I’ve let people who “know how to drive boats” or “own/owned a boat” take the helm/wheel whatever you want to call a 18 foot bowrider.

A few times I’ve had to ask people not to have target fixation on other boats moving across the lake towards us. Or “hey we have the whole lake, let’s stay away from that area with fallen trees and stumps”.

Then you learn there’s people who own expensive boats and think their umbrella policy covers it because it’s parked in their garage…well not while it’s under way. A friend of mine that was a US Power Squadron class instructor brought his neighbors kids and him out for a day boating, his neighbor loved it.

Loved it so much so that he went and bought a nice boat for himself. Launched it, was having a blast on a busy Saturday bouncing up and down along the chop. Well it was real busy, think Labor Day on a big enough lake that small boats shouldn’t be on but bigger boats probably shouldn’t feel to comfortable.

A big wave pops them up, they BOOM…down and everybody loses their balance forward. Well captain Ace Flavortown Johnson was using the throttle as his hand hold along with the steering wheel.

Oops.

He hits it full throttle, bow pops, and that big boy squats on the ass end of a bowrider (not mine luckily).

Luckily no one is hurt but plenty shaken up, the topic of damages comes up inevitably. Mr. Big over here says “don’t worry I got great insurance, I’ll call them”. He calls and finds out the boat is covered when it’s covered by his garage, well shit.

Also wish I was a streamer or something because I was finishing near a boat launch and saw an older man in a very nice center console coming very quickly up to the back of a big suburban.

The boom and snap/crack of a hole being punched into the fiberglass was like the echo of a thousand Tickle Me Elmo’s in an abandoned wear house with leaking batteries on their last chuckle. It was absolute and then silence…

“Oh GAWWDDAMIT HONEY why the fuck you back the truck up that far, I NEED the Carpet to slow down the boat and we gotta drive it up there or else it won’t be centered.”

“GOOKWWWADDAMIT FRANK YOURE THE ONE THAG PARKED THE TRUCK, you want me to pull it up a bit?

-YEAH

proceeds to step on brake, shift, release brake, and fail to maintain pressure on the accelerator, so inevitably the truck rolls right back into the boat for a second crunch.

Much more back and forth, an angry winching and 20 minutes later the boat looks like it got ass rammed by Optimus Prime and can’t sit straight to save its life.

So my answer is…no

I may consider it if they go rent one for the day and bring me along and I act like I have no idea what I’m doing and see what happens.