getting wee people out of boats

[1114C]

Lots of good advice which I will take with me into the new season - determined not to let it be a reason to stop

Forum is always a big help on the few times I ask questions of it - thanks to all

 

[Topcat47]

A friend's two year old has been sailing since he was about 6 months.....he really loved the baby bouncer which was strung from an eyehook in the companionway, where he could see Daddy or Mummy getting wet.....

 

[Allegro]

Yes, the cold at night is a bit of a concern. We've taken our two out since the age of about 1 month. We've actually tended to avoid subzero nights, at least when they were smaller, in favour of a night in the marina with a small oil filled radiator plugged into the shore power! However, when the temperature's been a bit higher than that we've had two approaches depending on age. Below about a year to 18 months we've basically dressed them up as if going on a very chilly walk - tights, fleecy trousers, multiple top layers culminating in thick jumpers and a hat, and not bothered too much about blankets, because they never seem to stay under them. Over that age, they seem to develop enough sense to pull covers back over them if they get chilly, and have been fine with normal pyjamas and a proper child's sleeping bag - we've a good one from Vango rated to about -5, and a similar one from Blacks, both of which are the conventional mummy with hood shape and work very well. Again, we've added tights and a jumper to the pyjamas if its been especially chilly.

Back to the original point. Below 6 months we couldn't find a decent lifejacket. There was a little talk of airline style "lifecots", but these seemed impossible to find. In practice we strapped the child to an adult in a "front carrier" that you'd otherwise use for walking. Adult wore a lifejacket and we kept fingers crossed! Getting in and out of the dinghy is simplified a bit by this technique, as there is no loose child to worry about. Older than 6 months they've worn their own lifejacket (we've both Crewsaver and Baltic types, and both seem fine). Tom (2) fell out of our Topper in the smallest Crewsaver one, and it worked fine in a very brief immersion. Em (4) spent rather longer in the Firth of Lorne last summer having fallen off the big boat (yes, I know she should have been clipped on, my defence is it was calm, sunny, not too chilly, and she's been much more careful about leaning over since!) and the larger small child Crewsaver jacket also performed flawlessly. Plus we were buzzed by a couple of harbour porpoises just as we got her back on board, which she's now convinced came specially to rescue her (and maybe they did!).

Car seats on board were moderately useful when they were very small. We even had Tom swinging from the backstay in his, which seemed quite a sleep inducing motion! But most important seemed a fully enclosed area for sleeping which they're not going to fall out of. A trimmed piece of foam on the floor worked very well for a while, and kept them handy for feeds at night. Allegro has a forecabin which, when the infill is in to make a double bed, is entirely bed when the door is shut. They share that space now with no concerns about falling out of bed.

Finally (sorry, this turned out to be longer than I thought!), we have adapted our sailing somewhat and have avoided rough weather or long passages. Nothing, until recently, longer than about 3 hours before both adults and children are ready for a break and a run ashore. Where we did have to make longer passages (Plymouth to Falmouth for example) one of us sailed and the other drove with the children, then we met up for, in that example, most of the week pottering around Falmouth. As they've got older, though, they have been happier with longer trips, particularly running into bedtime, and about 5 hours from Colonsay back to Phuildorrhan last summer is about the maximum we've done.

Hope some of that's of interest. Good luck!

Cheers
Patrick