To all the first time boat owners

[trott46]

When I was 12 years old I took a day long hands on course to get a license to drive a boat on my own. I have found it is now online and have my 12 year old daughter taking it. It is very informational on your states laws and goes over boater safety. So I wanted to share this site to all. Also i know anyone in the state of Illinois that is under the age of 18 has to have this license to drive a boat without anyone on board.

http://www.boat-ed.com/

[tkrein]

plus in ND if you have a boaters saftey course you get a discount on your insurance. anything helps I also think if it has been a while you should go through it just as a refresher course lots of good info in the class it has been a while for myself but i think it would be good to do it again. anyway good link

[dbltrblpapa]

I took the course online before I took delivery of my boat. Growing up my dad owned several different boats at different times so I had been exposed to boating. But being exposed isn't the same thing as being responsible for the well being of your own family in a situation that has the potential to turn ugly in an instant. Loads of great information in the course and I have no regrets about investing the time and effort. I would recommend it to any and all new boaters. My ten year old boys are now interested in taking the course

There's almost as much info there as there is here

[ylojelo]

just did the same , with my 15 year old daughter, in VA. They are increasing the age in which you are required to have this here.

[WaltF]

Yup... i took an online course when i got mine too...
Good thing to do!

[FloterBoter]

for classroom classes, we have the local DNR courses and the federal USCG courses.
the federal courses are very good if you have a lot of federal waters nearby, like we
do here in wisconsin.