Boats and Boating

Boating is a fast-growing sport. Every year more young skippers pilot their craft on freshwater lakes and rivers and on the bays and inlets at the ocean’s edge. To keep pace with the rapid growth of boating, hundreds of marinas have been built to provide shoreside berths for small craft. Marina is a Spanish word meaning “seacoast,” and is used in English to describe a modern boat basin with piers and slips for docking boats, launches, and yachts. In a marina large and small boat are repaired, serviced, and stored. Shore electricity, telephones, fresh water, ice and fuel are available at docside. Here pleasureboat owner may shop for supplies and food and drink a;; within walking distance of their boats. Every type of craft may be seen at a marina. There are sailing dinghies and twp masted schooners, outboard runabouts and big cabin cruisers with berth for six or more people.
The 4.2-to 5.5-meter (14-to 18-foot) run about are the most popular small powerboats. They are wonderful for fishing or for just having fun on the water. The larger ones, fitted with powerful outboard engines, are used for towing water-skiers.
Before beginners learn to run one of these craft or even go for a ride in a dinghy or other small rowboat, they should know the basic rules of safety for themselves as well as for their boat.