Running a boat as a kid

[SKYCHENEY]

After reading the thread about how many years it took before you owned a Hatteras, I noticed many stories about growing up around boats. Well, that got me thinking about my youth and my boating skills.

At age 10, I got my first boat (dad bought it, of course). It was an 8' SportYak with a 2hp Mariner outboard. Mom and Dad let my take it out by myself as long as I didn't go too far away. Well, after a while I earned their trust and they knew I would wear a life vest and be careful. Eventually, I would travel longer and longer distances from the big boat and explore and fish and whatever.

From there dad let me trade that boat in on a 9' Whaler w/ a 5hp. I thought that was the best since I could now get up on plane if I sat in the middle seat (I had to make an extention handle to do that). After a year or two, I traded that for an 11' Whaler with a 15hp which was even better. Now I had my own little side console and steering wheel and a compass. That was way cool. My friends and I would take that boat out on Lake Michigan in the worst weather just for fun and then on nice days we even pulled a kneeboard behind it.

From there I traded for a 13' Whaler with a 40hp. You get the idea. My point is that I spent hours and hours during my youth just messing around with "my" boat. Most of the time it was just me and the boat and the water.

So, this got me thinking about my son(age 9). Will he ever have the experience that I obtained as a kid? I don't know. With the advent of PWC's, we got a bunch of new laws. These laws tend to discourage young boaters since there have hp restrictions and licensing requirements. I'm going to try to give him the same opportunity that I had, but once again, a few unresponsible, reckless individuals have made things more difficult for the rest of us. I'd like to let my son run the dinghy by himself, but to do so, I will have to get a smaller outboard. This just doesn't make sense. I hope someday we quit making new laws that impose on our freedoms and wise up, but I doubt that will ever happen.

Sorry for the lengthy rant. Your thoughts?

 

[Freestyle]

I wondered the same thing. Ihave boys ages 8, 9, and 13. A 43 is too much boat for them to get much of a feel or kick out of it. The dinghy proves amusing but I'd like to give them more.

Anyone know the laws in Florida for kids regarding age, hp, length?

Bruce
1976 43 DCMY
Freestyle
Tampa

 

[Mike53C]

After reading the thread about how many years it took before you owned a Hatteras, I noticed many stories about growing up around boats. Well, that got me thinking about my youth and my boating skills.

At age 10, I got my first boat (dad bought it, of course). It was an 8' SportYak with a 2hp Mariner outboard. Mom and Dad let my take it out by myself as long as I didn't go too far away. Well, after a while I earned their trust and they knew I would wear a life vest and be careful. Eventually, I would travel longer and longer distances from the big boat and explore and fish and whatever.

From there dad let me trade that boat in on a 9' Whaler w/ a 5hp. I thought that was the best since I could now get up on plane if I sat in the middle seat (I had to make an extention handle to do that). After a year or two, I traded that for an 11' Whaler with a 15hp which was even better. Now I had my own little side console and steering wheel and a compass. That was way cool. My friends and I would take that boat out on Lake Michigan in the worst weather just for fun and then on nice days we even pulled a kneeboard behind it.

From there I traded for a 13' Whaler with a 40hp. You get the idea. My point is that I spent hours and hours during my youth just messing around with "my" boat. Most of the time it was just me and the boat and the water.

So, this got me thinking about my son(age 9). Will he ever have the experience that I obtained as a kid? I don't know. With the advent of PWC's, we got a bunch of new laws. These laws tend to discourage young boaters since there have hp restrictions and licensing requirements. I'm going to try to give him the same opportunity that I had, but once again, a few unresponsible, reckless individuals have made things more difficult for the rest of us. I'd like to let my son run the dinghy by himself, but to do so, I will have to get a smaller outboard. This just doesn't make sense. I hope someday we quit making new laws that impose on our freedoms and wise up, but I doubt that will ever happen.

Sorry for the lengthy rant. Your thoughts?

