How to keep the kids enertained... first time on a sail boat?

[mikehibb]

No, not fit digital TV and Wii/XBox/PSP

Next month my sister will be bringing the nephews ( 10yrs and 12 yrs) over to visist for a week. We will not be live aboard as we have an apartment, but hope to spend as much time on the boat as possible.

I have been speaking with a colleague at work and he recommended keel hauling, said it worked for his nephews, however the safety elf might not like this ( my sister does however think that it might be an option if the kids get a bit stroppy)... Only Joking.. Well me (not sis, she is still game for it)
Seriously the kids have been out on boats before, but mainly just as passengers on a dive boat when I have been diving and they have been snorkelling. This will the first time out on a sail boat.

I need to buy a new bosuns chair anyway (yes a proper one, but not getting into that discussion) A trip up top should be exciting for them. Note these are kids that play outside in the rain and climb trees, not playstation jockeys etc.

I was thinking about making a training log book for each of them with certain tasks. The local chandelry has brass badges, crew/skipper etc, when they complete a section they get a new badge

Putting on L/J and harness and clipping on.

Naming the basic parts of the boat.

Port and Starboard (will buy them coloured socks, they will love wearing odd socks, but the youngest will deliberately wear them the wrong way round, he is smart and likes a joke)

Swabbing the deck.

These will earn them basic "Crew " badge.

Then for Skipper badge:

If we have a nice day or two with fair winds I would like them to take the helm (under supervision of course)

Also let them have a go in the tender with O/B, we have a little island approx 600m off shore from our apartment, nice little trip for us all for lunch on the island, might take a couple of trips though in the tender.

I do not intend to go too far, so will not be going through charts and navigation yet, I do not want to put them off, but I can guarantee that as soon as the eldest nephew spots the chart plotter the little b*99er will have it reprogrammed to interface with my mobile phone, a function that it does not have, but he will manage to make it do it.

I will be doing a MOB drill for all the family, and yet again I bet it is the kids that learn faster than my sis and brother in law.

I spoke to the nephews yesterday on the phone and they can not wait to come out, I sent them a link to one of the sail traing sites and they have already phoned me back telling me that a toilet should be called the heads.

I want to make their first time on a sail boat a real fun time for them so as not to put them off for the future ( obvioulsy fun as in enjoyable not as in lax in safety)

Any other tips greatly appreciated.

I do have one major question.

What is the best life jacket/ buoyancy aid that people would recommend for average size 10/12 yr olds?

The boat only has adult LJs at the moment, We will be arriving ten days in advance of my sister and the kids, so if there is nothing available locally we will still have time to arrange have them purchased in UK and my sis will bring them over ( OK I know that she will have to dump the gas bottles, we can get replacements over in Turkey) alternatively should we go for standard non inflatable LJs, might restrict movement a bit. Cost is not an option , will pay for best option for kids LJs.

 

[LadyJessie]

Just involve the kids in the sailing as much as possible - they will love it (and you for giving them the opportunity). The worst thing you can do with kids is to put a LJ on them if you do not have one on and then lock them in a corner 'for safety'. Wrong! Get them sailing and they will quickly understand what is fun and what is dangerous, if you let them have that opportunity. Kids can be great crew if you let them!

However, a word of caution: something I have totally failed in over many years is getting a kid to understand a marine toilet. Be prepared for some serious cleaning/unclogging.

 

[jonic]

Ours are a bit younger so can't help with the life jacket, but they LOVE cleaning the decks. So I let them do it all the time. We had my nephews over in Menorca last summer who were 7 and 10. We rigged up the bosuns chair on the end of the boom, then swung them out over as far as it would go with a line attached to the chair to pull them in a swinging motion. Great fun and they loved it. Do at your own risk, not a recommendation etc. etc.

Also rigged them up with harnesses and lifelines tied to the boarding ladder so they could swim around at anchor. But generally they found just being there and using the dinghy, having a go at steering the boat and raising the sails to be great fun. Hope they have a good time.

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Great ideas!

Some addditional suggestions.....

