Date: July 2nd, 2010
One thing that I didn't realize about boating is that there are, you know, rules. I knew you couldn't drive a boat drunk, but other than that, I assumed it was like the wild wild west, but with a lot more water and a lot fewer gun battles. Turns out there are more rules than that to worry about. Anybody can drive a pontoon boat, but youngsters wanting to drive a jetski need to take a safety course. Seeing as I can't pass for 32-years-old (and nor do I want to), I had to get my boating safety certification.
The way to do that is to take an online course and test for free (unless you pass, then its $30) and then go take an in person test. I figured it wouldn't take too long to take the online test and I made the, apparently faulty, assumption that it would be really easy. See, here's my logic. When I was in high school, I got a speeding ticket. I was going 62 in a 40mph zone. I wasn't in a hurry. I was just a teenager. We do stuff like that.
When you get a ticket in California, you have a choice between getting a point on your license or taking traffic school and getting it wiped from the record within about a year. I opted for traffic school. That involved an online course with such gems as "what color is a stop sign?" and "always remember not to drive angry". Apparently the idea was to patronize people out of doing things that might get them tickets in the future.
I finished the 30 question in person test with 100% accuracy in about five minutes. That's how easy it was. I think if anyone fails California traffic school they should just never be allowed to drive again. I figured, since the test was free if you fail, it was worth taking a swing and seeing if it was as easy as traffic school. So what happened? Swing and a miss.
It was mostly common sense, but with a lot of boating terms that I had no idea about. So, I'm back to square one. No jetskiing for me for a little while. Though I will have to study for and take the test again soon because, well, I've never driven a jetski before and summer's a wastin'.
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