Boating FAQ'S - 71 Essential Answers for Every Boater

Boating FAQ'S - 71 Essential Answers for Every Boater - An e-book for new and experienced boaters.

Author: Bruce Stott, owner of Gulf Islands Cruising School Ltd's. Bruce is a Canadian Yachting Association Cruising and Powerboat Instructor Evaluator and Transport Canada Accredited Instructor.

You can benefit from Bruce's 40 plus years of experience teaching sailing and powerboat programs on vessels ranging from 13' - 86'.

For more information and to take advantage of the End of Season Sale Price, visit
Boating FAQ's

Boating and Fishing in BC

Boating and Fishing are two activities for families to enjoy together. Whether you are fishing from the shore, on a lake, or the ocean, fishing is a great family pastime.

If you are interested in buying a boat and/or fishing, you may enjoy the information on the lens Boating and Fishing

Boating Galley Tips - Suggested Equipment

Boating with your family is a summer activity to enjoy. Whether your boat is a canoe, kayak, sail or power, meals usually need to be prepared.

There are ways to feed the crew even if your boat has no galley.

"An open fishing boat, day sailers, or small power boats may not be equipped with a galley." Read the full article Small Boat No Galley

Fishing and Boating

Fishing while boating is a way to combine two sports at once. You can enjoy fishing at local lakes, rivers, or on the ocean. Be sure to check the licensing requirements for your area before setting out. Fishing while boating can be fun, challenging, and a great way to spend time with your family.

After a day outing to a local island, I made a list of helpful items to carry with me. Many of these could apply when planning a fishing trip. I posted the information at A Day at Sidney Spit

Spending several hours on the water requires snacks or lunch. Suggestions and recipes on my Easy Family Boating Recipes blog.

Perhaps you do not have access to a boat and want to introduce your children to fishing. Fishing events are planned for several locations in BC for Father's Day weekend. More information available at BC's Family Fishing Weekend. Click on the 'Events' tab to check places and times. The fishing weekend or day has been a favorite for our family for several years.

Fishing can be an enjoyable sport whether you fish from the dock or from your boat.

Boating - Two Burner Thanksgiving Dinner

If boating is a tradition for Thanksgiving, it is possible to prepare a Thanksgiving Dinner on two burners.

For a tasty, easy to prepare dinner complete with shopping list, visit Thanksgiving Dinner On Board A Boat.

You may want to add a dessert of your choice to the shopping list.

Enjoy.

Galley Tips

Outfitting a galley, provisioning, and recipes are part of the Galley Tips delivered directly to your inbox.

Visit Galley Tips to sign up for the free information.

For recipe resources and easy to prepare food on board visit
Easy Family Boating Recipes.

Boating - Two Burner Cooking

Boating often means using two burner cooking for preparing meals.

Although it may be a challenge, nutritious food can be prepared for you and your crew on two burners. Here are resources for getting started:

My Squidoo Lens
Squidoo Lens - Boating - Two Burner Cooking

A blog post on outfitting the galley
Outfitting the Galley

For cookbooks and recipes you may find useful for cooking on board, see the link list on the right hand side of this blog.

Recipes

Finding recipes for quick and easy meals is an interest of mine to save time and money whether at home or boating.

I have purchased e-books through Living on a Dime and have found many useful tips and recipes to use.

The e-book Menus That Make Cents is especially helpful for meal planning and preparing a shopping list.

Visit Living on a Dime for interesting e-books.

Boating - Recipes

Recipes wanted for feeding a boating crew was the result of recent polls I conducted.

I have created a blog Easy Family Boating Recipes where you can find recipes and articles
for the boat galley.

Boating - Safe Refueling

Boating safety is of utmost importance when refueling.

Recently there was an explosion fire on board a vessel while refueling.

Read the whole story on our Boating Forum

Boating Family Fun

Having fun boating with your family can be as easy as having a dinghy, kayak, or other small boat for use on water near you.

Building your own boat can be a rewarding family project. Bruce tells of he and his Dad covering an old wood frame kayak with new canvas. He remembers hours of enjoyment paddling the completed boat on a lake.

I found step by step plans for building a 16' Grand Banks Dory. Check out Dory Plans

Family Boating Fun - Using a Dinghy

Family boating is fun especially with a dinghy.

A dinghy which may be sailed, rowed, or equipped with a motor can add to your fun time on the water. Dinghies can be rigid or inflatable and are usually easily transported. A dinghy is an inexpensive way to introduce your family to boating and can bring hours of pleasure.

There are many ways for your family to enjoy using a dinghy. Ideas are outlined in an e-lesson,


There are safety rules applying to all watercraft which can be found in the Boating Safety Guide.

Information on Pleasure Craft Operators Card (PCOC) for all operators of motorized vessels.

Prepare the Galley

With the boating season approaching, it's time to prepare the galley.

Spring cleaning is a time to wash all pots, pans, dishes, cutlery and lockers. An inventory of items already on board shows what needs to be repaired or replaced. The galley can be stocked with supplies used throughout the season such as canned goods, dry goods, spices, dish soap, and garbage bags.

