Alright, the video is geared to kids. But what’s that expression we learn so much from watching kids…
This is a fantastic video to understand how beginners can learn to wakeboard. So even if you’re “older” than the little girl in the video, I think there are some awesome tips and hints to learn the basics of wake boarding — OK there are 5 tips.
Give it a view and then try it out – she makes it look pretty easy!
I’ve spent the past weekend working at the Minneapolis Boat Show surrounded by all the newest and coolest boats.
Boat shows are a fun adventure, but I think they’re even more fun when you’re just looking. Actually buying a boat can become overwhelming quickly.
Slow down and figure out what type of boater you are… when you know that the type of boat you’re looking for will become easy.
What type of boater are you? Are you a day boater, overnight boater, really into activities or just a slow cruise type of individual? If you have no idea what type of boater you are, join a boat club. They typically have a variety of boats in a fleet. This variety will allow you to test several styles and really get a good sense of who you are on the waters. Visiting an area boat show is a great starting point to locate boat clubs.
Boat shows also have a variety of boats on floor to hop into and learn some basic styles and terminology. When you finally know the style of boat, I recommend staying focused. Make a list of all your “must have’s”. It will make comparing boats much easier.
Oh my gosh, there is a big learning curve! But it’s all worth it. Start with our boat selector tool… it’s a great way to “rule out” boats!
Welcome to Boating!
Sometimes you wake up and get lost in someone else’s adventure. When that adventure involves selling all your possessions, buying a boat, and sailing around the world, it makes you ponder your to-do list for the day?!
I’m not saying liquidate and run for the dock, but the photos of crystal blue waters sure do make you think twice…
You see I came across this article because I’m out of oatmeal. Ugh! Instead, I grabbed a pack of Mini Oreo cookies and a Diet Pepsi and started making a list of what groceries I need… clearly breakfast foods (haha). Then I thought, maybe everyone’s mundane check list could be modified with an escape story like the one I just read.
Please, be inspired by this couple’s story. (It’s awesome!)
I think we all need to add something adventurous to our list today. Something crazy we get to check off.
Good luck with your list, I guarantee there is something fun you can fit on your list today… somewhere between oatmeal and sailing around the world!
Love boating? Grab our free book Everything Boat
Gasoline is not your most exotic boat accessory purchase, but it will be your most frequent. Yesterday the EPA moved ahead with its plan for E15. I thought I’d explain the basics of why ethanol and boats do not mix.
Ethanol is a solvent. It dissolves seals, gaskets, hoses and fiberglass fuel tanks. Boats are different from cars because we will drive a mid-90’s boat and not think twice that the boat is currently 20 years old, long before ethanol was mixed in gasoline. Long before it was shown that ethanol would dissolve the rubber in gas hoses. (Problem!)
Ethanol also degrades quickly, meaning it typically does not have the shelf life to last a winter storage season.
Ethanol also loves water. It attracts it, and you don’t want water in any fuel tank.
These problems have been noticed in other small engines, for example, lawn mower engines.
But, why not cars? Because a car is typically used on a daily basis and the fuel is replenished before it degrades. What is degrading? Degrading in your boat fuel tank goes like this. The water sepatates to the bottom of the tank, then you take off and the bow goes up the fuel pushes to the lowest point where the pick up tube is… Guess what, since the water has separated from “non-use” its at the bottom of the tank so that is what gets pushed into the engines. Next you hear sputtering, this article does a fantastic job explaining it. You really should read it.
But I promised a very quick version of why ethanol free fuel is important in your boat.
Love boating? Grab our free book: Everything Boat
Asking the question of how you fit vacation time into your life seems obvious, but sometimes life happens and “getting away” seems more difficult. That’s one benefit of having access to a boat. Whether you buy a boat or you buy a membership in a boat club. The ability to take one day a week becomes beautiful, relaxing, and you have that “ah ha” moment of wondering why you didn’t do it sooner. I just read an article by ProjectTimeOff that makes sense as to why boating is actually a mini-vacation, you should check it out.
Think about it…
That one day a week that you look forward to special time with family and friends can be more attainable than two weeks far away. Scheduling a long weekend or even just that mid week escape close to home is valuable “water therapy”. Think about boating as you are looking to next summer’s free time activity. Remember there are 15 weeks of summer, if you take one day off every week that’s like taking three work weeks!