I agree completely, it is the black sheep, or rotten apples or however we want to call them, that mess things up.... Too much money,..too early...very powerful motors, now more available....hey when I was a kid 30 hp was HIGH POWER...I still remember when the first v4 came...50 hp.
Booze plays a role too, many going full speed with far to many beers on.
I think things are more available now than before, and many buy a boat just to look good or to chase chicks and never really become "sailors". It is seldom that you see a guy that knows what is going on mechanically. When they see me working in my boat they smile as if they know better, and call me misfit...oh well...But yes laws are then passed, and very difficult to pull back, that affect everybody.
It is sad.
I am attaching some ilustration pictures of reckless driving.
The guys were going full blast, heady with sun and rum, AT NIGHT, no lights in a twisty mangrove lined channel, following the GPS, they said, when they hit the edge head on. I don't know if you are familiar with mangrove, but let me tell you, that stuff is strong and sharp when it snaps. Fortunately, they were lucky and got only scratches and small bruises. If you look at the Scenario, a few feet to the left and they would have hit the big mangrove trunk sideways, overturned and hit upsidedown. Everybody impaled. A few feet right, they would have gone under the horizontal trunk. Everybody decapitated. It took two days to dig and pull out the 26' twin 225 boat . backwards.

 

[Wild Bill]

As my dad was getting ready to retire from the Navy after 27yrs., he bought a place on the Sebastian river in Florida. My first boat was a leaky 14' aluminum skiff with a 12 hp Sea King on it. I fished the Indian River from Grant to Wabasso almost daily. I even ventured through the Sebastian inlet in that thing. Now back then, the river water was clear and the only things in that boat were fishing poles (2), tackle box, bait bucket, paddle, window sash lead for an anchor, a cushion to sit on and the fuel tank. I never had a life jacket, fire extinguisher or flares. You didn't need any of that to catch fish. I learned to run the inlet the right way in that little boat. How I survived to live this long is a mystery that I may never solve. Anyway, thats how it started. Along the way I fiqured out how to mount that 12hp to a dining room table. Yes, it worked. We had to lock down the clamp so the motor couldn't turn and steer it like a tobogan. You had to use the choke to stop it, but make sure you are almost on the beach because it wouldn't float with the engine on it. Had to have four other kids to help. One on each corner to hold it up. You got the engine started, one kid put it in gear and another opened the throttle, then they all let go. And yet we survived! I'm a little tamer today.

 

[SeaEric]

Sky, Like you, my first boat at age 10 was a SportYak. Mine was powered by the optional wooden oars. A few seasons of rowing under my belt and I graduated to a 3 HP Evinrude, then on to a 12' Aluminum with a 9 HP that would pull another small kid on skis!

I would not trade my childhood on the water for anything. It made me the person I am today. All I wanted to do was be at the Marina, on my parent's boat or on my little craft exploring the creek. I ended up spending more time around adults and not running with a bad crowd of "friends" who were busy causing mayhem. My life seems to have turned out pretty good.

I have no children. But if I did, there would be no worry of a teenage pregnancy in my house. I would keep that kid so damned busy from morning to night- boating, fishing, swimming, team sports, music lessons, safe boating and navigation classes, travel..you name it. By the end of the day or week, the kid would be way too tuckered out to even think about having sex!

 

[yachtsmanbill]

I agree completely, it is the black sheep, or rotten apples or however we want to call them, that mess things up.... Too much money,..too early...very powerful motors, now more available....hey when I was a kid 30 hp was HIGH POWER...I still remember when the first v4 came...50 hp.
Booze plays a role too, many going full speed with far to many beers on.
I think things are more available now than before, and many buy a boat just to look good or to chase chicks and never really become "sailors". It is seldom that you see a guy that knows what is going on mechanically. When they see me working in my boat they smile as if they know better, and call me misfit...oh well...But yes laws are then passed, and very difficult to pull back, that affect everybody.
It is sad.
I am attaching some ilustration pictures of reckless driving.
The guys were going full blast, heady with sun and rum, AT NIGHT, no lights in a twisty mangrove lined channel, following the GPS, they said, when they hit the edge head on. I don't know if you are familiar with mangrove, but let me tell you, that stuff is strong and sharp when it snaps. Fortunately, they were lucky and got only scratches and small bruises. If you look at the Scenario, a few feet to the left and they would have hit the big mangrove trunk sideways, overturned and hit upsidedown. Everybody impaled. A few feet right, they would have gone under the horizontal trunk. Everybody decapitated. It took two days to dig and pull out the 26' twin 225 boat . backwards.

