Do You Really Know How to Drive a Boat? Take This Short Test

Bill Jennings
3 hours ago
2 min read

Are you qualified to drive a pleasure boat? If you answered “yes”, you have reason to be proud, because less than 10% of people who own or drive a small powerboat are properly qualified with the necessary skills to safely take the helm. That’s less than 10% of the boaters you see on the water are a danger to others. Furthermore, only between 3.5% and 8% of people who currently drive runabouts, centre consoles, pontoons and personal watercraft, have ever taken a certified driver operational training course. They just don’t know what they don’t know. Test your boating skill with your answers to 10 sample questions, that every good boat driver needs to understand.

Take This Simple Test:

1) What makes a boat float?

2) Where is the “pivot point” located on a boat?

3) How would you define “Draft”?

4) What are three (3) different ways to measure your boat’s trim when running?

5) Do you know the expiry date on your boat flares without looking?

6) What is the fine for making a wake within 100 feet from a shoreline?

7) What is the marine signal for ‘danger or doubt’?

8) What is the fastest way to brake your boat to avoid a problem? (95% get this wrong)

9) Is a boat driver legally responsible to pay for any damage caused by his wake?

10) What are the new weight rules on current life jackets?

If you can answer all 10 questions correctly, give yourself a pat on the back.

If you are not clear on the correct answers to these basic questions, you are putting people and property at risk. Take a driving course from a certified professional or find a book that describes the skills required to drive a boat. I mean actual driving skills, not navigation, weather, or rules of the road, before you sit behind a helm again.

If the majority of boaters continue to learn to drive a boat through friends and family training, we will all soon be faced with government imposed mandatory licensing, which will involve unwanted time and expense. #tips #quicktips