Kids Aboard Boating, Fishing & Watersports Magazine
For Children & Families
Posted Friday, February 9, 2007
When we mention the words “kids” and “boats” in the same sentence, inevitably the word “safety” follows soon thereafter. It’s no wonder of course, kids are kids and therefore any time a child is near water parents and adults tend to get a little paranoid.
All this is normal, since we want kids to be safe and not fall overboard. However, being safe and having fun can peacefully coexist, and on a boat this is where good planning comes in.
The first thing you need to plan for on a boat with kids is safety. This means having life vests on board in the necessary sizes to fit the kids who will be on board. To start with, check the laws in your state to find out the ages which require mandatory life vest usage. A quick way to find out this information is to visit the Boat U.S. website at this link: http://www.boatus.com/foundation/LJLP/staterequirements.asp . For example, in the state of Florida all children under six years of age must wear a US Coast Guard approved life vest while a vessel is underway. However, even if the children that you will have on board may be older than the mandatory age, the Coast Guard still requires you to have a life vest on board that will fit each child. If you are stopped and do not have a life vest available, you can be fined.
When you go to your local boating store, or check online, you will find a great selection of life vests. Which one to choose? First of all, you must determine the type of sailing you will be doing, the water conditions, and the ages and weights of the children. There are a lot of life vests out there, but many are not really adequate for sailing. Generally speaking, if you are going sailing in the bay or ocean, or a deep lake, its best to opt for a Type II vest. This is a vest for deeper water in choppy conditions. Wakeboard or PWC vests aren’t usually recommended for a sailing excursion because these are shallow water, low wake, calm water vests.
Probably the most trying aspect of keeping children safe on board is hearing them whine and complain about wearing their life vest. With four children and lots of kids aboard our boats, we’ve been there, so we know what its like.
The next thing to think about is the age and weight of the child. There are several manufacturers that make vests for infants, that is 7 – 30 lbs. From our personal experience sailing offshore and living aboard our sailboat, we have found that there are some very important features that a good infant life vest must have. These are: hinged collar, strong grab loop on the collar to scoop babies up, easy access crotch strap, bright yellow or orange color, a sturdy plastic zipper and belt around the waist. We have tried many infant life vests throughout the years on our own boats and on friends’ boats and have found our favorite to be the Extrasport Type II infant PFD ($37.95), which is also the most durable life vest made. We have used this vest through four children, day in and day out, in the dinghy at least twice a day, with no rips or tears, and only a little mildew on the collar. In second place is the Mustang Lil’ Legend Infant Life Vest ($64.99) which has good colors and most of the important features, but for some reason a higher retail price.
For youths 50 – 90 lbs, anywhere from 5 – 10 years old, there’s a much larger selection of styles of life vests. Life vest manufacturers have made innovations and strides in life vest design for increased buoyancy and comfort, and charge a premium for these features. For just day sailing on your Hunter sailboat, however, you can go with a light and comfy Extrasport Volks vest, which comes in sizes child to adult. West Marine also makes a knock-off copy of this vest, available at West Marine stores.
If having a child on board is just a one-time event for you, you needn’t make a large investment in a life vest. The Boat U.S. Foundation has a list of 350 life vest loaner sites around the country that will let you borrow a life vest for free. For details, visit the Boat U.S. website at www.boatus.com.
Probably the most trying aspect of keeping children safe on board is hearing them whine and complain about wearing their life vest. With four children and lots of kids aboard our boats, we’ve been there, so we know what its like. The best thing to do when facing a whining child – or a potential whiner- is to remain firm and not compromise. When at all possible, the earlier you get a child accustomed to their life vest, the better. Yes, this means babies, ESPECIALLY babies. An infant will get accustomed to wearing a life vest after four or five times of having it on. If you combine wearing a life vest with things a baby wants, such as a bottle, then they will not complain as much and associate it with comfort and safety. Infant life vests are very cushy and if they have a hinged collar, you can actually sit your baby in an infant car seat and they will be snug as a bug. Chances are they will cry, but if you check to make sure that they have a dry diaper, are not hungry, and burped, let them just cry it out. Eventually they will fall asleep in the life vest and after a few times they will have gotten used to it.
This might sound crazy, but one of the best things that ever happened to our oldest child was when she fell overboard at the age of 16 months. It was early in the evening and we had just arrived to our boat after dinghying over from the dock. She was wearing her life vest, of course, and as we were moving groceries and our gear from the dinghy to the dive platform, she climbed up the transom steps to the cockpit of the boat. Then she walked around the coaming to the deck, and as the boat wobbled a little bit with a passing wake she fell over, and then rolled right under the life lines and into the water!
We heard the splash (she was only three feet away), and then as I looked over the side she popped up from under the water, face up, and let out a wail, “Mamaaa!” “You’re okay, you’re okay,” I said to her calmly as ducked under the lifelines to grab her by the loop on the collar. In less than a minute she was back on board, shivering, but safe. As soon as I got her on board, I hugged her hard and exclaimed, “Thank goodness for your life vest! Your life vest saved you!!”
From that moment on, her life vest was her best friend. Whenever we had to go somewhere, I no longer had to cajole her to put it on. She would bring it to us and start putting it on herself. Her life vest went from being a bother to her trusted friend.
We don’t recommend throwing your child in the water to get them to appreciate their life vest, but we do recommend getting them used to and comfortable with life vests as a necessary tool to have fun on the water. The sooner they accept their life vest, the more fun and enjoyment a child (and you) will have on a boat.
In our previous article we suggested visiting marinas in the off season to “stay connected” and keep the interest in boating and sailing during the winter months while the boat is in storage or the weather is too yucky to go out. Use these opportunities to get children used to life vests by donning them before walking out on a dock. Two of our children have fallen overboard from a dock, and thankfully they had their life vest on at the time. We never planned for our child to fall overboard, but we were definitely glad that they were prepared for it when they did! A good family rule to put into practice is to require that all kids wear their life vests when on a dock, dinghy or underway. With a little patience on the part of adults this rule will pay off in safety and peace of mind.
Lastly, if a child does fall overboard with their life vest on, they should always remain calm and not thrash around or panic. Make sure every life vest has a marine whistle tied to it (you can get these free at boat shows from the Coast Guard or US Power Squadron), because yelling can make them lose their voice and get tired.
You will be amazed at how much more fun being on the water can be when you know that the kids on board are safe and accounted for. So, give yourself the gift of peace of mind and make sure you have adequate life vests on board for everyone.
