Kids safety and security

[Virgincruiser]

Hi,

sorry if I am posting in the wrong area specifically but I reckon nobody can answer this better than the liveaboards.

We are a family of 6. Kids aged 12, 10, 7 and 5 and we are chartering a boat for a week this summer in Mallorca. I have my day skippers licence but am concerned about a few things where I am struggling to find good resource.

My two primary concerns are as follows:

1) early in the morning when everyone is asleep, or indeed during the night, how do I ensure that none of my kids wander up on deck? I understand that briefing them in the first instance is critical but are there any particular tricks, systems to ensure that I am alerted if one of the children tries to go up on deck while myself and my wife are asleep. Of particular concern are my 5 (particularly inquisitive) and 7 year olds.

2) somewhat paranoid I know but if we are on a pontoon or pier by night, how best to manage the security of the boat particularly in relation to someone wandering on board, one always being conscious of the security And safety of ones children.

I am guessing other parents have a same concerns but I have not been able to find anything specific online dealing with this.

Best Regards,
Michael

 

[Mwinda]

Hi Michael,
Paranoia is healthy with the kids around!
With the wandering on deck thing, we have a militant "buoyancy aid if on deck" rule when parked up, so if that is drilled in, then at least they should put a jacket on even if they did wander up.
Having said that I suspect you would wake either if one of the kids wandered, or in the very unlikely event someone came aboard. I sleep pretty light on board.

 

[duncan99210]

Question 1. In Mallorca in summer, temperatures will be in the high twenties/low thirties, so every hatch on the boat will be open for ventilation. So it will be difficult to prevent access to the deck at night, although you could perhaps put the washboards in but leave the hatch open, which should at least deter the youngest kids from getting on deck. Even if they do manage to remove the washboards, then the noise should alert you to what's going on.... I agree with Mwinda that having a drill of wearing lifejackets on deck is a good starting point, so if one of the darlings does go overboard, they'll float.

When we've had the grandchildren staying on board we've never had a problem with early morning wandering. Part of that is down to a different lifestyle in the Med: it's too hot during the day for kids to burn off energy, so evenings is when running arround takes place. Kids typically don't go to bed until their parents (or grandparents!) do, so also tend not to wake up early either, thus no worries about unattended kids on deck in the morning.

Question 2. In Mallorca any time you're in a marina you'll be berthed stern to and will need a passerrelle to get to and from the shore. Lifting or removing this at night will give you the measure of security you need, as without it in place anyone boarding from the quay or pontoon will make a noise as they arrive on board, waking you up. Equally, someone stepping on board from a neighbouring boat will make your boat move, which will probably wake you. That said, the number of incidents of this nature in that part of the world are vanishingly small. We've never encountered any problems ourselves nor have any of our friends.