OT-Boating / PWC in Michigan
...on Michigan lakes, raising dogs, and being happily married. In your situation, I would ditch the jet ski and at least one kid; then add a sailboat and a second dog. Hope that helps.
...are like scratches on new cars. Best to get the first one out of the way so you don't worry about them any more.
Not to up the stress, but they're not generally supposed to put a stitch in a puncture wound. The risk of infection is higher, and the stitch itself may leave a mark as bad or worse than the puncture. Make sure the stitch is removed in 5 days no more even if it is dissolvable. Watch for redness. Extensive experience behind this advice.
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Have fun out there!!
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You have a three seater with you and two offspring. If you want to use the PWC with one or both, you put the children in front of you with the bracelet on your wrist. I've seen that approach a lot growing up on Lake Huron; viable option.
Other option is to weigh the gas tanks on the pontoon boat, take several pics of exactly how it's tied up (are the dock lines flaked?) and then use the pontoon boat. Fill the tanks back up with 93 octane until they weigh the same and then deny all knowledge of any discrepancy.
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If the PWC is big enough for another adult to hold the kid go for it. Make sure the kid has a properly fitting type II pfd. I would avoid single parent duty on a pwc; your focus should be on the water not a child.
Best of luck!!
We have a place on Long Lake, so with that being said.. I have always taken our kids out at that age on our PWC. I have them sit in front of me and go for a joy ride.. Just a FYI your 3 year old needs to have a life jacket with the handle on the back of the jacket and head support. If you want to see some great fireworks this weekend, go to the Fremont Moose tomorrow..
have fun and Go Blue
You can even hold the kid's life jacket with one hand while you throttle and steer with the other. Pick the bravest one and give it a shot.
your post is far too confusing for me to understand, comment on.
I hit reply because I grew up on Coldwater Lake and was actually just there for a week to see my famliy before flying back to LA yesterday. Small world.
hope the rest of your trip gets better, enjoy my home lakes.
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I ruined my summer just reading that.
It...never...did....happen.
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and i don't mean that as a slight, but if that's true, then the threshold for 'boating or no boating' is a lot lower. and the busier the lake or the bigger the waves, again, the less likely you should be out on a PWC with a 3 yr old.
so it looks like a lot of wading near shore and teaching the kids how to skip stones. and if the dog gets nippy, making it a permanent submarine...
Yeah, but you have three kids. Even if something goes really wrong, you still have a good chance of keeping two of them.
but here goes: i've got more kids than you and i have more boating experience, including working on boats for 5 summers and owning them for decades. forget the PWC. leave it on the trailer.
there is so much fun you can have with your little ones that's not on a boat. teach them to swim. find a river and take them fishing (have done this with little ones in a backpack), run, hike, sing (never too early to start learning 'the victors'), teach them to read, throw the cheap-o football you will go buy at the little convenience store in whatever town you are in, hike/walk, go make friends with the neighbors and get them to take you boating, cook, shoot a basketball and go right into explaining the motion offense, football plays and positions, or even how to ride a bike. you spend even 15 minutes on each one of these activities, interspersed with nap time (for them and you), and your days will be full. relax a little and enjoy and stop worrying about all the little crud that your kids won't care about or remember. they are still at the age where they are more likely to get a gift and put it aside so they can play with the box it came in.
and forget the PWC.
if i understand the defensive alignment correctly, he can put the 18 mo. old there, and mama can guide the 3 yr old twins. when my twins had just turned three i took the both of them fly-fishing without their siblings, just for some father-sons time. i even wrote an article about fly-fishing with my kids a few years back that got published in michigan trout magazine.
bring diapers, wipes, sippy cup, and some snacks and you've got a couple hours fishing, easy. watch the back cast, but you'll get the hang of it pretty quick. and don't be so concerned that everything needs to be perfect. catching fish is secondary to the time with the kids.
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Why doesn't your uncle drive you around in his pontoon boat?