getting wee people out of boats

[1114C]

many of these fora seem to have gone through the children on boats time and so I am hoping I can tap in to this knowledge

this year will be my first year of sailing with a child - new arrival came a couple of weeks ago but I do not want this to be the end of my sailing - no need for that. SWMBO has agreed to try it but is very nervous about how we get him in to the dinghy - they say you should not stand up to get him so what do you do? I have a lifejacket for him (first purchase even before prams/cots etc which I was very proud of) but what else is required?

Also does anyone else have any tips/good experiences of taking a very small child sailing - I really am wary of not sailing this year and then my wife not wanting to go again - am hoping to persuade her with others great experiences

thank you!

 

[Guest]

Getting in and out of dinghies - yes, don't stand up, never stand up unnecessarily in a dinghy. Let the kid climb out - kids are great at climbing. Obviously it should be wearing its lifejacket. With one parent already in the cockpit, to be safe, tie a rope with a bowline to the lifejacket's harness D-ring, so that the parent in the cockpit can 'top rope' the kid climbing in/out. This way it should be safe and kid also has the fun of thinking it's doing it unassisted /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

If there's just one adult, ie. you in the dinghy, you can still top rope the kid by passing a rope over the pushpit, using it as a pulley and taking the slack from the dinghy.

Oops sorry, just realised that yours is a really new one, so it won't be climbing on its own yet! But top-roping idea still applies.

 

[Guest]

p.s.

The important thing is always to SHOW to SWMBO that you are being super safe - if she catches a whiff of danger in the first few weeks she won't get back on the boat. eg. if there's a rocky scrabble to get out of the dinghy. Hence the top-roping suggestion may seem a bit OTT just for getting on board, but this is the kind of moment when accidents are most likely to happen, and both SWMBO and kids can see that it's safe, and that promotes confidence in the skipper.

 

[Topcat47]

Re: p.s.

Top roping while the kid climbs isn't really the solution if he/she's still in swaddling clothes. Do you have to use the dingy? For SWMBO's peace of mind it'll be much better if you can bring the boat alonside to load your precious cargo, at least for the first few seasons.

 

[Dalliance]

We don't have kids of our own but have TONS of "God chlidren" (difficult for an atheist like me but you know what I mean), all of whom want to go sailing.. Youngest so far was 8 months. We have a variety of different lifejackets to accomodate different ages and abilities on board but for the really young kids a recommend a full lifejacket with buit-in harness which has the D-ring at the back. Use the mainsheet and the boom to hoist aboard from a dinghy (safer and better for the back than leaning over the side with a lanyard). Fill the forecabin or a lateral berth with a lee cloth with soft toys to avoid boredom. When SLOW motoring in flat calm we have rigged a block to the backstay and the topping lift, run the main halyard through the block and "flown" children in their harness from the rear D-ring. I'm sure the PC brigade will be horrified but the children have always giggled enormously and every adult on board has wanted to emulate them! (We even do this when their parents are on board as well!). In addition we have jackstays which can be reached whilst in the cockpit so all children are hooked on before they're allowed out of the cockpit when under way or at anchor (we're more relaxed when in a marina if there's an adult on deck).
We've taught six children to sail so far and all still want to come as often as possible (we've paid for some to take RYA dinghy courses which have been extremely worthwhile) - my more cynical friends assure me that I'm only doing this to ensure I have some crew when I'm too old to do everything myself!
I hope you have loads of fun and start to produce the next Pete Goss or Ellen McArthur.

 

[Rowana]

Haven't done it personally, but a friend of mine did.

When you say new arrivial, I assume you mean not yet at crawling stage. My friend had a hammock cum carrycot sort of arrangement where baby swung uround in the saloon suspended from the deckhead.

Once they got bigger, it was netting and padding in the querter berth. Lifejackets at ALL times, of course. And as Simon says, keep SWMBO happy & don't go out it is going to be even a wee bit lumpy until junior gets used to the motion. Remember that she will be looking after junior, so work on the assumption that you will be sailing virtually single handed.

By the time they were about 5 to 7, my friends kids were 2 of the surest footed kids I've ever seen on a boat.

Best of luck.

 

[1114C]

Thaks for replies so far - lots to consider, great to hear enthusiasm of how it can work - I am realising that this year will be fair weather sailing only if family coming

By new arrival I really do mean quite new - 15 days so not even crawling in the near future but am hoping in some ways that may make it a little easier? - at least he did not arrive during the sailing season which would have made sailing even less likely!

