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THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINE
TheCoastalBend.com
Unbeknownst to many of us old-timers, Texas Parks 
and Wildlife Department (TPWD) requires a boater 
safety education class for anyone born after September 
1, 1993, to operate any vessel with 15-hp or more pow-
er, a sailboat of over 14 feet, or a personal watercraft like 
a Jet Ski or Waverunner. Baywatch Tours Corpus Chris-
ti, which operates tour and fishing boats at Marker 37 
Marina on North Padre Island, near Snoopy’s Pier south 
of the JFK Bridge, is conducting professionally-certi-
fied, boater training 
camps for children 
aged 12-and-up, as 
well as for adults. 
The 
on-the-water 
sessions teach kids 
the boaters’ “rules 
of the road” that in-
clude instruction for 
captains and crew. 
Captain David Ram-
charan recently re-
tired from a universi-
ty career and started 
Baywatch Tours with 
his wife, Farah. “We 
want to make sure kids have experience on the boat,” 
he said. “In addition to covering the regulations and ev-
erything required by Texas Parks and Wildlife, we want 
to get them on the boat, make sure they understand 
the safety on the boat, take them out, have them ac-
tually navigate with the boat.” The youth camp runs six 
hours divided into two sessions, aboard the Baywatch 
fleet of pontoon boats. 13313 SPID Marker 37 Marina 
(361) 222-8687 • BayWatchToursCorpus.com
On-the-Water Youth 
Boater Education Of-
fered on Padre Island 
Six-hour class teaches kids aged 10+ 
boating rules and piloting skills.

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