--SCORE!!-- I like the guy with both arms in the air like a touchdown!! Obviously proud of his accomplishment. Reminds me of the football dude that crashed into (under) the dock at night with a Liberator decapitating his girlfriend and a guest. I think that was some little Fla. lake. Didnt the cops guess his speed at like 40-50 or so? Speed limit after dark was 5 or 10. Hope he still get 3 hots and a cot. I just wonder what some operators think (or dont) when they get a couple of hundred HP in their hands. After stunts like this, we all pay for their IGNORANCE !! ws

 

[Bob Bradley]

One of my earliest memories of, well of anything, was at around age 5. My father handed me the throttle of the old green Merc 20hp on the transom of the 16' boat he had built himself - a "sea gal" homebuilt model. (This is a boat that I have the plans to, and may even build myself some day.) Well, I twisted that tiller as tight and fast as it would go, and put the boat up on her side in a tight turn, nearly throwing my grandmother into Long Island Sound in the process. Needless to say I didn't get my hands on a throttle for a while after that. Still, I was hooked, and have been on or near the water ever since.

My first boat of my own was a 16' plastic runabout with a 40hp Johnson that I ran every day of every summer from '74 - 78 while I was in college. When we graduated FFLD U in '78 and got real jobs, all my buddies went out and bought new cars. I stuck with my old junker and bought a 1957 Chris Craft 26' Seaskiff with twin Herc model K engines. I had that boat 7 years when the "boat of my dreams" (at least in 1986), a 1965 Chris Craft 32' Seaskiff, became available due to the death of a friend. I bought her before I even sold the '57.

Needless to say, at some point in the ensuing 20 years I saw the light, and realized that there is indeed life after wood.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Personally, I got my lessons on a 14' crestliner, with two oars ( still gottem for my dink! ) and then was given a '54 3-1/2 evinrude 2 banger water cooled. Dad said if I could carry it from the shed , mount it to the boat and start it, that I could use it. I was 10.
I got a week lesson on rules of the road (remember privileged and burdened vessels?), and then spent the next 4 summers running all over Sturgeon Bay in and out of the shipyards etc. The absolute worst thing I ever did was bust a shear pin and have to row 2 miles home. Slept good that night! ws

 

[Passages]

Back to the original question - yes, there's a good chance your 9 year old will grow up with similar happy memories of being a kid on the water dispite all the additional hurdles of today.

Case in point:
My son, now 13 took his first ride on our 32' Wellcraft at age 3 weeks.

He was given the tiller of the dink (with Dad aboard) at age 3 years.

At age 5, I sold the Wellcraft and he soon made it clear he was pissed at Dad for selling our "sleeping boat". (We still had the dink and a 16' Baja)

At age 9, he took the Power Squadron course before he had proper math & life experience to fully understand the phrase "True Virgins Make Dull Company". The instructor at the time said there was only one other 9 year old in the State who passed the exam.

At 12, all I needed to do was give him a full tank of fuel, a handheld VHF and he would spend several happy hours in the dink exploring.

He's an interesting kid with a facination for all marine science. He fully appreciates the dangers and is a bit anal as he will have a fit if all safety protocols are not followed to the letter.

He now is asking about Maritime Colleges, Annapolis and the Coast Guard Academy.

So, is there any question that a childhood exposed to the water will contine to provide a lifetime of good memories, a sense of responsibility and a solid foundation for adulthood? Hell no.

I love my son.

 

[captddis]

I am glad I grew up in the 70s when you could have some fun! As posted before, I got my first power boat at 8 and had a 302 Ford powered Correct Craft at 12. I also used to take my fathers boat [34 ft FB SDN] out at 12.
None of this could be done legally now! I think it is part of the dumbing down of America. If you raise kids right and give them responsibility early and teach them the value of money, they will be ok. The first couple boats my Father bought, He told me that as long as I took care of it, I would be able to keep it. The first time I abused the boat or got in trouble, it would be gone!
I paid for all the subsequent boats myself and maintained them. I still take excellent care of my things. Lesson learned.
My blood boils when I see all the self appointed safety experts [ some are forum members] talk about age limits. It is all about ability not age!

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I agree. Age is not what necessary makes for a safe and courteous boater. I see many adults that should not be on the water. If there were age limits when I was a kid, I would not have had the experience on the water that I fondly remember now. I'm glad I brought this subject up. These are some great stories of youth and lessons learned.

