What do I need for my first boat?

[Ridepc]

Ordered our first boat a little over a month ago. Can’t wait for summer but until then what do I need to start buying to be ready for boating and surfing. It’s our first boat and we are complete beginners at the whole thing. Surfed a couple of times last summer and loved it. We have always loved the water and beach, since we live in Utah and the beach is far away we bought a boat.
Anyways what do I need/want???
Thanks for the help.

[dougmi78]

Red safety float pad! Keep the lake police out of your pocket. Lily pad of some sort, tube, ropes of course, at least 2 wake boards (one large & one medium size). 2 surf boards different size and shape. Life jackets of course! Spend the money now...it's worth it. If the boat doesn't have one installed, get a battery tender of some sort. Never show up with dead batteries. Fire extinguishers are an absolute must. Just a few things to start out. Most important...learn the lakes you plan to frequent. What does the ramp look like, trees, marinas, etc. A little recon will go a long way to making a trip fun or arduous.

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[mikemcclain8]

Probably lots of things will be mentioned but one thing I keep is a dive mask. It only takes one incident of driving over the tow rope (wife, not me) to realize it's nice to be able to see under the boat

Other things:
1. Skier down flag - I use one that attaches to the tower and I can rotate it up or down as needed from the drivers seat.
2. Know what is required by Water patrol: For instance, throwable float, fire extinguisher, coast guard approved jackets, etc.
3. Obviously you'll want boards which can be pricey. For wakeboards, I like the Ronix Vault. For surfing, we started with the Hyperlite Broadcast 5 footer. It's a great beginner board that most can ride ropeless. You won't be pulling crazy tricks on it because of the length but you'll work up to the smaller, more responsive, boards.

[chpthril]

If this is truly your first boat, id take a boater safety/education class for the family.

Next cover the required safety items required by your state. Next, other safety items that are good to have like flashlight and anchor.

get a handful of the orange horse collar PFDs just have. Then get everyone a good quality PFD for waterpsorts, plus extras in a verity for guests.

[UNSTUCK]

I wouldn't buy one, but having a good, experienced friend is priceless. We bought our first boat much the same way. We had no clue what we were getting into. I had no idea what getting a tow boat in and out of the water was like. But I also had never done that with any kind of boat, so I didn't need to relearn. We bought our first boat in the middle of summer, so the learning curve was steep. If I was you, I'd hit the lake as soon as there is open water and practice getting off and on the trailer while you have the ramp to your self. I'll never forget being at Jordanelle with a million boats trying to get off the water and I missed the trailer! Had to spin around and try again while causing 5-6 other boats to back up and give me room to reposition. I was very humbled to say the least. Fast forward 5 years and my 15 year old daughter does it now while I'm in the truck.

What part of Utah are in? I'm in Salt Lake County. There are a few of us on here that live around there. I'd be happy to help give any pointers I can.

[mikemcclain8]

Just in case, since it's your first boat:

PFD = Personal Floatation Device or life jacket. Some jackets aren't Coast Guard approved so check. Recent water patrol check and the officer made sure ours were Coast Guard. I keep the orange collars in the storage at all times but each individual on the boat typically has a quality life jacket instead.

[sandm]

here's my .02 fwiw...

unstick is spot on with the buy a friend. our first outing was on our old supra and had never owned a boat before. tigeidaho(cousin) took us out and showed us how to launch/retrieve, the lake areas to stay away from and overall how to run a boat. it was a GREAT first outing. leave the kids at home as hard as it can be as they are a distraction. focus on how to use the boat safely and not be "that couple" at the ramp. best first day ever for us and although he doesn't know it, made using a boat that first year much better.

after that, chp points out don't follow what you read on here, know YOUR LOCAL requirements on what to bring. Idaho required ski flag. wisconsin didn't. wisconsin had a river/bay that requires flares, lakes didn't. know YOUR area. he also comments buy some horse collars. we have always kept 4 on board. never used them. at some point you will have a guest that is only along for the ride or doesn't own a neoprene. this ensures you can bring them and use your neoprene but have one for them when boarded by water cops.

beyond that here's OUR list of must haves on the boat. I don't include tube/board/ropes/jackets as that will be sport dependent....
first aid kit - fire extinguisher - 2 throwables - container in glovebox with 'snakebite kit, a $20/$50 for tows, lip balms, tampons and flashlight' - coozies - suntan lotion in spf 4/30/50 - anchor/rope - tp/paper towels - bottle of 303/babes - 2-3 skier down flags(you'll drop one in the water eventually) - small blanket that's the big stuff and doesn't take up that much room.

