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Five Boating Safety Tips for the Novice Fisherman
In case you haven’t noticed, driving a boat along the water isn’t exactly like driving a car. When you’re out on a boat, things like weight and balance become more sensitive. If you want to make sure that you have a safe and happy boating experience on your next fishing jaunt on the lake, it’s important to keep in mind some basic rules of safety and caution. Here are five tips for boating safety.
Tip #1: Follow the local laws and ordinances.
Some laws – like having enough life preserver jackets in the boat for everyone on board – are actually common sense ideas that you should enforce upon yourself anyway. Make sure you keep enough life jackets on board for everyone, and in general, be sure to follow the laws of the lake, including the wake hours.
Tip #2: When steering a boat, make small corrections when you can.
Steering a boat can feel like steering a car in slow motion – once you steer the engine, there is a delay before the turn really seems to take effect. It will be important to make small corrections when you’re steering a boat, unless of course there’s immediate danger and you need to turn right away. Try to keep your motions smooth so that they don’t upset the balance of the boat.
Tip #3: Make sure everything is secure before you accelerate.
On faster boats, this is especially a consideration. Make sure everyone is sitting down and prepared for an acceleration before you hit that throttle. You don’t want equipment – or worse, people – to go flying overboard because you suddenly turned up the engines. Unless there’s immediate danger, try not to accelerate or break all at once.
Tip #4: Make sure everything is off when you start fishing.
Having your engine off when you start fishing will help prevent a loose child on the boat from pushing the wrong button and catching everyone off-guard. Make sure everything is off and secure once you start fishing so that you can concentrate on the fishing itself.
Tip #5: Be mindful of other boats.
Sometimes when you’ve been out on the lake long enough, it can feel like you have the lake all to yourself. But it will still be important to be mindful of other boats so that you don’t find yourself getting too close to them.
Photo Credits: DeusXFlorida
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Killing Time On a Camping Trip
It’s an ideal scenario: you’ve finally gotten the family away from the distractions of daily life back in the city, you’ve cleared enough time to have a great vacation, and you’ve brought all of the amenities you need to enjoy a comfortable camping trip. Then, your first morning, you wake up, fire up breakfast, lounge around on a chair, and the thought hits you:
What now?
It’s a perfectly normal situation to encounter, and it simply means that even while you’ve put aside some time for fun, you haven’t decided what to do with that time yet. Here are some ways for you to enjoy a camping trip and “kill time” the most fun and relaxing way possible.
First, make sure before your camping trip that you know what kind of activities are available in your camping area. If you’ve decided to “rough it” and head out into some deep, desolate woods, that’s fine, but you’ll need to define some activities ahead of time for that trip as well. Is there a body of water nearby? Are there boats to rent, jet skis available, good hiking trails, bikes to rent? Just asking yourself a few of these questions ahead of time will help you get started on the right foot.
Second, don’t waste time making decisions. It’s all too common for people to turn into “decisions, decisions” mode instead of simply taking action early and often. If you face a choice of fishing, hiking, or biking your day away, and family members are undecided on which to do, try this: make a decision for yourself and invite others to come along. Get your feet moving and get the activities under your belt. You’ll find that this kind of active momentum will probably carry you through the rest of your day.Third, know when it’s time to relax. If you’ve been active all day, you can still live a “full day” without staying active – it might be time to kick up your feet, light a campfire, and listen to some ghost stories. It’s one thing to relax when you’re stressed, but it’s another thing completely to relax after an exhausting day of fun, exercise, and activity. You’ll feel like you’re relaxing deeper then ever before and you’ll get a better night’s sleep.
If these sound like good ways to spend your next vacation, look into having your own camping trip, and then customize the trip to suit your tastes. Adventurers can find plenty of adventure in the outdoors, while relaxers will enjoy campfires and quiet nights under the stars. It’s up to you to decide how you’ll “kill your own time.”
Photo Credits: .:[CT]:.|.:[CB]:. |…
