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Your Boat: The Best Teacher Your Kids Will Ever Have

Are boats too dangerous for young children?

No. You know what's dangerous? Children walking around with their faces buried in a phone because their best friend is an avatar and they only experience life through a three-inch screen.

What's dangerous is when catching a Pokemon on a tablet is the only challenge a kid faces throughout the day.

If you own a boat, you have a unique opportunity to expose your kids to the natural world, expand their minds and challenge them with something bigger than getting the most followers on Instagram.

Whether it's a month-long journey in the summer or a day trip on the lake, a boat can teach your kids more about science, math, geography and history than they could ever learn in school.

While they're learning, they'll be living what will go on to become the best and most important memories of their entire lives.

Be safe, be smart and prepare your boat for scampering kid feet.

That means investing in good flooring that can handle the rigors of all that kids dish out. Boating adventures with children — particularly extended boating adventures with children — involve eating, drinking, sometimes fishing and always playing.

Unlike boat carpeting, which gets gross quickly, MariDeck flooring is super easy to clean. Most importantly, however, it is slip resistant and safe, no matter what the condition.

Your boat is a vacation that you can pull with trailer. It's a lesson in every major academic subject at the same time. It's a portal to the larger world beyond your kids' familiar bubble. It's a home away from home and a mechanism to challenge your kids to push themselves and learn.

So, plan your next trip on or around the water. Tell your kids to leave their phones at home so they can experience the world as it really is. Make sure your boat is ready for the challenge by investing in quality flooring, chart a course and make some memories.

Trouble(shooting) at Sea

So you're out on the boat, and you're out deep. Nothing but sea in all directions. You've got your family and little else. You've left all your stress, all your worries, all your problems back on land, which is miles away.

Wait. What's that noise? Why does your motor sound like it has sleep apnea? Wait. Why are we stopped?

Even if you're fairly handy, a mechanical issue at sea is always pretty scary, pretty trying and, unfortunately, pretty likely. Before you signal for distress and make the Coast Guard come rescue you just because your float switch is facing the wrong way, do a little troubleshooting yourself. Here are five of the most likely problems.

1. Your float switch is facing the wrong way. This is super common, which is why we used it as an example just there. If it's improperly installed and facing forward instead of aft, the bilge pump will run even when there's no water to bail.
2. An air lock causes your impeller to fail. This can cause diesel engines to stall, even after just a short time in the water. Remove the zinc plug and add water to prime the pump, and then try the engine again.
3. Your oil cooler has a leak. This is likely the case if you see oil on your expansion tank. Replace the oil bundles after you remove the oil cooler. Oil in the coolant equals stalled boat.
4. You have a corroded battery terminal. This is probably the cause of your problem if the engine won't turn over even if the other electrical components are working.
5. You have air in your steering fluid. If your steering is difficult and unresponsive, you'll likely need to bleed and replace the steering fluid, depending on your manufacturer's recommendations.

There's No Such Thing as a Good Boat Without Good Flooring

You know those bright yellow "slippery when wet! (¡Piso mojado!)" signs that you see in stores when someone spills something on the floor? Those are there stop you from falling and killing yourself. Why? Because water turns subpar surfaces into ice-skating rinks — and that's when they're not moving.

Add a little water, some wake and a few waves, and you've got a death trap with an outboard motor.

On a boat, good flooring is an absolute must — and MariDeck is really, really good flooring.

Textured and slip resistant, MariDeck comes in all kinds of colors, patterns and thicknesses. No matter the marine application, MariDeck is almost certainly superior to whatever you're standing on now.

It can be installed quickly on all kinds of surfaces, including wood, aluminum and fiberglass. That means hunting boats, fishing boats, deck boats, pontoon boats — just about anything will feel brand new after you upgrade to MariDeck.

Between food, your pets and your kids, your boat carpeting is dead meat. MariDeck has incredible tear strength, tensile strength and lap joint strength — and oh yeah, it looks really good.

Our high-test vinyl is simply better, more durable and more functional than your high-maintenance boat carpeting. It's available all across North America, and boat owners love it from the warm coastal waters off Florida to the icy fishing spots on the Great Lakes.

Also, our warranties are as strong as our flooring.

Boat flooring protects both the deck underneath and the people above. This is not an area where you want to cut corners, but you shouldn't have to spend an arm and a leg either — and with MariDeck, you won't have to.

Give us a call; we're never slippery when wet!

Hey Boat Santa! Christmas is Here and We're Your Elves

Well, Christmas is here and you still haven't finished your holiday shopping. OK, so you're not exactly the most efficient Santa in the world.

You're forgiven.

The good news is, you still have a little bit of time — and a whole bunch of options if one of the outstanding gifts is for the boat lover in your life.

Let's start with accessories. You can scoop up some high-end, low-maintenance boat tables for less than $200. Is your budget even tighter? How about drink holders, cleats or battery boxes for inside $100?

For about the same price range, you could also delight your boat lover with some awesome high-tech electronics. I'm thinking fish finders, receivers and marine speakers — all of which are in the same price range as the other stuff we mentioned.

If that's a little too much for you, you can still pick up a gift that can wow just as much. Let's talk lighting. We've got standard lights, folding lights, LED lights, clamp-on round lights, bow lights and sidelights, all for less than $50.

Looking to splurge? Check out our discount kits — there is simply no better value in the entire world of boating. Our discount seating and flooring kits run the gamut from small two-seaters to the biggest family affairs.

All of them come complete with high-quality seating and storage and MariDeck flooring, which will blow away the pathetic boat carpeting your boat lover has been settling for. All of it designed to endure for years in the most demanding marine conditions.

So, you're not the most diligent Santa that's ever wandered out of the North Pole. That's OK. You still have time, and when you're shopping for a boat lover, you've got all kinds of options for every budget.