by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor)

“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”

​ Water rat, from The Wind in the Willows

Over the winter we started a Boating for Beginners series for the boating-curious about how to get out and see if boating is for you. We talked about boat ownership, going to your first boat show, and several ways you can get out on the water for low or no cost to find out just what you like.

So…near the mid-point of summer, it’s time to ask – how’s it going? Have you gotten on the water yet? How’d it go?

And to experienced boaters and boat owners, I’ll put a question out there too: Have you taken any new boaters out this year?

To both groups, I’ll ask another: How can we get the two of you together?

Get Out and Get Going

If your answer is “no, I haven’t gotten on the water yet,” the follow up is “why not?” What’s holding you back?

It’s difficult approaching strangers and asking for a ride, but a community boating center is just waiting for you to come in and ask. It takes effort to block out a weekend day among all the summer weddings, weekend sports, and family functions, so you need some flexibility.

There are a lot of reasons to keep you off the water when you actually own a boat (“What? What idiot schedules a wedding during racing season?” may be a direct quote from me). And it’s even harder when you don’t have a boat and you’re looking to rent, borrow, or cadge a ride. I get it.

But don’t give up. July and August are some of the best times to get on the water in the northern hemisphere, and September is pretty nice too if it doesn’t conflict with school schedules. Keep trying!

Helping Hands

If you ask around about how people started boating, there’s usually a theme. Most times, someone else with more experience and access to a boat got them going. For some lucky kids (like mine), their parents were boaters and got them on boats at a very early age. Weekend family trips and junior sailing meant boating was a part of their lives from the beginning.

Others aren’t born near water, or with families already engaged in the sport. For them, usually a friend or relative takes them out fishing, sailing or for a day on the water that piques their interest. Or they go on a day trip on their own, or even rent something to take out for an unskilled, awkward, but ultimately satisfying time on the water. But those don’t always end well, either.

We also see a lot of boats in media, and they look exciting, fun and glamorous. But taking that step to actually get out there and do it for yourself? Boats are intimidating to newcomers, because everyone knows they can be dangerous and expensive.

But the most successful stories that end with a new passionate boater usually start with someone more experienced helping.

So if you have a boat, make it your mission this summer to introduce at least one new person to boating.

Getting Started in Boating – My Story

Although I was born in the extremely boat-friendly state of Rhode Island, my parents were not boaters and we moved to the Midwest when I was young. There are many nice things about Cincinnati, but a thriving sailing scene is not one of them. But many people we knew owned summer homes in Michigan, and on Lake Michigan I ignited a lifelong passion.

My first memory of sailing was on an old Sailfish at one of those homes in Michigan with my father, who doesn’t actually know how to sail. A Sailfish is a small dinghy with a flat deck, the predecessor of the wildly popular Sunfish. We borrowed this boat and somehow took it sailing (flailing?) back and forth along the beach. I fell in love with the rush of the water and the quiet motion and speed. I couldn’t get enough.

But we didn’t live near a lake or own a boat. In high school, a friend’s family had one of those places on Lake Michigan. I visited there a few summers, and every day it was too windy to water ski, we sailed their nineteen foot Lightning. And I sailed my first regatta there. At first I it bewildered me, but by the last race, I was exhilarated, frustrated, and definitely wanted more. By the end of that visit, I knew sailing had to be a part of my life. I was sixteen, in the middle of the country, and without a nickel to spend on it while saving for college. But it had to happen, some day.

The next few years brought college (where I was too clueless to know my school had a sailing team that would take beginners!), then my first jobs in a city. My girlfriend and I rented a few sailboats whenever we could escape to the water. I was an awful sailor, but the boats sailed. So did the relationship, and after we married and she took a job in Rhode Island, I suggested it was time to get a boat.

“Shouldn’t we get a house first?” she asked, quite reasonably.

“No, we should get in the habit of owning a boat.”

My logic was flawless. If you put the boat off for the house, you’d put it off for other things. So we’d wait until we have kids, wait until the kids start school, wait until we pay for their braces, wait while we save for college, and so on. Then suddenly twenty or thirty years go by and you are still deferring the boat for everything else except you’ve missed all that time boating with your family.

But if you start with a boat, no matter how cheap, old or small, you have the habit of boating in your life. The question then isn’t “should we get a boat now?” Rather, it’s “is this boat still big enough with the new baby?” or “how can we make this boat better for us?”

Unbelievably, she bought it.

So we found an old, used Tartan 27 for a great deal. We sailed it terribly for a couple of summers and moved up to something bigger and started racing. And sixteen years after we bought that lovely little project boat, we set sail to see the world on something much larger still.

But I look back at that first sail with my dad on someone else’s little boat, and my later adventures on the lake in those high school summers with my friend and her sailing mentor, and I know that’s where it all started. With a little help.

Tell us your experiences

Comments are open. If you’re new to boating or boat ownership and gotten out this summer, tell us about it! What did you do? How was it? Share your thoughts and plans about boating.

And experienced boaters, we’d love to hear how you started boating. Your memories about how you fell in love with being on the water. And of course we want to hear about taking new people out and getting them hooked.

Post script

Writing this article made me realize something like a “Swipe Right” for boating instead of dating would be great for getting people to boating. It would be a tool for beginning boaters looking for rides and boat owners looking for crew or willing to take the boat-curious out for a trip. List your location, your preferences, and what you want to do, and let learners and boaters in the same region connect!

Anyone know of an app like that? Anyone want to build one?