Hi everyone-long-time boater here. I grew up with my family out on the water.

I think I have a game-changing idea for boat safety and licensing-but I might be totally wrong. Honest thoughts?

Over the years, I've seen how expensive and inconvenient it is for people to get their boat licence, or to keep their knowledge fresh. I also know a lot of families where only the main driver ever does any training-and if something goes wrong, no one else knows what to do.

My idea is an affordable, on-demand online training program-not to replace any government test but to help people learn at their own pace, in their own language, and keep up to date anytime. Designed for how people learn best, you could do it on your phone, get refreshers whenever you like, and involve your whole family instead of just the skipper.

I'm not here to spam or sell anything-just want your honest feedback:

- Would you actually pay for something like this?

- What would be a fair price?

- What concerns or objections do you have?

Really appreciate any thoughts (good or bad). Trying to validate this before spending time and money building it.

Hayley Jay ??

I hate these sort of posts for no other reason than I am all too familiar with the disappointment that comes from realizing your great idea is already done. A quick google search showed 10 self paced online refresher courses for less than $250 per person.

Simple easy cheap

Don't be disheartened though. There are not too many new ideas these days, but there's plenty of scope to make those ideas better.

For what its worth, I've been involved in maritime training for commercial vessel certificates of competency, & my observations are that there's students that take onboard the knowledge being offered & there's the others that "know it all" if you're program was free I'm sure folks seeking knowledge would sign up. Of course any such program would need to have accreditation otherwise you could be teaching nonsense ie compass points west. Good luck I believe we need more educated mariners

Toph said..
I hate these sort of posts for no other reason than I am all too familiar with the disappointment that comes from realizing your great idea is already done. A quick google search showed 10 self paced online refresher courses for less than $250 per person.

Simple easy cheap

Don't be disheartened though. There are not too many new ideas these days, but there's plenty of scope to make those ideas better.

Hey @Toph, Thanks for your insights and definitely not disheartened. I've seen some of the online refreshers, yet was thinking they're tailored more to "Get a licence" to "pass the licence test" and cram everything "in a day". I was also thinking that they're all in English which is not everyone's first language. My idea is possibly creating something geared more towards boat safety for all, whether you need a licence or not, whether you can afford a boat licence or not, and also including topics not really covered in those courses as they're more designed for a government boat licence test.I agree they could be better. What would make them better in your opinion?

woko said..
For what its worth, I've been involved in maritime training for commercial vessel certificates of competency, & my observations are that there's students that take onboard the knowledge being offered & there's the others that "know it all" if you're program was free I'm sure folks seeking knowledge would sign up. Of course any such program would need to have accreditation otherwise you could be teaching nonsense ie compass points west. Good luck I believe we need more educated mariners

Hey Woko, Thanks for your insights. I agree there's often at least one person who feels they already "know it all", usually due to prior knowledge or experience (accurate or not). Thankfully, there are teaching strategies that work well with those learners. Do you think there's much interest in general boating safety for the whole family? I'm wondering about people who'd like family members without a licence to have access to the same learning, even if they don't need a licence themselves. When I was a kid, my dad would let us drive the boat, but we had no formal rules or safety training, so I wasn't that confident and stressed in case anything went wrong. We picked up bits over time, but it would've been great to have something clear and engaging to refer to instead of a long, dry handbook or an online course designed for a licence I wasn't going to get unless I planned to take the boat out alone if I was ever allowed (Dad thinking of insurance and repair $ more than my licence status). If I'm an accredited trainer and course designer, and apply the same RTO standards to an online course, what type of accreditation do you think people would value? Or do most people only do boat safety courses when they're getting a licence for the first time?

hjay said..

r13 said..
Great post HJay - I completely agree with all your text. I acknowledge Toph's post and have found the on-line courses he mentions, also noted the suggestions to make the scope of those better.

Are you talking about power boat courses or sailing boats or both?

Go sail on Sydney Harbour (especially west of the bridge) and witness a typical Saturday or Sunday with all manner of power boats and yachts completely out of control as regards rules and skippers and crew including getting out of their marina berths or off their moorings and back. Best sails I had on the harbour were mid-week single handed during an RDO with Farr727 Gladesville to Manly and back.

Go sail on Botany Bay on a weekend and get zoomed by jetskis stopping right in front of your sailing race course, then coming back and doing 180deg turns 3m off your yacht to soak the whole boat. Spiffing, we needed a weekly wash.

And now Woolwich Dock is expanding their footprint 300% and StGMBC is extending 4 wharves out into Kogarah Bay.

Hey @r13, I was thinking both types of boats which families would own. And then maybe jet skis afterwards.I've heard and seen some of that behaviours you mention on the water and wonder how come if the drivers have a licence and know that driving on the water is more dangerous than being on the road. Plus the basic golden rule of "don't be a d**k" which is not in a general licence course.Sorry to hear you have to wash your sail boat extra cause of the jet ski riders not being respectful or self-aware it seems.I get that some people on boats and jetskis might like to test limits and enjoy the freedom of doing whatever they want on the water while not at risk of being caught by nearby authorities etc, but why do things that clearly make the waters less enjoyable for others they share it with. In learning design context, you can design learning if the root cause issue is a knowledge or skill gap, but not really if it's an attitude/culture issue (or lack of equipment issue)Do you think it's more a **** attitude issue than anything else?

Thanks for response. We don't wash our small yacht any extra - we are on a mooring so just wait for the next rain - wish it would stop in Sydney at the moment.

I certainly agree the jetski problem is a **** attitude issue more than anything else. The jetski incidents occurred a few seasons ago and certainly have reduced heaps since then - also assisted as far as I can see by focused action by the authorities. Of course they have far more important tasks to do so good that they seem to have made a difference. At the peak of their activity windsurfers out of Kurnell got severely harassed and I won't go into individual incidents. Etiquette is not a town in France.

There are numerous jetski training courses on line. All the very best with your plans.

There's rules, experience and then there's common courtesy, spend anytime on the water and you soon notice that to create an instant imbecile, add a JetSki and to a lesser extent overpowered boats craving attention