In a few weeks, we will have a bunch of 10-year-old kids at our waterfront
home for a week. There are a number of small boats available: power, sail,
row, paddle. Our daughter is very capable on the water, and we have been
working to gradually increase her skills and independence - we now feel
confident in her skills operating a small motor skiff without direct
supervision. But some of the kids have little to no experience on the water.

It would be nice to provide a "formal" boater ed program over the course of
a week, so the kids can build skills and confidence. Also, some sort of
testing would provide an objective measure of when kids are ready to do
specific things on their own.

I have not found a good text or program for this kind of education; most
seems to be geared at adults who are buying their first over-powered tub!
The CYA has a nice program for sailing, but I am interested in a more
all-around lessons.

Any recommendations or suggestions?

Sal's Dad

Sal's Dad wrote:


Any recommendations or suggestions?

Sal's Dad

I recommend you send the material to the kids' parents, in advance.
Along with a note that none of the kids will be allowed to use any of
the small boats at your house unless the parents will certify that they
have gone over the safey stuff with their kids and send a specific
letter of permission.

How do you define hanging out a mile? Turning a bunch of 10 year olds
loose in small boats. Even with permission slips.

How you do define hanging out two miles? Turning that same bunch of 10
year olds loose in the same batch of small boats *and* representing
that you have instructed them in the basics of boating safety. When the
plaintiff's attorney has you on the stand (trying to take everything
yuou own or will ever own because little Johnny Jones darn nearly
drowned in your boat, in front of your house, and is now going to be
brain damaged for the rest of his life) he or she will score big points
with the jury with the observation:

"So, Sal's Dad, is it true that you agreed to provide all the training
and equipment needed to ensure that these young children would be able
to operate the boats in a safe manner?"

By purporting to train these kids, you then are exposed to extra
liability if something tragic happens. Not only did it happen in your
boat and in front of your property during an event that you promoted,
but you "must have" failed to provide adequate and proper training, (in
spite of your assurance that you would do so) to prevent the tragedy in
the first place.

I'd provide the information to the parents of the kids and let them do
the "training".
This also goes a long way toward educating the parents about the
potential hazards associated with boating, and helps you assert that
not only did the parents consent but that the consent was "informed".

Some of our local yacht clubs run sailing camps for kids of about the
same age bracket.
You see them out on the water around here as follows:

All of the kids are kept together in a "herd". No boat is allowed to
take off on a tangent.
In fact, when the small sailing dinghys are towed out into the lake
they are frequently roped together. Of course every kid has a properly
fitted life jacket on at all times, and some of the camps require that
kids prove an ability to swim before they can enroll.

Adult supervision is on hand at all times. A motorized "chase" boat
with a couple of adults is literally within a 10 or 15-second sprint
from the farthest kid.

It sounds like a worthy project that could be a lot of fun, but it's
also a huge potential liability.