Can you take young children Sailing?

[Simon391088]

Hi,
I have 2 Kids - when I plan to get a boat they will be 6 and 3 years old.
All the time I read reviews saying 'great family cruiser' etc.
Does this refer to an older family?
Does anyone have any experience of this... e.g. will the kids get incredibly bored and get thrown around/ be sick etc, or is there a chance they might really enjoy sailing!
Obviously the key thing is safety.... Do Cruising Sailing boats (e.g. 32.2ft) ever capsize? - In calm weather? - if so, is it curtains?!

Any comments much appreciated. The wife and I are going on a sailing course in a couple of months which might, of course, put a stop to my grand plans anyway, however, it's always good to check out whether theres a show stopper already that I hadn't anticipated.

Thanks

Simon

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[l'escargot]

Many children sail before they can walk, my daughter did and it is not at all unusual. They will get incredibly bored, thrown around and sick - just like they do in the car.

They will also thoroughly enjoy it, learn and become better people for what boating can give them.

It is very unusual for a 32.2 ft (very precise measurement that!) to ever capsize in calm water or otherwise and they are more likely to meet their end in a variety of other more mundane ways. Your will hear many sailing parents threaten to drown their children, but it is an exceptionally rare occurrence.

Why not go down to a town quay such as Poole, Lymington or the like on a weekend once the summer holidays have started. You will very likely find any number of sailing families willing to chat.

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[Simon391088]

Thanks for that.
Your answer was exactly what I wanted to hear!

Simon

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[boatless]

They'll love it. No question.

But, it is essential that both you and your wife are completely competent before you take them out. Please believe me when I say that I have seen tens of families in which pa learns to boat, ma goes along as far as competent crew. Eventually ma gets bored of it because she doesn't know what she should be doing, and pa's yelling at her, and she knows that he can't even put shelves up properly, and so it goes on to the final conclusion. Pa goes boating with his mates.

I was lucky, and married a sailor. So from age 0 they've sailed. We were always able to relax, one person can attend feeding/nappies (although you're hopefully past that) while the other gets on with the boat stuff. If one of us fell off, we had a plan and could deal with it. If one of the children fell in, again, a practised plan was there. But, it takes a level of competence before you can do that. You'll know when you've got there.

Oh, and GameBoys are essential. Lots of books and story tapes.

<hr width=100% size=1>my opinion is complete rubbish, probably.

 

[snowleopard]

books to read...

One summer's grace - Libby Purves

Daughters of the wind / Children of three oceans - David Lewis (out of print but well worth it if you can find them)

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[ashanta]

All young kids get bored easily when sailing, especially on long journeys just like in the car. When my two (now adults) children came sailing with my wife an I always ensured we took plenty of games such as travel chess/draughts, cards and kids books and we had some lovely times because they were not distracted by the telly etc. Also try whenever possible to sail to locations where there is beach so that that the kids can play.
Funnily, I was in salcombe recently when I met another club member and his partner there with their young child. When we were chatting in the cockpit of my boat I noticed that she could be bored with adults chatting. I still had on board all the old games left by my children which I let her play with. The chat changed and focussed on the child and games which can't be a bad thing can it?

Good luck with the sailing course and enjoy the boating with the kids.

Regards.

peter.

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[oldharry]

I agree entirely with boatless: its tremendous fun with kids aboard - better still if they are old enough to join in a bit with their own 'navigation', or helping with sailing.

We found several maxims applied:
1. Set things up - including yourselves - to be able to single hand. At some point, one of you will have to attend to the children at an otherwise crucial point of boat handling. One of you MUST be available for them - particularly when they are still small!

2. Think safety, safety, safety. Like don't compromise EVER on wearing life jackets when afloat. We lost our eldest o/b from the inflatable at age 5 when he overbalanced backwards. Mum had insisted on life jackets even though the boat was less than 30 meters off the shore - so he came up again very fast and the life jacket meant could be grabbed easily before he was swept out of reach! He was extremely indignant - but unharmed, thank goodness.

3. Plenty of things to DO on board. 'Look at the lovely mountain / ship / view / sunset' has about 3 seconds entertainment value for the average pre-teen. Less than that when they reach puberty!

4. Keep trips short, and allow plenty of shore time. We found a minimum of 1 day ashore to 2 at sea was essential, and only sustainable over a quite short period. Ideally (from the kids point of view) it was the other way round - 2 days ashore for every 1 at sea, and a workeable compromise over a fortnight was 1: 1 with plenty of ice creams, beaches, etc thrown in.

