What type of boat? What size of boat? What is the condition of the boat? Where are you boating? In what type of weather? What is the experience and age of the skipper? What is the experience and age of the crew?Originally Posted by Big Shaun
Shaun, these are just some of the questions you need to ask yourself at the same time, as it depends on many factors. When you and your wife have covered all bases for your situation, and are confident that the time is right, it probably will be.
cheers
Bet you don't give a second thought to jumping in your glorified lunch box (car) but its one of the most dangerous things you'll every do. If you thought about it you'd be catching the bus everywhere but I bet convenience of a car wins over what if every time
What if indeed, carpe diem, live life to the full, not out of fear, that's my motto, not everyones (like my wife's) so I do understand where you are coming from though I also see first hand how it stops you from experiencing life.
again my $0.03 (inflation)
Quote
so I do understand where you are coming from though I also see first hand how it stops you from experiencing life.
The thread is about baby,todler small child going out on a boat in which you the parent are responsible for the childs safety and well being.
Hitting a submerged object, sand bar, reef the unexpected.explotion/fire.
Even with a vest going overboard and taking a hit on the head and getting a mouth full of water could be the end.
There are so many scenarios that come into play.
People can do what ever they want but when it all goes wrong then the pain will set in.
Expose yourself in a risky situation if you want just don’t take the kids life aswell
Three go out for a days fun,only one survives..Why.what went wrong.!!
Think about it.
I tried to up load a youtube video called
70 plus mph boat ride with the kids on board
Which didn’t work.have a look for your self
It starts of as ..
I’ll only go 6 knots
4th-5th outing you go up on the plane
15th-16th outing full throttle
I never had a boat until my youngest was 16. They all like it, but cricket, girls, and the pub seem more important to them.
Brendan (Gofishin) made a logical remark. When all the factors add up, it's time. I'll have Grandkiddies in a few years (I hope) and can't wait to addict them to the water. Start young! And be careful!
Cheers,
Tim
Carbon Really Ain't Pollution.
Gotta agree with spears here.
Degree of acceptable risk. Gofishin nailed it. What's the responsible skippers' personal risk assessment of the situation using these criteria?
Chances are better for an adult to survive a severe mishap, than for a child, let alone an infant.
One things' for sure, this is a matter for the skipper, who will live by his/her decison.
Believe it, you never know what life will throw at you.
I'm thinking perhaps you need to be an older person to fully realise this, and perhaps it would be cruel to enforce an older persons' more conservative approach upon younger, more vital folk, but at least we older folk can offer some advice gained from experience.
I'm saying this remembering that as a young parents, my wife and I regularly travelled from Coffs to Sydney and back with our infants unrestrained on a mattress in the back of our small 4wd, it was quite legal back then. It scares the s#it out of me now, as a 50 something, to consider 'what might have been' had we had even a minor accident...............we just didn't think that way when we were young!
Cheers and best wishes to all parents and kids, oh and grandparents!
Gofishin is right like every other aspect of parenting it's a matter of weighing up the advantages and disadvantages and using your judgement.
As others have mentioned cars make me more nervous, I feel more comfortable with my 11 month old on the boat than in the car on the way to the water despite the 10 air bags abs esp etc etc.
[quote=spears;898314]
The thread is about baby,todler small child going out on a boat [/quote]
Absolutely, and if the philosophy that you base your decision on is a fear based one such as “what if” then that same thought process should be governing other aspects of your life. If it doesn’t then something is wrong. Is boating really that dangerous or am I complacent about the risks of driving, (or maybe I’m just my own worst hypocrite)
Fact, you are 50 times more likely to die from driving than boating (40 boating deaths vs 2000 car deaths in Aust in 1998 – sorry couldn’t find more recent corresponding stats) but you don’t see anyone asking “what age should I starting putting my baby in the car?”
