10 July 2025, 2:56 AM
A group of Fiordland kids are now better prepared to enjoy boating thanks to a kids' boat safely session held on Lake Te Anau yesterday (9 Jul).
The event, covering basic boat handling, man-overboard drills, life rings and jackets, flares and signaling equipment, was the brainchild of Cruise Te Anau tourism operators Erica and Chris Musgrave.
The Musgraves are both commercial skippers who have not only operated a 24m catamaran servicing the Taranaki oil fields but also - for 15-years - run power boat training courses for schools in Auckland and around the country.
Cruise Te Anau's Chris and Erica Musgrave. Photo: Supplied
Chris, a Coastguard tutor and examiner, said that after moving to Te Anau in November, they recognised there was a huge boating public here but no training courses, so thought they would try it.
"It's really important when kids are going out on boats with their parents... the kids know what to do," Erica said.
The couple said up to 30 people had initially showed an interest, with 4 eventually turning up for yesterday's session.
The couple said they took both their boats out - 'Flyby', an 8.5m Protector and 'Matai', a 5.5m Stabicraft.
That way the kids got one-on-one training, and by taking two boats out also meant they got more exposure and time on the wheel, the couple said.
"With the older kids we did a little bit more about awareness - if you turn this way... if the fog comes in, how do you find your way home," Chris said.
"We [went] through all the safety equipment every boat should have, which is recommended by Maritime New Zealand."
"We had a really in-depth discussion about life jackets, because there is a lot of misnomers around about life jackets - a lot of really bad information out there, so [we] dispelled a few myths," he said.
"Then [we did] some basic boat handling."
"We had one 7-year-old girl swinging the boat around and parking by the wharf like a champ," he said.
"I reckon they could drive and park boats better than most adults now," Erica said.
As the formal session ended the kids were treated to half an hour fishing in Lake Te Anau's South Arm.
After session wind-down. Photo: Supplied
The Musgraves said the day had been a bit of a pilot run and they would look at repeating it later in the year, maybe when the lake was quiet and to coincide with the school holidays.
They said if there was enough interest they would look at running two sessions in a day which would further help reduce the cost.
The couple said they had also appreciated Fiordland Marine's help sponsoring yesterday's session which meant all the kids also got to take home a hat and compass.