When I was very young, I was first introduced to boating at summer camp. They taught me how row. That was about it. In Boy Scouts I learned about canoes. When I was a teen, my family had several small boats. I learned how to run the outboard. A 5 HP Firestone (for those old enough to know what that is.) and later a 5 HP Evinrude. We built a small sailboat, and I learned to sail, and a family friend had a much larger sailboat and we went out on it. But there was no formal training, no boating safety classes, at least none I knew about. Turns out there were some. Mainly the Coast Guard Auxiliary and US Power Squadron. I did have a well worn, dog eared copy of Chapmans Piloting and Seamanship, and I read it from cover to cover.
But most of the things listed below were learned by experience and occasionally if you messed up, catching hell from a parent. Fortunately, I never had any real screw ups, requiring rescue or assistance. When I joined the coast Guard, it was an eye opener, learned about operating bigger motorboats, the navigation rules, and aids to navigation and how to be a seaman. I wish I had been able to take even a basic course.
The following is a very basic list of the things a boat operator, whether it’s a power boat, manually propelled boat, canoe, kayak, sailboat, paddleboat, or a sailboat, should know. These are also things you will learn the hard way, through experience, or the easy way by taking a course. I strongly recommend taking a course. Do you need a license to operate a boat? No, but most states now have some basic education requirement.
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