Boating

[bean]

Hi Raiders,

I did think about posting this in the desperate and boatless section, however I thought it just as fitting posted in this section. I'm sure if I'm wrong a mod will move it.

I would like to learn the correct way to operate a boat and I'm hoping someone would be willing to show me the ropes.

I have access to my dads boat but the condition is that I have to get my license first. Unfortunately, he refuses to take the boat out on a weekend or late afternoon due to boat traffic and unfortunately due to work commitments I'm unable to chuck a few sickies just so we can go out early morning midweek. However, I do want to learn correctly. I know its easy to fudge the logbooks and after a few trips out with the old man its evident that a lot of people have done just that. I don't appreciate the lack of courtesy a lot of boaters show others - whether intentional or not - and I don't want to be like that. I'd like to be familiar with proper boat etiquette as well as current rules and regs and as such I'm putting myself up for adoption.

I dont have the means to pay an RTO hundreds of dollars for a sub-par boat licensing coarse. That being said I can pay shared costs for any trips (within reason). I joined this site to meet other friendly anglers, so hopefully it doesn't have to be too full on and we can have a casual fish and enjoy ourselves. I usually fish for bream and flathead in the salt and bass in the fresh, however I'm keen to do any fishing you might like to do to make the most of our time whilst out on the water. If you'd like to fish something that I don't have the gear for I'm happy to sit back and chat/watch you work. I really just want it to be a massive learning experience.

I live local to the Parramatta area and work in Penrith. So any place within about 30mins of either locations should be fine.

I'm a big guy, so small tinnies are probably not best suited to me. The boat I will using is just over 5m so anything around that size and up is what I'm hoping to get some experience on. I don't care if the boat is old or new, although I would prefer it to be reliable as I don't fancy getting stuck out on the water.

I welcome any friendly replies and appreciate any help anyone can give.

Please contact me via pm if you are interested.

Cheers,

B.

Edited February 15, 2012 by bean