Bad weather for many kids is the next best thing to a trip to Alton Towers. The rougher the better as far as my two were concerned. The screams of delight from below as the next hoary greybeard of a sea reared itself up and threatened to overwhelm our little boat were most reassuring.

Finally - do not under any circumstances allow marine life aboard! I virtually had to dismantle our boat one night before anyone (SWMBO included!) would turn in, to find and return to its natural habitat a large crab that had escaped its bucket, and could be heard making scrabbling noises somewhere in the bilges just after lights out.....



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[LORDNELSON]

We took our three (same age group as yours) sailing successfully in a 23 foot sloop many years ago for several seasons. Both my wife and I had quite a lot of experience in small boats at that time. One of the three girls really enjoyed it, one was uncommitted and the third wondered aloud (later in life) why on earth we worked so hard and put up with so much "discomfort" to enjoy ourselves. We often did night passages so the girls could wake up to a beach to play on (can become tiring , particularly for Mum). Agree about the need for books and games because, with the best will in the world, tots cannot be expected to take part in the heavier work of sailing a boat. Now, the girls are in their forties and one takes a week or two off each year to come sailing with us, one comes along from time to time but mainly sends her son (of eight) who loves boats) and the third thinks we are mad as ever!

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[AndrewB]

Some kids enjoy it, some don't. All get bored - some cope with it and sleep, others get grouchy and demanding. They rarely seem to amuse themselves for long when sailing, beware getting into a position where you sail and your wife nannies all the time. Its best to start kids as early as possible. Younger children don't get seasick, but one hint of that by your 6 year old and you may have rebellion.

A 32' yacht quite definitely won't capsize, but it WILL tip and children who aren't familiar with that can be nervous.

Ideally early trips with children should be really short, 2 hours maximum, in gentle weather. Better to turn the car round and disappoint them, than go out in winds over F3 at first.

Why not try a charter for a day or two first to see if your family take to it?

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[wooslehunter]

We have 2 boys of 2.5 & 5. I've sailed for years & finally convinced SWBO to get a boat with a lid last year. Boys love it & SWBOs getting more enthusiatic after initial worries.

Most sailing with the family so far has been day sailing with the occasional overnight with me & the elder one. We plan some short overnights with SWMBO & both boys this year.

Yes they will get bored. Particularly the younger one. The elder one amuses himself really well with a few promps.

My advice is, if the course works out then go for it but start slowly & build up. We got a Centaur which although old fits the bill well at the moment: performance OK but not sparkling, lots of room, moderatily stable & most of all cheap (relatively of course). If you can, take one or both kids plus wife on a test sail. I did this with an owner while doing sea trial. That way you can see how they fair on a boat.

Hope it works out & let us know how you get on.

Dave.

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[Eccles]

Go for it - My daughter was 8 days old when she had her 1st trip round the bay!
Now she is 10, and my son is 8 and they both love it (we have progressed from a Leisure 17 to a Moody 31)
Happy Sailing

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[FullCircle]

My Son started sailing at 3 weeks old, and was happy up to 7. Then I sold the boat, and returned to it last year. Now he is 15, and is a hissing pile of hormones, he 'puts up with it', and was actually sick, but it was a wind over tide 6-7 coming out of the Deben......
He still turns up smiling, so it cant be all bad.
As everyone says, plan ahead, be competent, but also let them know that you are all learning together, which makes them feel part of it, rather than foisted on them.



<hr width=100% size=1>Second Chance - First Love. Ah well, Windex it is then. Hopefully it will all work when launched....

 

[Jeremy_W]

There was a lovely article by Simon Crofts on taking his children cruising round the Walton Backwaters in a Contessa 32 (slightly smaller at 32.0ft than your intended yacht) in YM a few months ago and he didn't capsize.