 

[Mirelle]

What NOT to do - absolutely true story

When I was six, and my sister was not yet one, my father was posted to Mogadishu, Somalia. Not an easy place to get to in 1958. We travelled to Venice on the Simplon-Orient Express, then boarded Lloyd Triestino's "Europa", which hove to off the reef, picked us up in a crew transfer bucket on a derrick and dumped us on the deck of a dhow. The dhow being too big to run ashore after the reef passage we had to transfer to an elderly landing craft for the final stage. My baby sister was calmly grabbed and hurled across the gap between the boats by a Somali crew member and had been caught before my mother had time to scream! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Now, seriously, like others here, we've "been there and done that thing".

You have no option but to stand up in the dinghy, but if you secure the dinghy alongside with bow and stern painters it is not too difficult.

Many people recommend a car seat lashed in the cabin so baby can see you in the cockpit. We never had much luck with this.

It is sometimes said that small babies do not get seasick. I am here to tell you that this is not so - ours went from "suck" to "blow" at the flick of a switch! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Sailing with a mother and young baby is sailing singlehanded but with 50% of your normal attention span taken up by your wife. Modest voyages only!

However, it can be done and we now have a competent 11 year old and a promising four year old crew.

 

[Talbot]

During this early stage it is even more important that the boat is as stable as possible, and reefed down early to minimise any "lean". It is also vital that SWMBO not suffer from even a suspicion of mal de mere.

 

[beancounter]

[ QUOTE ]
a suspicion of mal de mere.

[/ QUOTE ]

/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

deliberate pun, I assume, mon brave

 

[Talbot]

wondered if anyone would get it!

 

[guernseyman]

Some good advice for you above.

One totally unexpected peril was the horizontal D-loop at the end of a finger pontoon.

Our middle son scrambled for it from the dinghy. Slipped, headfirst through the D-ring. Lifejacket wedged his hips in the D-ring, so there he was head underwater and unable to move up or down.

We could see him, eyes open, admiring the view while we worked out that we had to pull him back up. Nasty moment for us. He wasn't bothered; he's fallen into every stretch of water from the Trieux to a pond in London.

 

[Mirelle]

Our elder boy, who has fallen in at least once a year since he was born in 1995, is not alone, then! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[suse]

padded bag and a handy billy! Congratulations on the smallest crew member by the way - and so glad you're taking him sailing.

 

[bobgosling]

What you need is one of those baby bouncer thingies and just attach to the end of the boom .... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Seriously though, I have an energetic 3 year old girl who I would love to take sailing but SWMBO has declared that she must first be able to swim. I have pointed out that she would be comatose within minutes of falling into any UK waters anyway but she is adamant.

 

[Hermit]

Lots of good advice above. One trick that worked for us was to lash his car seat on top of the closed companionway hatch under the raised sprayhood. Good vision and well protected except you then have to limbo to get into the cabin! I would also recommend picking SWMBO and the little one up from a pontoon - at least for the first few times!

 

[capt_courageous]

Tom
One again forumites turn up trumps. Do not ever become one of the 'bocosofthekids' lot. They justify doing nothing that way. Our daughter went round the Nab at six weeks old -fast asleep. Wisely you expect to be a fair-weather sailor for a while. You and your family have years of sailing ahead of you - enjoy.

 

[guernseyman]

Lashing car seats reminds me how we provided for our youngest with congenital spinal weakness. We borrowed an orthopaedic seat (a car seat with side head support) from St John Ambulance for a few years. We strapped it to a cockpit seat under the spray hood when on passage. No problem.

 

[tyce]

im in the sam position as you except i have it with twins so double the job, but still determined to get out.
biggest problem im having is finding time to get down to the boat to get it ready for new season

 

[sighmoon]

Ours is now 8 months. First took him sailing at 4 weeks - trial sailing our new boat (he was the excuse I needed to trade up). He fell asleep straight away, tucked up in a cary cot in the foot locker. He was fine when sailing, even heeling and going through a bit of a chop, and but kicked up an almighty fuss as soon as we tied back to the pontoon.

What worries me this time (about a week's time) is the cold. He'll be fine in the day time, wrapped up in many layers, but if it's -2 at night, like the forecast says for Monday, he may get a bit too cold. Anyone got any experience / tips with this?