Love boating? Grab our free book: Everything Boat
Here’s a fun story about living on a houseboat in England. Sounds like one of those places you dream about when you want to just “get away from it all”.
What’s neat is with all the recent upgrades in mobile technology you get modern comforts, small living all bundled in an adventure!
Check it out! Why I Decided to Live on a Houseboat in London
I’ve been lucky enough to take two cruises. Great fun, awesome food, and sea sick both times. I grew up “on a boat”, in fact my first boat ride was at 6 days old (so I’m told). I’ve never been sick on a boat ride, and there I was… standing in the gift shop of my first cruise ship vacation, and I immediately wanted to throw up. It was the oddest thing. I knew if I didn’t get into fresh air I was not going to make it.
Point A to point B got me to the deck and I felt better. I sat in the lounge chair for a little while and thought, “I’m OK” so I headed back inside (of course attempting to get back to the gift store) and… nope… that wasn’t going to happen. It was nearly instant, I was queazy and felt green. Why? Why was this happening to me. After 24 hours and getting off the ship at the first port, I was fine the rest of the cruise. I was fine even with the 20 foot swells, imagine walking down the hallway and literally bouncing off one wall onto the other side. Wow!
The second cruise I thought, “I’ll prepare” — haha, there’s a laugh. I took my sea sick prevention pills ahead of the cruise. I even bought the bands for my wrists (never thinking I’d need them). We boarded the ship, I was fine and as soon as we got underway, it was 24 hours of misery. I could tell right when I walked down the stairs toward our cabin. I made another point A to point B dash right to my wrist bands. I bought the pressure point style. They do work… I felt less awful. I’m not sure if that’s an endorsement, but anything that could get me to force down (at least) dry toast was an accomplishment. And almost as rapid as the onset was the relief, again it took 24 hours.
I bring this up because this morning I read an interesting article on sea sickness. They don’t really know what causes it but the article has a hypothesis, and that is that your inner ears and vision don’t match causing overload in your brain. OH, I’ll go with that theory. Both times I became sea sick I found relief as soon I was able to get outside… I thought the fresh air made me feel better, but now I wonder if it was the combination of fresh air and being able to see the elements, that helped me, hummm.
My recommendations. 1) Go on a cruise, it’s fun. 2) Get a room with a veranda so you can go outside from your cabin. 3) Read the article about sea sickness (Source: Seasickness prevention and cure: the good, the bad and the dreadful) 4) prepare for being sea sick and hope it doesn’t happen, because it’s awful!
Yes, your dog needs to wear a life jacket, regardless of how much they protest. But just to entertain you… here’s a priceless video. Get ready to hit rewind because it’s super funny. And again… dogs must wear life vests. Can you hear the dogs go, “grrrrrr”????
It seems funny that an article that’s three years old could still have relevance, but, when talking about insurance claims, things don’t change much.
The interesting idea I’d like you to take away from this article is how to prevent a bad time with your boat. Sure, weather events like lightening or hurricanes are hard to take out of the equation… but theft, accidents and collisions have some degree of prevention for boat owners.
Read the article and as you are shopping for a boat, this should give you a good foundation of talking points with your agent.
This was the ranking a few years ago according to the article.
1-Hurricane
2-Sinking
3-Weather/Wind
4-Striking Submerged Object
5-Fire/Explosion
6-Collision
7-Grounding
8-Injury
9-Theft
10-Lightening
Buying a boat can seem overwhelming, but if you look at it as a challenge you’ll have a fun experience. The boating selection tool on the BoatingRocks.com site is a great resource for helping your figure out what type of boater you are and what boat you need. It’s like picking out shoes. Yes, shoes. You want them to look good, feel good, and be functional.
Boats are the same. You want it to look good but it also has to function for what you want to do. Think about if you will be skiing and tubing or entertaining. A ski boat may not be the best selection if all you want to do is go to restaurants, vice versa, why get a cabin cruiser if you want to wakeboard. A dealer can help you out with the education process and that’s why this article is so much fun! It’s the Boating Industry Top 100 Dealers for 2015. These are the top of the industry and are a great resource. It’s quite an accomplishment.
See you on the water!
Boating Rocks 