JimH penned the following well
considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:
...I am not letting him take the boat out by himself (he will be with 2 or 3
friends) until he has operated it with me at least a half dozen times *and*
I am confident he knows what he is doing.


Agreed. Absolutely no reason why he should expect you to let
him wreck your boat and possibly hurt himself & his friends.

Any suggestions on making this go smoother in the future?



Gene Kearns wrote:
Yeah. Call and early end to the debacle. Tough love... as it were,....

Lesson 1
1) Got your power squadron card?
2)) Hat?
3) Sunglasses?

Fine, lesson over.... come back tomorrow with a renewed sense of
responsibility and maturity....
___________________________

I like that, but it might be a good idea to also do some
book work on the boat if you can't do an on-water lesson.
Have him read & study something about engines, props, 12V
systems, maybe the physics of bouyancy & planing. Engage the
brain. And it's also a way to give a positive reinforcement
when everything else has failed.

Remember, when you want to teach something, always end on a
positive.


Lesson 2
1) Repeat Lesson 1
if not 100%... lesson over, don't continue being an irresponsible
idiot.

Umm, Gene, I agree with your ideas about failure being
anything less than 100% but it really is a good idea to end
on a positive note.


I do not like quitters


Then don't. Who the hell is in control here... and why? It's your
goddamn boat and more importantly your goddamn kid. Do what you have
to do to keep both safe. Consider that what you teach now may, after
your demise, contribute to your grandchildren's and
great-grandchildren's sum of knowledge and safety. "This is what you
grandfather taught me" carries ONE HELL OF A LOT OF WEIGHT.... at
least it does in my family....


I agree. But the most likely result... especially with a kid
who has reached the age of 18 without already being able to
drive a boat like it was second nature... is that both
father and son will give up on the project because it's too
negative.


deadly combinations.....


NO. NO. NO. Deadly combinations are confidence and arrogance...
something kids have TONS of...... not in an EVIL way... just an
inexperienced and ignorant way.


Bingo!

Therefor the MOST IMPORTANT lesson to teach is one of the
few really valuable and universally applicable things I
*did* learn from my grandfather: avoid mistakes!

When your kid is about to do something wrong, don't yell at
him to stop or give him a clop upside the head (unless you
really need to get his attention urgently). Just raise your
hand slightly and say, "Now think for a minute... what
mistakes are waiting for you in these next few minutes?"

In other others, review what can go wrong, or what details
he may have forgotten, BEFORE plunging ahead with confidence
born of ignorance.


At the ripe old age of 21, I think this is finally making some sense
to my kid! Experience isn't necessarily something good.... it is
surviving your OWN mistakes and learning from other's mistakes...
whether they survived or not.... USEFUL.... not necessarily GOOD....
definitely, for the survivors... beneficial.....


Right! "Learn from the mistakes of others. It is impossible
that you'll live long enough to make them all yourself."

Fair Skies- Doug King