 

[thoward]

--SCORE!!-- I like the guy with both arms in the air like a touchdown!! Obviously proud of his accomplishment. Reminds me of the football dude that crashed into (under) the dock at night with a Liberator decapitating his girlfriend and a guest. I think that was some little Fla. lake. Didnt the cops guess his speed at like 40-50 or so? Speed limit after dark was 5 or 10. Hope he still get 3 hots and a cot. I just wonder what some operators think (or dont) when they get a couple of hundred HP in their hands. After stunts like this, we all pay for their IGNORANCE !! ws

Lake Louise Clermont, Fl.

I do not think the kids will ever be able to do the things we did due to the # of boats on the water. Like many of you I started with an aluminum row boat and added a 5hp Sears air cooled engine a year or two later. There are too many dumb shi#s on the water to allow the kids freedom like we had...."Be back before dark" was the usual instruction from mom/dad.

 

[luckydave215]

My late father (and my late father-in-law) were life members of the San Diego Yacht Club, so my wife and I were both SDYC brats. We both grew up at the club, on the water all the time. Strangely we never met each other until we were 22, and at a bar on an island near Tahiti.
My dad had boats before I was born (all sail) and had boats until he died. I went through the SDYC junior member program, which includuded plenty of organized racing in many different classes of boats, navigation classes, rules of the road type stuff, marlinspike seamanship, kissing the girls behind the pool house, and trying not to get caught for accidentally setting the old abandoned clubhouse on fire.
"My" first boat was a sabot, my first race boat. We had a Teak Lady at the time. About the time I graduated to the Flying Dutchman fleet, my dad bought a new Thunderbird 26, a light, fun to sail boat. The next boat was a K38, and his last boat was a Catalina 22.
My father-in-law had a Vixen 40 when "we" met, soon replaced with a Kettenburg 37 (club racer). An Aleutian 51 ketch followed that(first in the La Paz race during a huricane), and finally an Ocean Alexander 50 MKI.
After the passing of our fathers (close to the same time) I sold the Ocean Alexander and kept the Catalina 22. Soon it was too small for our growing children, so we bought a Hunter 35.5 (club racer), and in 2005 moved up to a Hatteras 60c
There have of course been numerous dingys (power and sail) along the way, too many to list.
I was too young to run the teak Lady by myself when we had her, but I ran all the other boats myself. Having "your own yacht" as a teenager was usefull plus with the girls. It beat the hell out of the other guy who could brag about "his own car"
Except for getting in and out of the slip, my son runs the Hatt by himself (and the Hunter before that). But then he drives the Red Rooster (105') sometimes, so our Hatt is no big deal.
He learned the basics sailing my original sabot, as did my daughter.

 

[Trojan]

I was exposed to boating as far back as I can remember. It started with a row boat. Then I received a 8' hydro with a 5.5hp Zeffer motor 22mph. At 10 I received a 10hp Merc huricane. We had 17ft family boats for skiing, fishing boats along with my boat. I've been in boating all my life. All 9 of My children have been in boating all there lives. 4 of my kids are able to operate a boat on there own this year. They all have been working with me on running the 43. They have been jet skiing for 2 years. For Christmas I acquired a 21ft Wellcraft IO for them to operate. They all like to fish and its set up for that. All six of my children at home have the safe boaters certificate. You must be 14 years old to operate a boat of any size and have taken the boating course. The 17 year old would like to join the Coast guard when he gets out of school in 1.5 years. All of the kids are good deck hands and safe boaters. No one under 18 is without a lifejacket on deck while underway.


BILL

 

[Boatsb]

I wish it was the same as when I grew up. I had the use of the 16 foot siolverline with a 50 merc as long as I obeyed my father and ran it safely. I was 12. later I had the chance to buy and sell boats when he bought a small marina and I woudl buy an old boat, Get it running and use it toll I sold it and start all over again. I spent weeks at Fire Island with my friends and never had my parents worried. This was before Jet Skis, 300 Hp outboards and a whloe slew of boaters being stupid.

I watched Bill Cullen ( the owner of superboats ) run up the rear of another boat in a slip so he could get to the bar ( Drunk already. ) I saw Bob Keeshan falling down drunk looking for his boat to go home. If he real was a captain he should have known better. I worked on 2 boats for partners who had 17 foor superboat with center consoles put over 300 HP on them to see who could go fastest.

