Thanks for all of the input, now the fun part…picking a boat. I've been out of this for a while, but I have looked at every manufacturer and am between 4 boats: Early 2000 TS 38 Top Guns, Early 2000 37 Outerlimits, 2007-2008 Donzi 38ZR's, and 2007-2008 Fountain 38 Lightnin's.

Never been a big Donzi or Fountain fan, but the newer boats for the same money and higher speeds with same hp have me leaning that way. I would love a Top Gun but I have yet to find an early 2000 paint scheme that I like, I love all the 2006-2008 paint schemes but they are all out of my price range. I also said I would never own a non staggered boat again. I've always loved OL's but there are very few available and none are exactly what I want or are overpriced but there are a couple with #6 drives and that would be awesome. Not regularly boating in rough water so that is not a big factor for me. Not an easy decision.

If you look close you can see my 3 yo. https://youtu.be/NQkGxuHmBvE


You MUST always have your eye on the child (off plane.) On plane you MUST hold there hand at least. Mine sits on my lap when I drive. :) :)

I don't ever boat with the kids without another adult I trust onboard.

As you can see. Even at the dock i never let an eye off him. If i really want to boat I leave him at home :)

One time when we first started going out, we were at the boat launch and he was wigging out . ( I put his life jacket on in the truck . ). Anyway he went by the water. He was insusing on me walking ro the water with him. So i kinda followed him and he went up to the water edge and did a huge bratty mud puddle stomp. You know the green moss was slippery !!! And he went in. It was cold. He rolled over and started crying . It was hard not to laugh . But by staying back he learned that falling in the water sucks . Now he is real carefull. Lol

My daughter started in our Allison at 4 weeks old and now she drives most days at the age of 13. (Actually one of her first rides was from Palatka to the Glen on St. Johns) My son started st 11 months, but that's only because he's adopted and that's when we got him. Haha.

Get them a good comfortable jacket and get them used to wearing it, even if that means around the house.

Teach them to swim as soon as you can.

Good sun lotion. My wife has used NoAd on our kids since they were infants and she swears by it.

Then have fun! Good luck!

Nice thread! I also have had my oldest out as soon as it was possible. She is now 5 and there is no way that boat leaves the garage without her knowing about it. We started out with a small jet boat, then moved to an open bow, and now I have a Powerquest 260. While none of them are gonna light the world on fire, she loves the Powerquest the most with the cabin and the fact that its faster than the other 2.

I will add that this shouldn't just be a mentality for boating, but for all things. Get them started as early as possible and they will grow into the sport and have a healthy respect for it and the dangers that are potentially involved.

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She absolutely loves it and the boat and snowmobiles dont leave anywhere without her knowing. I love that shes so into it. She even watches boating videos on youtube and keeps telling mom we need a bigger, faster boat.....:lolhit:

That's so awesome, what kind of life jacket is that she has on in the fishing picture? I want to get a good life jacket for her.

Its an HO Sports life jacket. We have two of them. They are very nice because they have the strap that goes between their legs and it has a strap around the back that you can lift the kids with in case needed. My wife got 2 of them at different times at Costco I believe. USCG approved and they work very well

I grew up boating in the UK with my family, my parents had an old Vosper PT boat they converted after the war. We crossed the English Channel every summer for vacations in France and up and down the coast. Our kids are growing up the same way but the Vosper got replaced with a Fountain, it's easier on the fuel!

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The speed doesn't upset my kids, nor does the noise. We spend as much time as possible on the water every year both summer and winter. My daughter, now 9, backs the Fountain off the trailer, drops the drives, fires both mills up, spins it in a crowded marina and plants it on the dock without any problems. We're working on the V-Drive but that takes a bit more skill. Both my kids know how to tie off and how many wraps to put on a cleat. If you boat then get your kids out there and don't worry about what kind of rig you're buying, they'll do just fine.

https://youtu.be/cPg3gk_a5lU