Children are inexperienced, they are also smaller in size and weight, which place them at risk from collisions or falls overboard.
Note that life jackets sized for adults are unsafe for children under 90 pounds. We will supply a life jacket properly sized for each child on board.
Here are some recommendations to keep your smaller passengers safe onboard:
- Assign a responsible adult or adults to keep track of the whereabouts and safety of each child on board.
- Always do a head count – including children – to make sure all passengers are safely inside the boat before starting the motor and post a lookout to make sure there is no one around or behind the boat.
- Assign each child a specific seat on the boat and make sure they are in that seat before the boat moves.
Pay Particular attention for children around the “Awareness Zone”
The awareness zone includes the front (bow), sides (gunwales), rear (stern) and swim platform, and extends 30 feet behind and all around the boat. No passenger should be in the awareness zone until the boat motor is turned off, the boat has stopped moving, the keys are removed and you have counted to ten. The propeller on a boat can spin for several seconds after the motor is off and can cause serious or fatal injuries to anyone who comes in contact with it. That is why you count to ten before allowing anyone to get int eh water.
Avoid Hazardous Behavior
Remember that it is extremely dangerous for children – and adults – to sit on the bow, gunwales, stern or swim platform while the boat is moving. They can easily slip into the water and be hit by the propeller. We recommend that no passenger sit on the bow, gunwales, stern or swim platform when the motor is on.
Tow Sport Safety
By law, you must make sure that each person engaged in tow sports wears a properly fitted and properly adjusted life jacket.
Make sure that you have posted a lookout and that no one is anywhere near the propeller, front or sides of the boat before you start the motor.
Use a tow rope that is at least 30 feet long to help keep skiers or tow sport participants safe from Carbon Monoxide produced by the motor.
“It takes three to ski.” Please make sure there is a lookout in addition to the boat operator to keep an eye on the skiers, wakeboarders or tubers. The lookout watches the skiers. The boat operator looks ahead to watch for other boats and obstructions.
Use these procedures for reboarding to recover anyone in the water:
- Make sure that the operator or lookout always keeps the person in view. • Turn the bow of the boat toward the person in the water.
- Turn the motor off well before approaching the person and leave it off until the person is safely back in the boat.
- Keep the person away from the propeller blades.
- Never step on the propeller in order to reenter the boat!
It is unlawful to engage in tow sports at night or when visibility is poor.
And be sure to stow all tow sport gear securely when not in use. Improperly stowed tow ropes, rafts and tubes can be caught by the wind and cause injuries to boat operators and passengers.