The seabob is out, the slide is rigged, and the ten-year-old wants a go on the jetski because his older cousin had one. The tender is idling ten metres off the transom with the engine running while a guest hands down towels. There are two children on the swim platform. This is the moment the course exists for.
The swim platform, transom and passerelle
These are the most dangerous square metres on the yacht: a wet, sloping, moving surface at the exact height of the water.
- No child on the swim platform without a crew member, ever. Not for a second, not to wave at the tender.
- Wet teak and gelcoat are lethally slippery. Children run. Enforce walking.
- The passerelle is a gangway over water: a child crosses holding an adult hand, life jacket on if they cannot swim.
- Open decks, low rails, boarding gates and unguarded gaps: close and latch everything behind you and check for gaps a small body fits through. A child fits through a gap an adult cannot.
The absolute rule about engines
No person - and above all no child - enters the water, is on the swim platform, or is near the transom while any engine, generator, thruster or tender is running or capable of starting.
Propellers do not need to be in gear to injure. Before anyone swims: engines off, transom secured, and the crew confirms it out loud. Tenders approach and depart with all children accounted for on board and clear of the platform. Exhaust at the transom also produces carbon monoxide, which is invisible and can render a swimmer unconscious.
Tenders and toys
| Equipment | Rule |
|---|---|
| Tender | Life jacket for every child, every time. Seated, holding on, never at the bow. Kill cord on the driver |
| Jetski / PWC | Adults only, licensed driver, per flag state and insurer. Not a childrens toy. Never a child alone |
| Seabob / underwater scooter | Older children only, competent swimmers, one to one supervision, crew in the water |
| Inflatable slide | Clear splash zone, one at a time, crew in the water at the bottom, life jacket for non-swimmers |
| Sea trampoline / floating island | Deceptive - it is open water. Crew in the water, head count on and off |
| Towed toys (banana, doughnut) | Life jackets, competent swimmers, engine cut before recovery, spotter aboard |
| Paddleboard / kayak | Life jacket, leash, inside a defined boundary, crew shadowing |
Boundaries and briefings
Set a swim boundary in sight of the yacht, brief the children before the toys come out, and brief them again if guests change. Watersports plans go through the bosun and the officer of the watch - never let a child near a toy that has not been checked, launched and supervised by the deck team.
Onboard Notes
Every inflatable is a wind trap. A drifting toy with a child on it moves faster than a child can swim back. If the wind gets up, everything and everyone comes out of the water - and you make that call early, not politely late.
Preparatory study only. These lessons are not a childcare qualification and are not first aid training. Caring for children at sea requires a recognised childcare qualification and a current, practically assessed paediatric first aid certificate from an approved provider.