Summer time is here, and everybody wants to get out on the water for some fun. Of course, owning a boat means having a lot of fun, but it also means a lot of peripheral expenses. Not only do you need to pay for routine maintenance, fuel, cleaning, and storage, but in most cases you should also be paying for boat insurance. It protects both your investment in your boat and your liability should you accidentally hurt someone in a boating accident.

If you’re looking to have a good time on the water, but don’t want to pony up money for boat insurance, you still have some good options, though. Here are some of the best boats for those who don’t have boat insurance:

• Kayak. These come in several varieties nowadays, including one and two seaters, and kayaks that are designed for river or open water travel. The original kayaks were built by the Eskimos and Inuit, of course, and used to traverse the frigid Arctic waters in search of seals and other game. A decent kayak can be obtained for about $400 and probably doesn’t warrant investing in boat insurance.

• Canoe. A slightly less cool version of a kayak, originally used by Native Americans in somewhat more temperate climates. Today’s canoes come in wood, fiberglass, or aluminum. Generally speaking, two or three people can fit in a canoe. Make sure the whole crew knows how to paddle one, though, or the guys sitting in front might need medical insurance to cover what the man trying to steer from the back will want to do with his paddle.

• Row boat. There probably isn’t a more exhausting way to get from one place to another on the water, and the only reason we can think of for wanting to spend any time in a rowboat these days is to impress a date (and we question how much fun your date is if the rowboat ride impresses her).

• Inner Tube. OK, it technically isn’t a boat. It is, however, a much better date idea than the rowboat. And who doesn’t like tubing down a river? There’s hardly anything more American or more fun. On top of that, the rubber inner tubes are both reasonably inexpensive and unlikely to damage anything when you collide, so boat insurance is unnecessary, which is fortunate, since no one would sell it to you to cover an inner tube anyway.

Let’s get serious. If you plan on doing any boating in anything more substantial that these, protect yourself and your investment. Buy boat insurance, and make sure your coverage will replace your boat if it gets damaged as well as protect you from liability if you have an accident out there.

Photo via Threat to Democracy