Since its not gotten better and I see idiots every weekend in the port area wher we boat I don't know how I could allow my son to go out without someone watching out for him as these idiots are dangerous and could hurt him. Add to that the fact that the authorities will keep their eyes on the kids looking for them to do somthing wrong and you have a bad situation.

My solution is he will go boating with me. I will be his passenger when he is old enough to run a boat and I will relax and enjoy the ride. Boating was one of the last areas of responsible prople but its gone now.

Our kids will not have the freedom we had because the word has changed.Is it for the better?

 

[Walter P]

My first "boat" was actually a raft with a long stick as propulsion. I grew up in a very small NJ town about 1/2 mi from a river in one direction and a small lake about a mile in the other direction. We (my friends and I) preferred the lake because it was out in the woods where we would spend most of our time.
Yep, when weather permitted we did did what all young kids did, we skinny dipped and played with our raft. Some time later (around 1947 or so) NJ decided to build the NJ Turnpike and it cut right through "our" lake and woods so we graduated to the river with a row boat. I have had one type of boat or another since then including 4 Hatterases.

I totally agree that I can't think of too many other activities other than sports or after school jobs that would be better suited to moulding a kids life.

Walt...

 

[Mike53C]

I don't know about you guys, but when I was a kid money at home wasn't exactly "overflowing". So anything not necessary had to be accquired either very cheap, or not working. This "fixing up" of things, gave me a hands on experience that even though I try to instill into my sons, they unfortunately don't have. All the outboard fixing, modifying (wrongly), and having to fix your mistakes over and over helped to develop the skills.
My first car was a VW my father towed home. The motor was absolutelly dissasembled lying on the back seat. He handed me a shop manual, and told me...you fix it...it is yours. Boy it was running in two weeks. And after that came the MG, the Evinrudes, the Gale, the Porsches, the Mercs and finally the Hatteras.
What I mean is that there was more "effort" to have the things and keep them running, and this gave us a different attitude and sense of responsability.
When my sons go out now, and they are grown ups, married and all, I am worried as hell thinking of all that can go wrong and wondering if they are ready for it. But you have to let them go. These are different times and by what I read, they don't solely affect me.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

I wish it was the same as when I grew up. I had the use of the 16 foot siolverline with a 50 merc as long as I obeyed my father and ran it safely. I was 12. later I had the chance to buy and sell boats when he bought a small marina and I woudl buy an old boat, Get it running and use it toll I sold it and start all over again. I spent weeks at Fire Island with my friends and never had my parents worried. This was before Jet Skis, 300 Hp outboards and a whloe slew of boaters being stupid.

I watched Bill Cullen ( the owner of superboats ) run up the rear of another boat in a slip so he could get to the bar ( Drunk already. ) I saw Bob Keeshan falling down drunk looking for his boat to go home. If he real was a captain he should have known better. I worked on 2 boats for partners who had 17 foor superboat with center consoles put over 300 HP on them to see who could go fastest.

Since its not gotten better and I see idiots every weekend in the port area wher we boat I don't know how I could allow my son to go out without someone watching out for him as these idiots are dangerous and could hurt him. Add to that the fact that the authorities will keep their eyes on the kids looking for them to do somthing wrong and you have a bad situation.

My solution is he will go boating with me. I will be his passenger when he is old enough to run a boat and I will relax and enjoy the ride. Boating was one of the last areas of responsible prople but its gone now.

Our kids will not have the freedom we had because the word has changed.Is it for the better?

From what I remember Capt. Kangaroo, Mr. Rogers, and Lee Marvin were all CMH recipients from the battles at Okinawa and Tarawa. I guess that would give you a reason to get falling down drunk! ws

 

[Trojan]

We as kids were lucky to have had this much fun as kids. I don't worry too much about the kids. They too have grown up on the water and know what to do and who to look out for. We are lucky that during the weekends when heavy traffic is about. There is a joint force watching which includes the Coast Guard, city police, township police, sheriff dept and the good lord. All on water craft of some sort. As it is said, your in good hands.


BILL

 

[67hat34c]

Alan Jackson has a song about this and it is all true. all my best child hood memories involve boating and when "daddy let me drive".