Thats a little young in my experience. He or she will be fine for a few hours but the idea of hanging all day on the boat with a 16 month old is a bad idea. Some babies are better than others...my daughter was more of a lake baby than my son was. We started both of them at age 2, other than that we were fortunate to have Nanny and Pappa close by that would watch them anytime. Good news is they get easier and more enjoyable around 4 1/2 to 5. Now my kids are 9 and almost 12 and they burn all my gas and cut into my surfing time by going over and over and over again.