May have jumped the gun buying this boat

[ezmobee]

Re: May have jumped the gun buying this boat

Trailering, launching, and retrieving a boat is a pain for sure. If all you're ever doing is going to the same smallish lake and running around for a while, I can absolutely understand how it would get boring. There's a small "lake" (dammed section of the river) near me that I find boring as all heck and I don't go there that often anymore. If trailering to somewhere more interesting (perhaps combining camping) is too far or too much hassle than I would probably say cut your losses and get that boat on the market while the season is still pretty hot and people will pay a bit of a premium for turn-key boats.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: May have jumped the gun buying this boat

I really hope you have some water toys for the kids, otherwise I cold understand why your son would get bored. A tube is great fun for any kid, and if you teach them to ski/wakeboard it's even more of a blast. The bimini is a must have, especially while parked/beached. I have even seen some bring along one of those fold-out canopies to put on the beach to give a little bit of shade for everyone.

Here's what our normal day at the lake was growing up with a family of 4: I was first mate, so my father did most of the trailering/launching, but I held dock lines, manned the helm until he parked the trailer, put in bilge plugs, etc. I was also anchor-boy when we were beaching (we don't pull our boat on the beach). We would cruise for 30-40 minutes when first setting out to enjoy the lake and let the engine warm up. Then my sister and I would take turns on the tube for 10-15 minutes each. After that, a picnic on the beach for 2 hours or so, where we would eat, have a contest to see who could skip rocks the furthest/most skips, and play tag in the water around the boat! My mother would sit in the shade and read a book most of the time. After the beach, we'd go find some good skiing water and ski for 30-45 minutes or so. My sister and I would drive with my dad nearby when the lake traffic was managable. We'd then cruise back to the ramp for 30-40 minutes and haul the boat out. Total time on the lake was probably 7-8 hours, but I always remember it and it's still my favorite leisure activity.

Moral of my long-winded story: get the kids involved, get some watersports toys, find a bit of shade.

 

[Maclin]

Re: May have jumped the gun buying this boat

I hope I got this quote right...

"A Bimini or other top will make the difference between enjoying a day on the water and enduring a day on the water."

Getting a top on mine was the singlemost postive impactful thing I have done besides making sure the boat floats.

 

[BonairII]

Re: May have jumped the gun buying this boat

I hope I got this quote right...

"A Bimini or other top will make the difference between enjoying a day on the water and enduring a day on the water."

Getting a top on mine was the singlemost postive impactful thing I have done besides making sure the boat floats.

I def agree with this. ^^^^^^^^^^

Shade is def a must. The sun will suck the life out of you after a few hours roasting on the lake.

Sounds like the OP needs to find some kind of activity to make boating more fun.

 

[onewhippedpuppy]

Re: May have jumped the gun buying this boat

My family is new to boating, we made the leap into purchasing after going boating with friends and having a blast. I grew up boating, and after seeing that my wife and kids had fun it was all the excuse that I needed to buy one. Here's what I see as key to our family (kids 2, 5, 8) enjoying boating.

We are an active family. Always doing sports or some other activity.
We are an outdoor family. Everybody loves being outside.
It's a social event. We have really good friends that we go out with every weekend, and three other families that we will go out with semi-frequently. This way we have our friends and the kids have theirs.
We love the water. If we aren't at the lake my kids are at the neighborhood pool daily.
We make it a priority. It's well understood that Sundays are lake days.

Honestly I can't think of a more wholesome, healthy, and lasting activity than boating. I went nearly every weekend with a friend's family through my high-school years. What other activity will tempt your teenagers and their friends to hang out with their parents (gasp)? And on the weekend no less. It's one of the few family activities that transcends age, which is huge when your kids get bigger.

 

[choppywaters]

Re: May have jumped the gun buying this boat

Well wife isn't winey and isn't the shopping type either. She literally gets sick in the sun, migraines, nauseous. We hopefully found a way to make that better after some online research. For Father's Day my wife and kids bought some fun stuff for the water and hopefully that will make a difference and definitely looking into a better bimini top for shade. Wife also said if it would make it easier to go ahead and dock it for the year. We will be sticking with boating and just trying some other things out to switch it up. Our son is 14 and he is just at that age where sometimes he would rather hang with friends on the weekend. We spend a lot of family time together since we are a home schooling family, so we do a lot of family activities and this is just a new thing that we are just trying to find what works for us.

 

[2ndtry]

Re: May have jumped the gun buying this boat

Does your son wakeboard? All the 14 y/o's on our lake do, it what gets them on the water. Or, better yet, have him bring a few friends and have them battle it out on the tubes.

 

[markheck1]

Re: May have jumped the gun buying this boat

And definitly get him driving, if he wants, let him get his certificate, and show him the ropes and sit back and enjoy the company while he drives, He'll think it's cool as heck, and you get a break....I should have done more of that with mine,

 

[mnypitboat]

Re: May have jumped the gun buying this boat

Well wife isn't winey and isn't the shopping type either. She literally gets sick in the sun, migraines, nauseous. We hopefully found a way to make that better after some online research. For Father's Day my wife and kids bought some fun stuff for the water and hopefully that will make a difference and definitely looking into a better bimini top for shade. Wife also said if it would make it easier to go ahead and dock it for the year. We will be sticking with boating and just trying some other things out to switch it up. Our son is 14 and he is just at that age where sometimes he would rather hang with friends on the weekend. We spend a lot of family time together since we are a home schooling family, so we do a lot of family activities and this is just a new thing that we are just trying to find what works for us.

Our daughter is 13, almost 14, and loves boating. Every time we go boating she brings a friend. We boat, ski, kneeboard, wakeboard, tube, and just generally hang out on the water. We go to all sorts of differant places. We explore, we hit a restaurant on the water, we go to take pictures, we look for wildlife, we just plain have a differant agenda, and a differant place to go each time. Sometimes we just do the same old thing, hang on a lake and anchor out with a few boats(raft up). If you arent taking advantage of your boat in a way that is exciting and fun each time, then you need to find a new place, a new venue, a new group, etc etc. I could not imagine not being on the boat on a regular basis. Our boat gets used OFTEN, and we love it. We are always looking for new places to go on the water, just to mix it up. Maybe a differant venue, or new toys, or friends to take with you might help. Boating is a lyfestyle, and you need to do it with an open mind and find new places and new people to enjoy. The same old lake, over an over, with nothing else, will get boring fast.