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Trying a Boating Holiday? Use These Tips

Feeling stressed and overworked? Running on fumes? Welcome to the new normal. That’s the way it is if you’re working full-time at a demanding job or business while looking after your family. But, at least for a week or two, there’s a way of dissolving strain, maximizing that elusive quality time with your family and yielding immense fun for all: a boating holiday.

Whether you’re meandering through villages, rural landscapes and cities in a rented riverboat or sailing the seas on a pilot cutter, the excitement, vistas and sheer collective fun you’ll enjoy will be well-high impossible to rival. If you’ve never piloted a boat before, taking to the high seas unassisted would be a trifle reckless. Becoming the paying guests of an experienced crew is the best bet for sailing novices, and the first step before you can take to the waters on your own accord after finding a catamaran for sale.

When boating enthusiast Lord Laidlaw – former member of the British House of Lords, benefactor and successful businessman – took up sailing, he wasn’t sure whether he was going to enjoy it. In an interview with Boat International magazine, he explained that he just needed something to help take his mind off his business affairs, on which he’d been spending too much time and energy.

He told the magazine: “I really had no idea why I wanted to go sailing rather than some other sport. Indeed, on one of my first lessons when I went out of Poole [a UK coastal resort], it was darn rough and I was bloody scared, but I thought at least it fulfills one function: I cannot think about anything else (when sailing). No time to think about business or any other aspect of life.”

You don’t have to be as adventurous as Lord Laidlaw, of course. Boating holidays are virtually guaranteed to keep your attention focused on the boat, on where to go next, and where to moor up, powerfully diverting your stressed-out mind from the work-related matters that scrunched you up in the first place. Riverboats are easier to drive than you may think; you’ll be given a full trial demonstration run when you arrive so you’ll know you’re happy and confident about driving it before you set off.

Whether you’ve opted to glide languidly along in a riverboat or engage in a little island hopping at sea as part of the guest crew on a commercial sailing ship, there are a few tips to follow that can ensure you enjoy a memorable and fun-filled vacation:

  • On both riverboats and sailing boats, when you’re out on deck, wear life jackets at all times.
  • On riverboats, don’t forget to take full advantage of water-points to fill up your tank (they can get very busy: if you leave it till the last moment, you can expect to queue for a long time).
  • If you’re taking the family dog with you on a riverboat holiday, invest in some low-cost rubber car mats to make it less slippery for your pooch to jump on and off the boat.
  • Don’t forget to bring board games, coloring books and crayons if you’re taking young kids with you.

Boating, you’ll find, is fabulous. And here’s a final tip: book your next boating vacation before you leave. It’ll stop you getting a downer about the holiday ending because you know you’ll be coming back for more. Relax and enjoy!

 Feature image courtesy of heraldsun.com.au.

Categories: Travel Tips