[MikeB313]

All good things listed above. Check with your dealer, they may include some life jackets, throwable, fire extinguisher with the purchase. No sense in buying something twice. I'm sure they also offer a "on water delivery" where the sales person or dealership employee walks you through the boat and operations.

Besides all the legal requirements, here is what I always have on my boat:

Microfiber rags and Chamois cloth
Sunscreen
Phone charger
Extra Pair of sunglasses
Swim goggles or dive mask
Nite Ize Gear Ties (super handy for holding rolled up bimini in place to put the boot on)
Dock Lines
Tube Rope
Wakeboard Rope
Surf Rope
Wake and Surf board
Set of BABZ bumpers
Little Air Horn

I'm on the lake and don't trailer so I don't need an anchor. Most people will have an anchor in your boat. I recommend a foldable box anchor.

[D&P Powell]

All of this good advice from all of you regulars on here, and not one of you mentioned beer coozies? LOL, Kidding... sorta. Ridepc - really looks like all of the responses above have you covered. Post up pictures of the boat when you get it in!

[sandm]

dave, you've been staring at those fake iphone screens for too long......

coozie mentioned in my post 3rd paragraph. not beer specifically as some may want a rum and coke or a nice plastic glass of merlot

[Zackdogg]

Haha!! Nice bust on the coozies, I was gonna bring attention them being hit.

I can echo most of the above, but then recommending a friend is bs, because the ramp entertainment is my favorite part of the day, unless I’m trying to get off the water and you’re effing around in front of me.

I always have 2 wakeboard and surf ropes. You’ll have people wanting to double eventually. The tube advice is terrible, after some near misses with jerkoffs pulling tube, and watching the tuber, instead of their bow, you’ll hate them. Someone beat me to the box anchor, but it’s a must with these bigger boats.

Don’t but cheap boards off the bat, you’ll be replacing them anyways. I always have a jumper box of some sort. I’ve saved plenty of other people with them, too. Costco usually has hyperlite vests in the spring, and the price is great for a handful of sizes for your guest riders. I keep a handheld spotlight in my boat, they’re real handy if you’re out after dark. I carry a battery impact gun, real nice for flats on the trailer, and a tool box. I keep a set of horseshoes to stop and play on islands and beaches, good for saving some gas when the chop comes up, another reason to have a box anchor. Think everything else was hit. Good luck out there!!

And a bunch of Amazon cheap beach towels, good to cover seats, dry people off, spills, wiping the boat down, and a bunch of other uses.


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[sandm]

on towels...

bought one lot from this guy last summer:
https://www.ebay.com/usr/gatorskibum...p2047675.l2559

half the fun was seeing which prints show up. we bought medium weight towels and if I had it to do again I'd buy the heavyweight but medium are ok.

[D&P Powell]

coozie mentioned in my post 3rd paragraph

DOH! I guess it just goes to show how much I read your posts.

[Ridepc]

Thank you all for the great tips. Definitely a few things on here I would not of thought of ( beer coozies not being one I would of forgot).

We do plan on going out a couple of times before the season actually starts for practice on and off the ramp as well as the docks. I have very limited time driving a boat and my wife has 0. Sorry to all hoping to see a **** show but we are going to do what we can not to be “that person” on the ramp or dock.

We live in Heber so most of the time will be at Jordanelle, Deer Creek (Crick, remember we live in Heber) with hopefully a few trips to Bear Lake and at least one to Powell.

Will post some pics when the boat comes in. We will be pretty easy to spot on the water (hopefully not the **** show on the ramp) but we went with a pink flake color on the boat.

Thanks again for all the great advice and thoughts. Sure we will need tons more help when Summer comes. At least the snow is finally coming so the snowboarding is getting better.

[sandm]

ride, I'll be stoked to see that boat. my old 22ve had black flake middle, white top/bottom and grey ve graphics. the graphics started coming off a month after purchase so we had them replaced but spent $150 upcharge to get them in hot pink. got a lot of compliments on the boat over the years and wish we would have been able to order ours in pink again.......