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[William_H]

Hello Simon kids no problem provided you give them lots of attention as with all things with kids. Don't expect life afloat to be like any other sailor without kids. Your life will be limited by them but don't dismay they will soon grow up.
The wife is actually the really critical person. If at all possible make her captain. If not be very carefull to ensure that dramas don't happen. It is very common for a male sailor set set off feeling responsible and confident. When things go wrong and after all sailing is all crisis management , the male expects the wife to be able to perform miracles to turn a potential disaster into a minor glitch. The male becomes afraid that the situation is deteriorating and yells even more at the wife, result is she won't sail again. Far better you look after the kids and let her do the yelling make mistakes etc.
As for the kids get them steering as soon as possible and then make them feel they are captain in making decisions its the father is boss syndrome they don't like as they grow older. Take a step back and you will be rewarded. My boys have been sailing since about 2. Since they were about 15 they have been taking the boat out with their friends and 10 years later they still do that. It's nice to know they are safe on the water and not at some nightclub getting drunk. I think treated carefully any wife and kids can love sailing but the slightest drama can put them off then you will find some have more courage than others. While they are young set up lee cloth or board so they can sleep on a leaning boat. You might find a smaller boat will serve your purpose providing it has bunks is self righting and has a self draining cockpit. regards ole will

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[Athene V30]

Go for it. I sail, wife doesn't, up to 3 of the 4 boys (14, 12, 10 & 5) come with me depending on football tournaments / birthday parties etc. Only the 14 year old now 'hates it' (along with everything else).

Keep them busy. Watch for sunburn as get reflection form the water as well as direct sun! Keep trips short.

In sheltered spots / marinas etc they go off in the dinghy (with life jackets) and paddle around and mess about as I did when I was their age!

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[mushypea]

I was taken sailing from about the age of 6: Wayfarer to 23' to 29' to 33' and now I go and join in on the 57' version once or twice a year. While I therefore can't have been put off completely I was a rather slow convert! Some of the things that made a big difference to me included:

* Somehow (?!) being convinced that we were being terribly adventurous. Sailed across the Solent and thought we'd got to terribly Foreign Parts.
* Being warm and dry. The first time I borrowed my mum's "proper" waterproofs it was a revelation.
* Having a job that was primarily mine: in my case it was being in charge of the Decca (age 14, not 6!!), even if Dad could have done it with less fuss. Not sure what this could be for a littl'un but we were well-trained as depth-singer-outers in the days before cockpit repeaters!

Things that probably weren't essential but cheered us up a lot were
* "Emergency" hot chocolate that was only allowed after a particularly stressful or late or cold sail. (Probably not an emergency at all.)
* Being paid 10p for 15 minutes of steering by compass (well, it was a long time ago)
* Having our own colour-coded bits of knot-tying rope and learning to do the difficult (and decorative) ones that Dad *claimed* he couldn't do.
* Sitting on the floor of the cockpit made me for one feel rather safer in rough seas as I didn't feel I was about to fall off. Not much view though!

Any parental shouting certainly made us feel more nervous, added to the sounds of blocks etc banging about, even if nothing particularly awful was happening. If to begin with you would be more relaxed on a skippered charter then your family are bound to be happier as a result.

And yes, we were sick and we were bored but both those things disappear pretty soon on getting into harbour, particularly if we knew there was a treat waiting for us.


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[fastjedi]

I see it as a positive thing - Long passages can be really boring without kids aboard

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[tcm]

Re: kids getting bored

i read somewhere that we worry too much that kids are "bored" : being bored (to a degree) is actually good for kids. They turn ideas over in their minds, find new ways to amuse themselves, daydream and so on. Constantly responding to their protests that they are "bored" means that they expect you (and then others) to continually amuse them, and can lead to a more passive and les satisfying existence.

So, it's ok for kids to be bored now and again, and it's their job to make themselves less bored, not always yours. Sailing is excellent for being occassionally very exciting, and often with time for being bored - or indeed having a chat with them.

Ours were 7 and 3 when we started going on boats and they are v responsible, partly cos of the boating i think. Son#2 last friday nite we left him on his own at home with a phone so we cd communicate. 9:45 he rang us in the restaurant and asked " What time can I expect you two to come home" . I did not bother to explain that the idea of the phone was for us to check on him, not t'other way around...

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[Dominic]

Yes,

My children were 4 and 5 when we moved aboard. They learnt to read in mid-Atlantic.

Make sure they lots of toys/games and a warm padded cell down below. They will not be interested in sitting in the cockpit. If they are happy playing down below then you have won.

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[billmacfarlane]

The new QM2 isn't big enough for a couple of bored kids. The answer is a simple YES. Of course you can take your children sailing. Mine were regularly crossing the Channel by the age of yours. You'll have to make some large compromises though, mostly to do with how you make it fun for them as well as you. If you want to PM me I'd be quite happy to give you a much longer answer based on how my wife and I managed a cruising life, starting with taking our 6 week old daughter sailing.

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