Renting a boat is a great way to enjoy the water before buying your own. Whether it’s for fishing, cruising, or a family outing, always make safety your top priority.

The short answer is that sailors can benefit from sailing school at any stage in their sailing lives. Perhaps the greatest benefits can be gained by attending a sailing school when people are beginning to learn to sail so they can learn more effectively from trained professional instructors. The alternative is to learn from friends or by trial and error, both of which have inherent problems. Learning from friends can leave big holes in your education. Unfortunately, trial and error can lead to more error than necessary.

There must be something in the water: research shows boater make better lovers.
Survey Finds Boaters More Satisfied with Sex Life Than Non-Boaters

International code flags are used to signal between two ships or between ship and shore.

Running aground with a boat is a common mistake made by many boaters. So, how to you prevent it from happening to you? It all starts with situational awareness, and learning how to maintain a proper lookout while operating your boat.

Before you can go boating, you have to get the boat into the water, and that step often involves backing a trailered boat down a launch ramp. Learn how to back up a boat trailer like a pro with our step-by-step guide.

There were 13.0 million recreational boats registered in the United States in 2002 according to the U.S. Coast Guard. This represents an increase of 154,000, or 1.2 percent from the previous year.
“The number of boats owned in the U.S. exceeds the 13 million reported by the USCG, since many small, non-powered crafts such as canoes and utility boats are not required to be registered by many states, or are simply not registered by owners,” says NMMA Market Statistics director Jim Petru.

Interested in taking a trip up north to Lake Superior? Bordering Ontario, Canada, and Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan in the US, Lake Superior is known as the world’s largest freshwater lake by surface area. As you can imagine, there's a lot for boaters to explore.