I have a three year old daughter, have been boat-less for a while (before my daughter was born) and am looking into buying again. I would be insanely bored on a center console or pontoon boat, and I want to be able to hit 2-3 poker runs a year out of town with some buddy's as I really enjoyed them with my last boat (36' Cat). I would like a boat that my wife, kid, and dog can go out on and enjoy…I am looking at Donzi ZR's, Fountain Lightnings, and Top Guns with mild power (525/xr combo's) as I feel like I could bring the family on them, yet still get my speed fix when I'm by myself or hit a poker run or two. My question is (and this may have an obvious answer that I don't know), is three too young to bring out on a boat like this? I have quite a bit of boating experience and would obviously operate the boat as conservative as possible with my family on the boat, meaning slow and cautious. I live on the st Johns River in Jacksonville FL which is generally not rough at all, especially for a 38' boat. Does anyone else have kids this young and take them on their "offshore" boats? My wife is concerned that a boat like this is too fast, but my argument is that it is only as fast as you drive it, most center consoles now go 70 mph and the boats I'm looking at go 85, is there really any difference? I would just be cruising with my family on board, would never go that fast anyways. Thanks for your input.

A 3 year old should be fine as long as you have someone else in the boat (wife) with you to sit with the kiddo.

The year i ran the most was a year one of my daughter was borned march 4th!!! So may 20-21 st, we were out boating , not poker runnin of course... she would sleep most of the ride, and when i would stop the engines, she was waking up and crying. So i kept going!!!

So, my advice, go easy on throttle and have fun!

I have a 24' with a decent cabin (for a 24'). My niece and nephew think it's their own fort/rec room. My niece asks when we can go on the boat almost every time I talk to her. She fell asleep on the back seat of my center console last summer. Her dad was holding her and the head piece on the life jackets make a decent rugrat pillow, and we were rolling through decent waves that day. Didn't phase her because we weren't running fast.

Training day with a 15 month old:


Where they prefer to spend their time:


Dig my niece's face shortly after 3/4 throttle... she definitely prefers 1/2 throttle:



^^^^^^^^^^^ showing this pic to your wife probably won't instill confidence or further your cause.

We will be doing this with my 4 year old granddaughter in Nov. the only thing other then slow is that I like the life vest that have a strap that goes between their legs. Just in case something would happen.

Get them on a boat as soon as possible and get them in swimming lessons as soon as possible.

Go have some fun creating some great memories for them.

Exactly. I have pictures from age three on boats. By about 8 I was trolling while my Dad, Uncles, and Gramps were fishing and setting down riggers and planer boards. I cannot tell you how utterly elated they were when I got my Boater Safety certificate and they had a perma-designated-driver.

P.S. If you let the kids drive when they're young, they might just let you drive when you're old!

My earliest memories of childhood was my dad's boat. A 17' Aussie made Caribbean with a 100hp Merc on the back. He bought it new about a year before I was born. (I have older brothers) I remember it from about 3-4 years of age.

Get your kids on the water, if you like it, they will too! They're young and fearless so you have to think for them and excercise all the safety precautions available. Im so happy my dad took care of me and opened the door to boating.

RR

Kids are never too young. You just have to use common sense and be flexible based on their mood that day.
Mine were boating at 5 months and 11 months old and I've always had performance boats.

I agree with the others. We have had our daughter on our boats since she was 4 months old. Til this day she wants to go on the boat every weekend. She's almost 4 now and she will be a boater for life. How many kids want to sit and watch boat videos on youtube instead of cartoons?