Hats Off To Boating Parents!
 

I do not know how my parents didn't loose their mind boating with three kids. The extra bodies, the maylay, the fighting. I have to give parents an award who take their kids boating regularly, and have a fun family time. I'm getting ready to go out for the weekend now, and I hate packing for myself, I cant imagine trying to do it with two or three kids. The patience it must take, ecspecially when the inevitable boat breakdown happens, WOW. You dont even want to speak on my boat when problems are happening, throw three wining kids in there, oh man, watch out. I stopped a lady at the marina last year that had FOUR young kids with her, and said, "Your kids probably dont appreciate what your doing, but bringing them all out here, you deserve an award, you must have the patience of Jobe", she just laughed. Just hope your kids dont follow in your foot steps and blow their early retirement money on the Big Hole in the water. Midnight:cool:

Midnight,I love takin my 5 yr old daughter boating.We have a blast together,she keeps telling mom to be quiet and hang on,then she tells me to firewall it.I had a custom bolster made between the front seats of my cat with long chicken straps and she just holds those and laughs the whole time we're out.She is so into boating that I just bought her an old grew cub cat to learn on.First ride with her in that happens tomorrow.Believe me when I tell you that it takes far more patience to have unexperienced adults on board than an experienced child.She never tries to grab or push or pull anything she shouldn't.

Midnight Rider

Our kids don't know anything different than boating during the summer. We have a 3 1/2 year old and a 1 1/2 year old....they both seem to love the boat. We are going to take the elder one with us when we go down to Ft Lauderdale to pick up Thunder EnLightening when it's done. Now mind you, we live in Peoria, IL and we are driving down over 2 days +/- She is totally excited and keeps asking when the boat is going to be done. Should be an experience worth remembering:D She's never seen the Ocean, let alone boat on it so we will see how that goes.

You are right however, it does take some amount of patience to boat with the kids. Docking can be an experience along with putting the boat on the trailer. We are always deciding....do the kids go with me and be in the tow vehicle or stay with Dad in the boat while trailering. Definitely safer to be with Dad, but not always real condusive to concentration when 2 kids are yelling "MOOOOOMMMMMMY" at the top of their lungs. Luckily Dad doesn't get rattled too easily:D

I wish my 3 year old daughter liked my boat. She gets scared and I don't want to push her to do something she doesn't want to do...I guess the 24ft Baja bounces too much for her liking.

Having said that, I brought her (by car) to the Radar Shootout in NJ a few Saturdays ago and she LOVED watching all the big bad boats from the dock...I heard her describe "Jet-Set" to her little friends for days..."Jet-Set! It had fire coming out of it", "and other boats looked like rainbow sherbert"...

Maybe there's still hope!

It is unbelievable how much stuff a 2 year old needs to go boating! She handles it well though, twin big blocks, 3-4' seas, and she falls asleep every time!
Tbikini, The best place we have found for the baby when docking is strapped in her baby seat in the cabin. No worrying about where she is, not getting underfoot. Much safer and less stressful than trying to get her to sit still.

I have my kids 5 & 2 with me more often than not. They love boating. I think they will remember these great times on the boat forever. The kids seem whine and complain more at home than they do on the boat.

I usually handle all the boat duties and my wife handles the kids.

Similar sitch here; our two daughters have been boating all their lives. 10-1/2 and 5-1/2 now. They love it.

I think their favorite parts are playing on the beaches we land on, jumping off the swim-step over and over and over and over, and having snacks about every 60 minutes.

Ihave a daughter that is 12, she is daddy's little girl. she has been in the middle of boating and all types of racing all her life. Both her mom and her stepmom dont really enjoy either to the extent that I do. To make a long story short... last year we where out beached up with a few hundred friends, and my best friend pulled a dead guy out of the water!! She sawit! She has not even mentioned the boat in about a year. Last week she called and wanted to bring a friend down to spend the weekend and go OUT IN THE BOAT!!! I was so happy I could'nt stand it. It'sa really ashame what happened, but I definitly dont want her scared of the lake.

