Should boaters be required to be licensed? Many states already

>>910301

No. I've been sailing all of my life and I believe there is something to be said for learning what you're doing, but no USPS or USCG course I've ever seen takes someone from green to skipper.

Can't say anything for masters licenses; I don't hear often of them having accidents and that's my concern.

But realistically if you have a Driver's license you can probably avoid killing yourself.

>>910301
Some official instruction would be helpful, if you are mixing with larger vessels of any kind. I live near St Louis MO/USA and occasionally hear about somebody getting ticketed for trying to "wake jump" by running a rec boat too close to tugs pushing barges on the Mississippi river.

The link below is to a book on Amazon. Posting comical reviews became a fad at one point, but the reason that the guy wrote it is legit: he was a ship driver (or whatever) and saw again and again that people in small boats didn't understand how big ships maneuvered, or how much room they needed.

How To Avoid Huge Ships by John W. Trimmer
http://www.amazon.com/Avoid-Huge-Ships-John-Trimmer/dp/0870334336

The used price is through the roof because it's out of print now apparently.