Safety precautions - little people

[Stigomery]

We do, a rope ladder... (Have you seen the price of boat ladders!!!)

So on the way to the water today we played the "what if daddy falls in" game, and my 6 YO was able to tell me exactly what he would do which I was pretty pleased with... This was with no prior briefing or discussion...

Stop the engine by pulling the red cable
Throw the anchor in
Throw a rope to you
(He also said he would use the radio but he doesn't actually know how to use it yet)

[Ron Noco]

This is a good topic, I mentioned it to the kids before, but after reading the comments I'm going to get them to do the basic actions next time we're out ( without actually jumping overboard)

Thanks

[Noble95]

What a great topic, I used to from a young age have a good understanding of what to do in an emergency situation, but a lot of kids would panic in an emergency situation, I know I would have! I think the most important is that they know how to stop the boat, engine and anchor and then call for help, I wonder how the coast guard would feel in an emergency situation if a kid just picked up the radio and said I need help, my mum/dad has fallen in the water this is our boat and then hit the red button, I can't imagine them getting to angry based on risk of life.

I have the same situ when I'm out with my mates who have little or no boating knowledge, and I always give them the worst case scenario and what to do, but again how affective would this be in an emergency, hopefully I will never find out.

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Noble95

I wonder how the coast guard would feel in an emergency situation if a kid just picked up the radio and said I need help, my mum/dad has fallen in the water this is our boat and then hit the red button, I can't imagine them getting to angry based on risk of life.

They'd be delighted, there is no requirement for a license for emergency use anyway, but I am absolutely certain that if they get a distress call (no matter how far off the official procedure) from a youngster in a real emergency they will be praising them not criticising them.

[ShinyShoe]

Originally Posted by Poly

They'd be delighted, there is no requirement for a license for emergency use anyway, but I am absolutely certain that if they get a distress call (no matter how far off the official procedure) from a youngster in a real emergency they will be praising them not criticising them.

Yip. Your biggest concern will be when the press get hold of it and want to make a nice local news story about hero child... Like they do when a 3 year old calls 999 when mummy falls down the stairs etc...

[Richardnhunt]

When they get older, its also worth looking at something like Sea Scouts or Sea Cadets - they can provide tons of training.