Boating = Smarter Kids
 

I was reading in a magazine the other day, that children who grow up boating are likely to be smarter than children who have never been. I think it may have been in Powerboat Mag? Not sure, but I grew up boating on the Ohio River, and I'm living proof. Look how smart I am. :D

Quiet Time..............
 

Scott we are hoping to hook up with you Jen and Jr. this coming weekend .

We are leaving Thursday night and plan to hook up with B & L and then do some boating perhaps all day saturday.

Im leaving the activities up to B&L and Missamy.

PS............Im bringing the minnows ...........uh er I forgot you had the walleye in your shot. :p

I don't have a boat right now, but I yelled at the kids yesterday just thinking about the trauma of getting them all set for a day of boating. Maybe we can bring them out one weekend just so you can get a feel for it.........What do you think Midnight?

Get a boat, it will keep you and the kids happy.

My one year old daughter grins from ear to ear the faster I go,
Its great.

PS I only go fast in dead calm water for a few seconds while she is on board

My daughter goes out with me more often than anyone else. She is 8 now, started her out at 9 mo's. You should have heard the fit she threw the time she was sent to her room by her mother and I fired up the boat to go out. Could hear her over the exhaust.

She loves the "go fast" zone and hates the "go slow" one. She is a big reason behind the step from the Z-29 Donzi to the F-402. The Donzi would run just as fast in waves (can't call the bay truely "big") but was too rough to take her with me. The F-402 rides over the waves just like cruising down the highway.

One of my favorite old photos, have to get an up to date one.

She decided last week when we went out that she is now tall enough that she no longer needs the milk crate to stand on in the bolster. She gets the front seat ... everyone else is relegated to the back <LOL>.

-Greg

His line is "Faster Papa! Faster!" and it's his boat he named it.

I dont know how my parents have put up with us...

Sean and I took our 3 year old Kaylin out on an Apache in pretty rough water, I was scared out of my mind but she kept laughing and saying "Bouncy, Bouncy, Bouncy", as we were coming out of the water. She has that daredevil edge, and she can't wait to race, her favorite movies are the Freezeframe Videos. Can't wait to see how the new one reacts to it in a few years.

Terra

my two girls grew up on boats when i had my slow boat
the use to run around in the boat in a walker
one day my 6yr old tooka test in school
the question was where would you find a boat
the answer in the test was in the water
my daughter answered at the marina
the teacher laughted so hard she had to call my wife to tell her

where else can you take your kids and have great quaility time


cardoctor

Boating kids
 

As shown below, my son started out with pretty "simple" boating aspirations. He used to point to one of the men in the boat and say "that's you Daddy" then point to the other and say "that's me".

Boating kids
 

............. now his aspirations have changed, and it may get a little more expensive. See below-

Being a parent has tought me how to have patience.
Having child on board isn't all the difficult. You just have to pay attention to what he/she's doing and where they are. If I'm behind the wheel, the wife watches. If she's driving, I watch. No problem. All this is natural if you already have kids.

We have a 4 year old grandson who goes out with us every time we do. He's been going with us for three years and has become the perfect second mate. He pulls the chocks out from under the wheels after the trailer is hooked up, helps put the drain plugs in at the ramp, holds a line while at the dock, helps unload and clean up at the end of the day. What more can I ask?
Oh, and we've been teaching him how to drive the boat this year. He does real good. Keeps a nice straight wake.

This thread brings back A LOT of fond memories for me....

I grew up on the boat....literally. I was born on Labor Day Weekend and was in the boat on the water one week later. Every birthday I had until I was 12 was at the lake with friends camping. That's how I though birthdays were supposed to be. My parents camped out just about every weekend with at least 2 one week trips each year. I thought EVERYONE lived life like this. That's how it was supposed to be in my eyes.

