When you’re out on the water with the whole family and space is tight, it’s vital to ensure that you have your boating outing well-prepared and well-planned. If mom, dad, and the kids are all on the boat together, and the plan is to spend the entire day cruising around the ocean or lake, there must be plenty of boating fun, activities, and even a break for food or snacks to keep the whole gang pleased. The following are some useful family boating tips to help your entire crew become excited about every boating excursion, maintaining a fun and engaging experience for both kids and adults alike.
Get the Kids Excited
When the kids, especially younger children, are coming along, you have to be prepared. Kids may struggle with being trapped in a confined space on your small boat. In the days or weeks before your boating excursion, you and your family can watch kid-friendly movies about spending time on the water or marine life. There is a wealth of recent and popular animated film and television features to choose from that will get your children excited about the water. These movies will activate your kids’ imaginations, get them excited about any boating trip, and give both the kids and adults general references to allude to and joke about while out on your boat. Many movies have soundtracks with very catchy songs that can keep the kids engaged and their creativity whirling while you are on the water. You can easily bring a small portable speaker with you and blast your nautical soundtrack, singing along as a group out on the water. In addition to films, you can surely find many children's books to read to them on a nightly basis before your outing so that the kids have plenty of inspiration for their great adventures at sea.
Water Sports
Whether cruising around an ocean or a lake, water sports are an excellent way for the family to have fun in the water. The number one suggestion is probably apparent. Cast your anchor downward to station your boat and get out and swim! Swimming in open water can be one of the most rewarding parts of taking the family out on the boat, and it will get your family moving. However, water safety is of utmost importance. Make sure that each family member has a properly fitting life jacket, and make sure that all family members enjoying the water know how to swim and can follow water safety protocol. In addition to swimming, towable water sports such as bodyboarding, tubing, and kitesurfing can also add to the aquatic fun if your boat has the capacity for them.
Plan Other Activities
If you’re spending the day out on the water, water sports are not the only activity that you are going to be able to do to pass the time. Fishing, sightseeing, and even searching for marine life can all entertain the family when out on your boat. While fishing is a leisurely activity, it requires careful instruction and attention to detail to do it right. Whether the kids are new to fishing or they’ve already experienced it on an outing before, there are loads to learn about this recreational sport. You can teach the kids proper technique for baiting their hooks, fishing etiquette when sharing a boat with other fishermen, common usages for bait, local fishing laws and policies, and what kind of fish you can be expected to yield from the waters you are traversing. You can even come home with a fresh catch to prepare for dinner after your day on the water! If you are not interested in packing all of the fishing equipment, casual activities like cruising around coastlines for sightseeing and searching for aquatic life, such as dolphins and whales, can add to the anticipation of exploring new waters.
Bring Food
When spending a day on the water, it is essential to bring along a cooler of food. Plan a picnic and access to beverages and snacks. The best food and snacks for boating include pre-packaged and prepared foods like sandwiches, chips, and plenty of bottles of water. These options will keep the whole gang fed and hydrated throughout the day. Meals and snacks for boating can be easily packed with ice and stored in a cooler for quick access throughout the day. Try to plan your boating picnic experience around your other boating activities as you will undoubtedly get hungry after swimming, and you don’t want to dive into the water right after eating. Also, make sure that your cooler is filled with plenty of extra food and snacks because hunger can surface at any time when out on the open sea.
Share Your Passion with Your Crew
Lastly, impart your passion for boating upon the members of your family. Tell stories to your family about how you got interested in boating in the first place. You can even share anecdotes about your adventures or even misadventures at sea. Even better, you can teach your other family members some basic boating and navigation skills. Nothing can be more exciting than teaching your budding adolescent child the ropes of steering and driving a boat. Your child will feel like the captain of the ship, and perhaps you will instill upon them a desire to pursue their passion for boating when he or she comes of age.
Spending the day with your family out on a boat does not need to feel like you are navigating in a tightly-squeezed can of sardines. As long as you take into consideration these family boating tips and utilize careful foresight and planning, the whole group will have plenty of boating fun and be primed to look forward to your next big adventure on the water.