I found it helpful when preparing a boat to line lockers with vinyl carpet runner cut to size. They can be removed for easy cleaning, and keep the lockers from marring.

Non skid runners are useful for lockers where dishes, condiments, and spices are stowed. Using non skid runners as placemats keeps plates from sliding on the table during mealtimes.

Boating Sidney BC

Boating from Sidney BC is a starting point to cruising the Canadian Gulf Islands.

Spring is well underway in our area!

Gift Basket Ideas for a Boating Family

For the boating family on your list a gift basket can be created to include everyone.

A variety of containers can be used to hold gifts such as a cooler, duffel bag, backpack or a folding cart.

Card games, board games, audio tapes, personalized t-shirts, CD, DVD, are gifts to consider for the boating family. A gift certificate for a restaurant in their boating area could be included. Books on activities or places to visit in their area can help a family plan their next boating vacation.

For more ideas for boaters - captain, galley cooks, boating mom, visit Gift Ideas for Boaters

Happy Thanksgiving Boaters

Happy Thanksgiving to our boating neighbors in the USA.

Visitors to Sidney, BC, Vancouver Island this weekend will enjoy the Lighted Ships Parade passing by the end of our main street, Beacon Avenue. The event is scheduled for November 24, 2007 and coincides with a full moon. It's always a delight to watch the lighted ships and appreciate the hours boaters spend to decorate their vessels. Boaters and non-boaters alike enjoy the Lighted Ships.

Here's an article outlining craft ideas for Thanksgiving.

Teaching your Kids to be Thankful 

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to teach your kids about being thankful. Here are some ideas to teach your children how to appreciate the blessings in their lives.

Giving Thanks Placements

The goal of this craft is to create a collage filled with drawings and pictures of all the things your children are thankful for. Cut photos from magazines, or print some photos from your computer. Older children can write captions under the photos or draw their own. Be sure to put the child’s name and the year on it.

If you make this collage from two standard letter size pieces of construction paper taped side-by-side, you can take the completed collage to a copy shop when you’re done and have it laminated. It then becomes a placemat that you can use every Thanksgiving for years to come.

Thankful Paper Chain

Another way to remind your children of their blessings is to create a paper chain. This is similar to a regular paper chain – where you cut strips of paper and connect them together as loops, but there’s one difference. You write on the strips of paper before you connect them. Write the things you are thankful for with your children. For instance, “Grandma plays games with me” or “My teacher is nice.” The fun part of this activity is to make the chain as long as possible – showing all your blessings. If you’d like to keep this up during Christmas, just use green and white paper.

Thanksgiving Tree

This is another take on the idea above and works really well if you have several kids in the family. Get each child to trace their hand on yellow, red, or brown construction paper. Cut out the hand shapes and write (or have the child write) what they are thankful for on the hand shape. Cut a tree trunk shape out of brown construction paper. Glue it on a large piece of poster board. Let the kids add their hand shapes as leaves above the tree trunk, turning it into a beautiful fall colored tree.

Thankful Book

This idea is similar to the others, except it’s more of a keepsake. Purchase a photo album or scrapbook kit and make a “blessings” theme. Add photos of loved ones, including stories about why they are special to you. Also, include pages of your favorite foods, favorite stories, favorite movies and all the other things that make you happy. Any time your kids feel down, you can open your blessing book to see all the reasons you have to be happy – and thankful for the blessings in your life.

Wishing you a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Audio Books and Boating Children

Occupying children and grandchildren while boating calls for creativity. I find it helpful to offer a variety of activities suited to the age of the child.



A quiet time set aside each day allows everyone time to renew and refresh themselves for the balance of the day. Reading is an excellent quiet time activity as are audio books to be enjoyed individually or as a family.



A variety of audio books for all ages can be purchased and downloaded online, loaded into an MP3 player for individual use or burned onto a CD for everyone to enjoy.



I use the following site for a large selection of audio books Kids - Young and Old

Family Boating

Boating together as a family is an excellent way to connect with each other, enjoy nature, and get some exercise.

When taking your family on board, assign everyone a job. There will be a captain, first mate, galley cook, boat cleaner, etc. A book with the duties of each position is useful so the "crew" can refer to it if needed.

Choose a destination with a variety of activities to give everyone an opportunity to enjoy some time away from the boat.

Recommended Reading Family Boating
an information lens for the boating family.

Boating Guests

Being invited as a guest by family or friends on a boating excursion, there are ways to make things easier for the host or hostess.

A great goodwill gesture is to bring food along. It is helpful to be aware of space on board such as size of icebox or fridge when deciding on your contribution to meals. For instance for a day outing a picnic lunch may be in order.

Offering to chip in for fuel will be appreciated by the boat owner.

Once the trip is complete, offering to help clean up will be appreciated. There may be many jobs such as taking the trash, washing off the boat, and helping organize the equipment.

Help out wherever you can, being sure to ask first.

An excellent resource for all first mates is Brenda Dawson's e-book First Mate 101

Boating Information

Gulf Islands Cruising School Ltd. has added a free seven day e-mail boating information series including safety, knots, galley tips, buying a boat.

To subscribe, please visit our site at www.cruising.bc.ca