Present Day....two daughters, 5 and 3. Very rare for us to go to the lake without them. Thought of it makes me cringe. They have been on the lake since they were a few weeks old. It can be a little hectic at times loading and unloading the boat. Daddy gets a little worked up sometimes. I'm starting to realize it's not worth getting mad about. The payoff for taking them out on the boat every weekend is well worth it. The time spent together, the memories, fear of water, and just overall living life. Some friends think we're unfit parents for taking our kids to the lake. I see it differently, they are unfit for sitting home all weekend....their loss.

My 3 year old tubed for the first time by herself the other day. Father's day I might add. Tough to put a price on memories like that. I still think about it at work when I see the grin on her face.

The girls love it now and will benefit from it greatly in the future. Nuff said.

Buck

We have taken our son out with us since he was 4 months old. It was great when he was that young. He would go to sleep just minutes after the boat was started. The rumble of a big block really puts kids to sleep. The next summer at 1.5 years old he was a handfull. We took him out 4 times then called it quits. When he wasnt happy no one on the boat was happy. We were kind of scared to try this year at 2.5 years old but did it anyway. What a joy to have him back on the boat. He loved it. I think at the 1.5 years old range he couldnt move around with the lifejacket on. He would try but would just fall over. We tried to help but he got frustrated. Now hes good to go!

He loves standing in the bolster in the no wake zones.

Now he can roam around on his own. Here he is playing in the cabin.

I cant describe the feeling I get when he says "FASTER DADDY!"

Something about being out there really soothes them. Taking kids is not much hassle at all. My 7 yr old daughter has been boating since she was about 6 mos. and she is currently more helpful than my wife. I now have a 3 1/2 month old boy who has been out a few times already.

This is a pic from last year of my 8 year old (then 7) doing 40. My wife and my 4 and 3 year (then 2 and 3) old in the back. She can navigate if I say "go to kellys" and navigate out the channel.

This year I lost a MSD box so she drove. Mom held the kids and look out. I forgot the power steering was also gone. She man handled while I checked engines.

This year she's 70mph qualified and is learning thottles. Talk about a proud papa:D :D :D

Mom holding the kids in the back.

Navigating out the channel.

Got a 4 1/2 Y.O. boy who gets very P.O.ed when I go out without him. Had new interior installed last winter and I had a padded cushion installed on the Cigs cuddy hatch. He sets there whenever we are in no wake zones - holds the windshield frame and is all smiles.

But...........when having kids on the boat...........we always hope not to here the dreaded 5 words!!

"Daddy, I got to poop!"

Because, as most of the people on this thread know, when a 4 Y.O. says that - facilities had better be found quickly!!!

I can't under stand how they dont get sick riding under here!

We started last year at 1 month for our daughter. the weather has been crappy this year so we've only had her out once this year. It is going to be a handful to keep her occupied, but going fast doesn't bother her. Here's a pic from last summer.

ANOTHER...

Have a just turned 4yr old grandson took him out in the cat the other day ran it up to 126 he looked at me and grinned & said Paw Paw faster.. i grinned back at him & thought holly chit let me get him back before we both get killed...this kid is gonna be speed freak.

My wife thought I was nuts, but I insisted that our 2 month old needed a racing "uniform" (back in the racing days).

You can find great checkered stuff for kids here-
Racechex

Well, we got Natalie out a couple of weeks ago, right around 4 months old. I do like the life jacket we got her into and she did not squirm too much because of it.

ready for a short cruise, we are working up to the all day outing.

Last year

2

Mine (also 8) likes to ride but I can't get her interested in trying to drive, even at idle speeds. Guess I need to find your "secret".

Of course, I can't get my wife interested in trying to drive it either ... but maybe that is a GOOD thing as she has won the Mason Dixon Corvette Drags two years in a row now (last year top womans eliminator and top overall eliminator, this year top womans eliminator and in the running for top overall eliminator when rain shut things down early).

-Greg