Our kids 'own' a task on board.... it is theirs and theirs alone (god help anyone that tries to undertake 'their' task!)..... we found that it really gave them a sense of involvement.... for example... my (at the time) 6yr old started with being in charge of coiling warps to put back in the locker..... it initially took him an hour to put 4 warps away!!!!... by the time he did it in a few minutes, he had graduated.... now aged 9 he is responsible for things like ensuring all the seacocks are properly managed and that the correct charts are on the chart table, thats the gas is correctly off when neccessary etc etc

I've also done some basic navigation with them.... my daughter aged 10 (at the time) learned the art of a 3 point fix, allowing for variation and plotting it on a chart.... we've completed many a passage with a fix on the chart every 15 mins up the coast!!!!!!!

They also have a log book of their own each (there is an excellent childrens log book available), and they both maintain them religiously...

They also jointly maintain a complete scrapbook of every passage, with the contents updated every night.... with little things like drink straws from visited cafe's, marina receipts and visitor booklets stuck in, and then a few insights into the days sailing written in.... not only do they really enjoy doing this, but a few years on, they make lovely reading for us all....

We find that the most important thing is to ensure that they feel involved rather than passengers....

I will also add that we do have a TV and a handheld video game (PSP) on board.... they do occasionally resort to it.... we don't need to manage the amount of use down, as they have become engaged in the boat and want to help sail when they can rather than 'go down below and watch TV'... but sometimes a good DVD is not a bad thing, especially on longer passages.... so don't discount it out of hand....

 

[bazobeleza]

definitely seal up the sea toilet and give them a bucket, we fitted two new ones last year, one for me n,swmbo and one for the kids, guess which one needs unblocking every week and which remains unblocked? at 10 & 12 a dinghy is well within their capabilities, let em loose. get them to scrub and polish the topsides from it, send them on a snorkel expedition to scrub the hull and polish the prop.

get them to reinact pirates of the carribean, anchor off and make them walk the plank and swim ashore (lj's and good swimmers only) ours love it. timed rowing races around boats in an anchorage is a good way to spend an hour and even the oldies can join in.

 

[dockmaster]

All kids love messing about with water but dont be too strict with them let them use the dingy with oars first then (after telling them about your friend who cut both legs of with a propelor ) let them loose with the outboard my lad only wore a jacket in rough weather or at night the same as me but he did live on the boat so was probably more used to the movement etc the main thing is fun fun fun

 

[jackh]

Back in the day when I was sailing with my dad I used to put on a harness and trapeze off a halyard like i was in a dinghy...
We used to get some strange looks, people don't expect to see a small child dangling from the side of a Hillyard 8 tonner...

I also used to sit on the front of the boat on "wave watch" and radio in incoming waves to my brother on a toy walkie-talkie. Good times!

 

[l'escargot]

Agree with the bosuns chair, not to go up the mast or just to swing them about but to dunk the dear little creatures in the briny - as near to keel hauling as you are allowed to go these days and they seem to enjoy it.

Also a rank system - Bilge Rat, Deck Hand and my favourite, Beer Bosun. Train them that whenever they hear the call "Beer Bosun" they retrieve a correctly chilled beer from the locker and bring it to the skipper. They get used to the discipline of onboard life and you get regular cold beers - winners all round. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[mikehibb]

Many thanks all.

Some really good ideas. I am sure that they will enjoy themselves.

I am really pleased to hear how much kids like swabbing decks, this will be one less job for SWMBO to d....(whoops, just got clipped around the ear by SWMBO lurking over my sholder)

I especially like the rank of "Beer Bosun" I will not be drinking whilst skippering, however their parents will definately be partaking of the nectar and will love that idea.

Maybe I could use the "Beer Bosun" call when at home with SWMB................................. ouch. (OK bad idea)

 

[jonic]

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[absit_omen]

Have you taken your list from the UKSA Yachtmaster Ocean (Gap Year Students) Syllabus!!!?

 

[JustinC]

We´ve had youngsters come over in the afternoon and take our orders for fresh bread, croissants and newspapers for delivery the next day for a minimal surcharge.

In this day and age, any little bit of entrepreneurial skill should be harnessed, even if it´s just for a couple of weeks over the summer.

For the littler ones, the key is variety - don´t leave them playing the same game or with the same thing for too long, that way they´re always wanting more.

Our little one is a big fan of the captain´s table. It means we have to keep an eye on the fuses as many get miraculously turned off after his visit, but it keeps him entertained.

 

[TQA]

This is a good resource www.kidsonboats.net