small boat for early teens

Descant · 08-10-2017, 10:17 PM

We face the broads on Welch Island. My daughter's first boat was a 12' MFG multi-hull with 6 hp motor. She was 12 years old and could go out in front of camp and "bash the waves". Not much travel beyond that unless she was following us on the big boat. This was comparable to what other island kids had been doing for decades. At age 14, she moved to a 15' Sunbird with 25 hp and could go as far as the Weirs, even coming back after dark. By 16 she had a 20' Sea Ray I/O which we all used for skiing, tubing, errands, etc. That lasted until she got married and they bought something new.
The tiller steering in the first boat was a great learning experience and I highly recommend it.,
Neighbors kids first boat was an inflatable, tiller steer. Nearly indestructible and certainly not capable of doing damage to anything else. Also a great choice. Whalers are nice, but if you're going to progress through boat types as kids age, maybe more money than you want to do for a starter, and more hp.
Tiller steer, gas tank pressure, choke, pull start, really teach a kid all about how everything works. Push the button and a steering wheel is not a boat learning experience for a 10 year old IMHO. (Newbie Aadults here should spend some time learning tiller steer. We could eliminate dozens of posts about how to handle a boat.)

08-10-2017, 10:17 PM	#17
Descant Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Merrimack and Welch Island Posts: 4,359 Thanks: 1,347 Thanked 1,623 Times in 1,055 Posts	We face the broads on Welch Island. My daughter's first boat was a 12' MFG multi-hull with 6 hp motor. She was 12 years old and could go out in front of camp and "bash the waves". Not much travel beyond that unless she was following us on the big boat. This was comparable to what other island kids had been doing for decades. At age 14, she moved to a 15' Sunbird with 25 hp and could go as far as the Weirs, even coming back after dark. By 16 she had a 20' Sea Ray I/O which we all used for skiing, tubing, errands, etc. That lasted until she got married and they bought something new. The tiller steering in the first boat was a great learning experience and I highly recommend it., Neighbors kids first boat was an inflatable, tiller steer. Nearly indestructible and certainly not capable of doing damage to anything else. Also a great choice. Whalers are nice, but if you're going to progress through boat types as kids age, maybe more money than you want to do for a starter, and more hp. Tiller steer, gas tank pressure, choke, pull start, really teach a kid all about how everything works. Push the button and a steering wheel is not a boat learning experience for a 10 year old IMHO. (Newbie Aadults here should spend some time learning tiller steer. We could eliminate dozens of posts about how to handle a boat.)