Let's talk boats

Polola0628

Active member
What is your boat safety protocol?

I work for a company that works with boats. I get free boat rides. Twice, I took my kids on the boat. It's a speedboat that goes 40mph tops, seats roughly 120 people, and has lap belts (with locking latchplates). They each had their own seat (1.5yo and 3.5yo at the time) and they sat fine in them. Lifejackets are kept under the seat in case of emergency. Now I'm wondering if that was a stupid idea ;)

Here's the boat
http://seadogcruises.com/

thoughts?
 
ADS

BookMama

Senior Community Member
I've never heard of seatbelts on a boat! I wouldn't use them, and I would require that everyone on the boat wear an appropriate life jacket at all times. We all wear life jackets when we go out on my Dad's boat.

ETA: oops, didn't see the pic before I posted. I guess you can't make everyone wear a life jacket, but I would require that my children, spouse, and myself wear one at all times.

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Last edited:

dneul

New member
I would think no seats on boats because if the boat gets flipped and stuck then there is a real chance for drowning. I would do lifejackets on the child at all times, perhaps even before you board the boat.
 

CaseyRN

New member
I, personally, would say no belts. And no way would my kids not have life jackets on.....and ones that fit them. I bet theirs are not small enough and dont have the head support. I probably would not wear one....just being honest here.
 

Lea_Ontario

Well-known member
I don't think I'd have been comfortable with the seatbelts, honestly.

And lifejackets UNDER the seats are not going to do one bit of good - they need to be ON the person.

So, I'd have had all my kids in their own lifejackets that I provided, because we have lifejackets that fit my kids. The ones under the seats will almost certainly be adult sized (which, actually, wouldn't likely fit me either, so I'd have to bring my own XXL life jacket with me too).
 

babyherder

Well-known member
Looks fun! I agree about having the life jackets on your children at all times while they are on the boat. Put them on before you get on the boat and take them off when you are back on land. I think all adults should be wearing life jackets too but I'm not sure I would.:eek:
 

Mommy0608

New member
My kids would wear their own life jackets. They have [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Mustang-Survival-Legends-Childs-jacket/dp/B001NN9GUS"]these[/ame] that fit them well and have the foam head support. I would probably wear mine too, and try to get DH to wear his as well. DH and I bought life jackets last summer and I wore mine on DH's brother's boat this summer (small speed boat).
 

dneul

New member
I would make sure that you have the right floatation device. Some life vests are for slower activities and other ones have been tested for going higher speeds... like for a jet ski. Many life jackets can be torn off the child when they hit the water at certain speeds.
 

Brigala

CPST Instructor
When we took DD on a boat, we had her wear the life jacket most of the time. She was about 7 months old and it was a long boat ride. I found I was unable to nurse her while she wore a lifejacket. :( So I took it off when she was nursing, but I made sure she wore it whenever the ride was choppy, we were going fast, or whenever anybody stood up to walk around the boat with her.

I would have preferred to keep the life jacket on her all the time, but I didn't foresee the problem of not being able to feed her while she was wearing it. We just couldn't get into a nursing position that worked with it on.
 

NewEngland

New member
We do a fair amount of boating in the summer, both lake and ocean. For anything moving faster than a canoe (and that includes a small sailboat), I make DS wear a type II PFD. On the dock he wears the more comfortable type III. The difference is that a type II will likely turn the wearer face-up in the water. I make the call based on how quickly someone could get to him if he went into the water. I definitely wouldn't wear a seatbelt on a boat, nor would I have a child strapped into a cars eat.

For reference, I'm probably more of a water safety nazi than a carseat nazi :eek: DS will wear the type II PFD until I am 100% confident that he will pick his head up out of the water when he comes up and can do a little bit of swimming in the life jacket - maybe next summer at 3.5, maybe not for another year after that. After that, he'll wear a life jactet as long as the law requires, which I'm sure will be well past the time he can swim. Once he swims well, he won't have to wear a life jacket on my in-law's dock.
 

finn

New member
We sail. Ds has 2 life jackets, one is an inflatable with a built in harness (that tethers to the boat), the first rule of boating is to not fall overboard, hence the tether, he wears this one anytime the boat is moving & he has to be clipped on at all times. His other life jacket is a standard jacket with head support, that would flip him onto his back if he was unconscious. When he was younger we used to take his carseat, fix it to the boat & put him in it, because we needed a safe place to be able to put him down.

This year we have dd as well, we are taking her capsule. She also has a life jacket.

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