We are all afraid of the unknown and your what if points proves that it but you can say the same thing about driving, what if that car runs a red light, what if I blow a tire at highway speeds, what if the car next to me blows a tire, what if I get t-boned, what if I get rear-ended, what if my brakes/steering/accelerator jams etc. Boating and hence the risks are immeasurably more in your control than driving. When driving you have to content with all the other idiots wherever you go and obviously you can’t control what they do. But with boating the main risks are controllable,.you choose your location (reefy areas vs a river or lake), weather conditions you put out on, your speed, how much surrounding traffic you are comfortable with, etc.
Face it, boating is much safer than driving but our decision is based on fear, “the what ifs”.
My original advice is still put them in a lifejacket and throw them overboard (or start with a pool which is what we did). If you are not willing to do that in a nice controlled environment then you are obviously not comfortable with the associated risks and the child shouldn’t be out there, whatever the age.
Mate I’m not going to get in a debate with you on this.
I was answering the original post and that’s all.
Why don’t we just keep it at that.
In stead of challenging me on my thoughts,as some others see my point of view and agree.Challenge them too.
The baits in but i'm not biting
Next is the meaning of life etc,etc
Re: Boating with babies.
Hey all,
both of my boys at about six months. Always in suitable pfd. I made sure where possible that I could handle everything on the boat by myself so that my wife could pay 100% attention to the child. Never take a small child out by yourself. Another adult (sober) is the very least backup needed when they are very young.
Made sure that the vessel was appropriate to the situation and the situation appropriate to the vessel.
Both the boys , now aged 5 and 7, are aware that dad gets very cranky when it comes to the safety rules of the boat. We are now in a larger boat ( 36ft displacement bay cruiser) partly because of the nobs getting around the pin that put us at risk.
Both the boys are very comfortable on the water, the older one normaly steers the big boat under supervision and hates it when i don't let him steer the tender. Last week we floated over stingrays in the shallows at tiger mullet (rowing in the tender) and passed dugongs, turtles and dolphins.
The little fella prefers to sleep and bitch about how slow we go now. Both are experts at abusing riviera skippers and jetskiers.
The big lesson I leant was to let them run on the beach for an hour or so before you try to do any fishing. This takes the edge off em so that they settle down rather than complaining about each other and how boring it is.
its a shame when they are too small to help and too big to fit in a crabpot.
cheers
Alex
I have 2 girls 6 & 3.. Their first time in the boat was about 2 months ago. They never went in my Blue fin as I considered it too small etc for me to be comfortable taking them out.
They came out in the Yalta and we had a nice small run. Went from Redland Bay to Macleay and back. Had a bit of a fish, they caught some small ones.
I would not take them out without at least 2 adults on board and they had life jackets on the whole time.
Mate, that's a copout, no need to take it personally, it’s a public forum, both agreeing and being challenged is expected, like yin yang, gotta have both for a healthy discussion.
Bottom line for me was when my son could swim, thats it.
Sure, PFDs are great, but if the boat went over and I cark it and float away, does the PFD help my boy get to shore ? does it help him get a passer by to come to his aide or call for help ?
NOPE, it doesn't, but if he can swim, and boy oh boy at 7 Y.O I watched him the other day and in a one hour lesson he did 750mtrs total in the pool, I reckon I have no worries about him being able to swim / dog paddle pack to a shore, or wave and flag down another boaty
Remember that poor bugger in the tweed not long back, he was gone, his kid was found close to death ?
If men are from Mars, and women are from Venus, politicians must be from uranus ?
I think this sums it up pretty well IMO.
Short trips are fine when they are younger and boating with the family and friends on smooth waters in decent size boats is all good, but if they are heading off shore they will need to get a few of these shorter trips under they're belt to be able to cope with the riggers of a day out on the open ocean. Never take the ocean to lightly!
Well for me, it was when they are comfortable in water and can follow instructions. Both my girls go to swim lessons (can't swim properly yet, but don't panic) and we go out in a 16' canoe, so I have to be fairly careful as to where we go. Always in a pdf 1 and not in rough conditions. My girls are 3 and 18mths. Never had an issue, but I don't venture further from shore than my ability to swim in with kid in tow. We work on a rule that one adult for each of the kids, so if both go, then my wife comes.
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