alumacraft Trophy which I bought new) when the oldest was 14 and the youngest was almost 12. It was always low traffic areas and believe me they had been schooled on the operation of the boat and safety rules and I had been with them many times when I let them do all of the navigating etc. It's a little concerning the first time when they push off,idle down the river and right after the first bend I could hear the motor wind up!!!! Once the oldest son turned 16 he wanted to take his friends waterski'ing and once again my anxiety level was on the climb!! It's a test when you see your boat, truck and 3 or 4 teenagers leave for a day on the water. Never had any issues that couldn't be dealt with.

You know your daughter. That should give you an idea of what to expect. I say that if you trust her let her take it. Life it too short to worry about the little things.

The only thing that concerned me about my son's using the boat was where did all of that water come from when they were done!!!!!!

Mike

[Snowking]

Thanks everyone for your input. We have desided that she's going to take me out and I'm going to keep my mouth shut for the next couple of time and then she can take it by herself. I'm more worried about something going wrong with the boat than anything.

[bturck]

Put your foot down Stringerless, kinda sounds like someones walkin alll over you........show em the want ads, Boats for Sale.

[mainbutter]

My uncle (15 at the time) took his girlfriend out on the water and flipped my grandpa's small boat. She broke up with him over it, they could have died.

Obviously a bad idea to let them use the boat.

Years later my brother (17), sister (7) and I (14) were finally allowed by my grandpa to take his boat out by ourselves. We set up drifts along weed beds and caught bluegills and largemouth bass and never came close to opening up the throttle.

Two different groups of related people with two very different results. Teach, train, and use your best judgement. Some kids are ready, some are not, some will never be.

[Alagnak]

I'd rather give my kid a larger boat/motor than a little dink that you can tip over I know that. I'd dumped enough canoes and row boats over to have figured that one out.

[Scott K]

I pretty much let my son drive me around in the boat, let him pick spots to fish, and let him figure out how long to sit there. I have done this for the past 3 years now, because I can already hear it when he turns 16, "dad, can I take the boat out?" This way, when that time comes, he will know what he is doing, and I will trust that he knows the right way to do it. Whether he will do the right thing without me, and with friends in the boat, will have to be determined. But I trust him, he makes wise decisions with other stuff in his life. but I do have to remember, he is my kid, and I think I invented most stupid things when I was a kid, and somehow, I turned out decent.

[DrJuice1980]

I did still rifle through his tackle box, after a couple years he only had crappy lures left anyway, the rest were snagged in the rocks off the dock

Did the same as a kid. Funny thing is its reversed, I left my tackle box behind last year and when I was able to pick it up most of my nice lures were missing.

[tunrevir]

From my own experiences as a kid growing up on the lake and having a boat and motor to use all of the time here are some of my lessons. I also had the use of the identical boat in a 16' Fischer with a 50 hp tiller. Early I used a 2 hp Johnson with a 12' johnboat to get around no problems there. Later I fished(goofed around) in a 12' smokercraft with a 15 hp. At 14 I thought it was neat to run around and turn as hard as I could at full throttle aND THEN DUMP OFF IN THE OTHER DIRECTION. Problem came in when I jumped my own wake as I thrust the motor around and gunned it to full throttle. Evidently, the motor wasn't secured as tight as it could have been while dorking around and I sent a 15 hp motor to the bottom of the lake. Could have been much worse, I realize because I could have gotten tossed out and fell into the "circle of death". When I was 18 I got to run the 50 on the Fischer and took pride in running the rig knowing what could happen if I dorked around. Still, early on I'd run that sucker at a high rate of speed with a few beers down the gullet. I never had an accident with the big motor and always wore the tether around my wrist but looking back that was a lot of boat for my senses to handle. So, if she is trustworthy and the boyfriend isn't gonna drive it, I say let her go. Girls are notoriously more cautious then boys. Just make sure she knows that she is responsible for the boat, the motor and any damage that might be incurred and most importantly her passengers! It is similar to when kids start to drive. Make sure they have PFD's and are wearing them.

Tunrevir~

Oh yeah and if she hasn't taken a boat safety course that might be a prereq to getting out as well.

[fish_eat_sleep]

My dad let me take the boat and truck when I was 16. He made me take the cheesy boating permit test online and made sure I knew about invasive species/fish transport laws and had respect for the weather and other boaters alike. I was pretty mature for my age and very serious about fishing. I fished many friday nights instead of going to football games with friends and often I was home from the lake by the time normal kids woke up on a saturday morning. It definitely depends on the individual. I never let a friend back the trailer, or be at the controls, not because i didn't think they were capable but because of all the "what ifs" that could happen at anytime. also, take caution because I know 90% of people that were interested in going didn't really care that much about fishing. I was a die hard at a young age. the other guys always wanted to drink or have girls out and I never allowed that. for them it was an escape from their parents. but I realized early on drunk guys don't catch much and are worthless in an emergency... So catching fish and safety can go down hill pretty quick.

[Down Deep]

Saw this in the Bass Forum.

Even the Pro's have problems

I witnessed a big basser do the same thing on Rainy although he hit a big exposed rock and rocketed off that. Tore off the transom and the motor was upright on the transom floating about 50 yards from the boat. No one was injured, but one guy ended up in water. The whole boat was a mess.

[Kyhl]

It comes down to the individual. Age is not the determining factor, experience and responsibility are. If you think she can handle it then go for it. Hopefully by now you have spent some time with her driving the boat, her picking headings, her watching the weather, her running the anchor and trolling motor, her reading marker buoys.

It's not a bad idea to take the coast guard class or classes with her. You can study together. My dad took the general boating class with me when I was 14.

I'm thinking about taking them again, 30 years later.

[gwiff100]

i got that beat!

wife wants to take my boat... (she is one of those really confident people)

took her a good 15 minutes to back the trailer in last night though... and i know she wouldn't know what to do in the case of an emergency or motor issues.

[delcecchi]

i got that beat!

wife wants to take my boat... (she is one of those really confident people)

took her a good 15 minutes to back the trailer in last night though... and i know she wouldn't know what to do in the case of an emergency or motor issues.

She is an adult, capable of making decisions, dealing with problems, driving on freeways, etc. right?

[gwiff100]

i told her i would be fine letting her take it if i can load and unload and i was on the lake in another boat in case she had problems... but i was taking my electronics.. lol

[Barbelboy]

My dad always had what he called a "buffer boat". It was a crappy boat that I could take out and not touch his. 14' aluminum with a 9.9.

Not that I was overly hard on the buffer boat, but I believe it allowed him restful sleep at night.

That being said, let her take it. How else will she ever learn to do it independently?

Some of my finest memories are of my earliest years fishing by myself while learning.

It will set the foundation for the rest of her angling life.

Life is short, let her take it. Her kids (in the future) can only benefit from her knowledge and angling ability learned while using the boat.