Boating Charter

If you don’t own a boat, but are yearning to experience a boating vacation, a boating charter is the way for you to go.  You can charter a boat either with or without a captain depending on your experience level and what type of getaway you want.

A bareboat boating charter is when you simply rent a boat and will captain it yourself.  Most places who specialize in bareboat charters will give you a quick boating course so you know how to operate the vehicle and know the rules of the road when it comes to navigating the waterways.  As a general rule, it’s not a good idea to get a bareboat charter with no boating experience at all.

The advantage to a bareboat boating charter is that if you do have some boating experience, you will be able to captain a boat that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford to own.  That means a cabin cruiser or even a yacht.  If you’ve always wanted to go yachting, a bareboat boating charter may very well be the way for you to go.

When you do a basic boating charter, you are hiring the boat as well as a captain to operate the boat.  The movie “Captain Ron” comes to mind for this author!  The best part about a basic boating charter is that you can sit back and enjoy the boating experience without having to worry about – literally – anything else.  Well, except for the folks in that movie!

When you book a boating charter, be sure it’s with a reputable company who has adequate insurance as well as enough experience to insure you of a safe and satisfying getaway.  Choose a boat that’s within your budget, but don’t be afraid to splurge a little.  After all, this is a boating getaway for you; why not enjoy it to the fullest!

Have you always dreamed of getting away to an exotic location but want to incorporate your love of boating with that trip?  Charter a boat once you arrive.  Then you can really have the vacation experience of a lifetime.  There are very few places you can go where you won’t find a boating charter company ready to book you on a cruise along the water.

Your trip can be a simple day trip up and down a river or it can be a week-long excursion where you can whale watch, swim with the dolphins, or just sit on deck and enjoy the scenery.

Boating charters are easy to come by and an amazing way for you to have a boating vacation that will be a memorable experience for years to come.  Check out boating charters online before you book and then enjoy your trip!

Boating Finder Blog

If you love boating and want to share that love with others, why not consider starting your own boating finder blog?  It’s easy, fun, and lets you pass on your experiences to others who might enjoy the same things.  A boating blog is as simple or as complicated as you choose to make it.  Here are some tips to get you started.

You first need to find a place to post your boating blog.  But don’t worry; there are plenty of blog hosting spaces on the Internet.  You could join the phenomenon of My Space where there is plenty of room for both blogging as well as telling about you and your love of boating.  Another good blog space is www.blogger.com. 

Another option for your boating blog is to create your own web page.  This is easier than you think it is as many web hosting places like tripod.com will offer free tools for building your web site and will give you basic web space for free!

When you start your boating blog, introduce yourself.  Be careful not to reveal too much personal information such as your last name, a specific address, or things like that.  You will have all sorts of people viewing your web site – even bad ones – so be careful what you tell people.

Take some pictures of your boat.  Tell a little bit about it.  One blog on the Internet has a description of the boat from a first person viewpoint which we found to be quite interesting.  Tell about her features, what her name is, and where she likes to go.

A good boating blog will have a personalized touch speaking from experience.  Write about places you’ve been on your boat and what you recommend (or don’t recommend) to others as far as boating destinations.  You may also want to write about your dream boating trip as well as places you want to go to in the future.

By all means, share your boating expertise in your blog!  Have you learned a valuable lesson about boating safety?  Got a tip on engine maintenance?  Know about a great, secret place you want to tell others about?  Write about it!

Consider putting an e-mail link in your blog.  You can even invite people to sign a virtual guestbook.  You never know who you might meet!

You don’t have to be a professional writer to start and maintain a boating blog.  All you need is a love of boating and desire to share what you know.  Boating blogs are modern day captain’s logs.  They are everywhere and are awfully entertaining!  Start one today!

Boating Accidents

Every year, the United States Coast Guard compiles information regarding boating accidents in the United States.  These studies are very comprehensive and are based on accident reports filed by boaters who have been involved in boating accidents.

There are certain regulations that the USCG has set forth regarding the reporting of a boating accident.  You must report the accident under the following conditions:

* A person dies
* A person is injured and requires medical treatment other than first aid
* The damage to a vessel is more than $2,000 or there is a total loss of a vessel
* A person disappears from a vessel and circumstances indicated there may be a death or an injury

It’s a good idea to report the boating accident within the first forty-eight hours.  Regulations differ as to the required time frame, but a responsible boater will take care of the situation as soon as possible.

In the year 2005, there were 267 fatalities directly attributed to boating accidents.  Of those fatalities, seventy percent of them were due to drowning, and eight-seven of those who drowned did so because they were not wearing their life jackets. 

The most reported boating accidents were the result of collisions with another vessel.  However, capsizing and falls overboard were also among those most reported and contributed also to the drowning fatalities overall.

Overall, carelessness, reckless driving, operator inattention, excessive speed, and operator inexperience were the most prevalent contributing factors to boating accidents.  That is why the Coast Guard highly recommends all boaters take a certified boating safety class as well as qualified boating instruction classes.

The most common types of boats involved in boating accidents were open watercraft, personal watercrafts (Jet Skis), and cabin motorboats.  There was a marked increase also in sailing accidents, houseboats, and fishing boats.

Alcohol was also shown to be a huge contributing factor in boating accidents.  Impaired captains were shown to have a larger incidence of the possibility of accidents because of lack of judgment, inattention, and reckless behavior.  In fact, one-fourth of all boating accidents could be directly linked to the consumption of alcohol by the driver.

Boating accidents can be prevented rather easily if more people would take boating safety classes and receive proper boating instruction.  Because of the various factors that are involved in boating, it can be dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing.  If you want to be a responsible boater, they way to prevent boating accidents is to stop them before they start.  Get educated and then put that information to use – all the time!

Boating Accessories

When you are looking for boating accessories, you may become overwhelmed at the amount of products that are available.  Are you wondering just what kinds of boating accessories you really need?  The truth is that answer is really up to you.

To begin with, you need to make sure that your boating accessories include all of the required equipment as outlined by the United States Coast Guard.  Those boating accessories include:

* Fire extinguishers
* Life jackets for each person on board
* A sound device like a foghorn, a whistle, or a bell
* Adequate lighting for night boating

You will also want to have some type of two-way radio for communication with those on shore in the event that you become stranded.  While this is not a mandatory boating accessory, you really won’t want to be without this while in the middle of the water.

As far as other accessories for boating, the rest is your decision.  How will you be using your boat?  If you will be participating in water sports, look into a pair of water skis and a slalom ski as well as a strong tow rope.  Inner tubing just requires a reliable tube with handles and that same tow rope.

Some people think that an essential boating accessory is an on-board stereo.  If you will be entertaining on your boat, this can be a great addition.  You don’t have to spend a lot of money on a boat stereo, but you may find that the extra investment is well worth your enjoyment!

Recreational boating accessories can run the gamut from fishing gear to nice sunglasses.  If you think you will want to park in one of the proverbial “party coves” that exist on many bodies of water, you will want to have an anchor lest you drift away from the party!

If you will be traveling on large bodies of water, a boating accessory you may really need is a navigation system.  Today, many GPS systems can be found relatively inexpensively and they can save your life should you become lost or mixed up while on the water.

If your boat has separate below-deck living quarters, you will want to outfit that with some cool boating accessories.  Well, they’re not necessarily boating accessories specifically.  What we’re talking about here is a coffee pot, a microwave, and maybe even a television with a DVD player.  If you will be bringing your kids along, these devices could be life savers!

Boating accessories can be found in many places.  Your best deals will be found online.  Shop around and outfit your boat so it reflects you and how you want to use your boat.  Then enjoy!