Taking The Family Out For The First Time!

Zagato

Zagato

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Hearing my plans for a long weekend of sailing my wife has just said she wants to come as well :eek::eek::eek: Can't believe it, I think she must be suspicious of naughty nautical night time activities!! ;)

Anyway, great stuff. A trip to Gosport from Chichester returning Sunday is now being planned, my 6 year old son wants to bring his football... er perhaps a rugby ball would be more suitable :rolleyes:

One snag, it's only a 3 berth. Looks like I'm on the floor again :( or maybe dive into the nearest Hotel :D ;)
 
Dunno what your boat is like inside, but Kindred Spirit originally came with two main berths, a quarter berth (that's you, the missus, and the daughter sorted) - plus a cushioned area between the main berths and the bow which I reckon might be long enough for the average six year old. We took out the cushions and used the area to stow bags, but it could have been a bunk.

Does Thallassa not have similar?

Pete
 
prv said:
Dunno what your boat is like inside, but Kindred Spirit originally came with two main berths, a quarter berth (that's you, the missus, and the daughter sorted) - plus a cushioned area between the main berths and the bow which I reckon might be long enough for the average six year old. We took out the cushions and used the area to stow bags, but it could have been a bunk.

Does Thallassa not have similar?

Pete
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Morning Pete. Thalassa was commissioned from new with a deepened cockpit locker so that it uses up the quarter berth space but not all the way up to the bulkhead so there is about 3' left of the berth. Must say it is really useful and prefer having the space here than down below... until now.

I doubted very much my kids would ever sleep on board, my wife is having second thoughts already, and I realise now she had a couple of glasses of wine last night! She and the kids also get seasick very easily :(

So a few options.

Going to take my tent down for the cockpit whilst raising the cockpit floor to cockpit seat level, hammock style with ropes then use the fly sheet as a cover.

Stuff the boy in the forward locker, he will fit fine as you say and put the girl on the floor.

Seasickness will be the biggest barrier to all as usual :( :mad: I really do envy people that don't get it so severely. People worry about wind, sea conditions, grounding, etc etc BUT actually seasickness is the biggest concern/barrier for me. We may not get out passed West Pole before having to head back. I'm not using Stugeron this time either, it just makes you feel so ill the whole time and I want to be equal with the rest of the family.

Hopefully we can get over, it looks calm this weekend but they can always get the train back if it does turn out to be the crossing from hell!
 
Zagato said:
I'm not, bloody nightmare Lol. The wife I can just about handle but the kids as well :( I'll have tranquiltiy over tantrums anyday ;) No it will be a good experience for all, they are very excited about it and I want them both to get into sailing...
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View it as an investment and the first step towards a bigger boat! It starts with the missus agreeing to come along for the weekend, then deciding that it's quite fun after all, but the boat is too small....
 
Great news for you - it is a good chance to get the kids into sailing? My 7 year old loves Gosport - he enjoys the ferry trip over to Portsmouth, and there is enough to keep him going in the dockyard for hours, especially Action Stations with its climbing wall, Warrior, Victory and the harbour tour. The cost is a bit of an ouch, but you can return as many times as you want in a year, which makes it good value if you use it.
 
I used to love when the whole family were onboard including the 10stone Rottweiler dog, going to places for few days at a time. Unfortunately, our dog died last year and the kids have grown to teenagers, which means that it is not cool to be seen on a sailing yacht anymore.
 
Hope you have a great time - we sailed as a family of 5 (kids aged 10, 9 and 6) during the May bank holiday week and they all had a blast. Just finished a week of evening sailing with my wife - 50 miles around Naples, Pozzuoli, Procida and Isola di Nisida. Only broached once under spinnaker...... :eek:

Great winds today, average 16 gusting above 20 - big reef in the main and the genoa down to 1/2 size...still making high 6/low 7 knots.

My big worry was knowing that my wife enjoyed being on board - the broach freaked her out a little but she saw how stable the boat was, even well healed over and how quickly it righted itself when we released the main sheet. Confidence through adversity - not recommended on your trip but we gained a lot of 'experience' in one short week all the same.

Good luck and have a safe trip.

Andy
 
I'd suggest you spend a few moments when all are on board, describing how in general the boat is working, where equipment is placed, who is expected to do what, where you are going (and the timing) and how crew is expected to do in case they feel insecure about something.

This to take out any stress and set the base for a relaxing experience. "When you take the kid by the hand, you take the mother by the heart". Go figure...
 
Why don't you go to Bembridge? It looks like beach weather and just messing around in a dinghy inside the harbour will be heaven for a 6 year old
 
Keep the journey times small, don't think distance think fun!

It's going to be a lovely weekend, why not just sail to east head, enjoy the beach, then sail to Sparkes or Chi Marina and spend the night.

Little steps, especially with Small Children, mine now love the boat, but its taken 3 years of short journeys and Stugeron :)

We tend to stop for the night in Sparkes if we are going outside the harbour, as it makes the next leg to Bembridge, Ryde or Gosport shorter.

Mine are 10,8 & 6.
 
richardsn9 said:
Great news for you - it is a good chance to get the kids into sailing? My 7 year old loves Gosport - he enjoys the ferry trip over to Portsmouth, and there is enough to keep him going in the dockyard for hours, especially Action Stations with its climbing wall, Warrior, Victory and the harbour tour. The cost is a bit of an ouch, but you can return as many times as you want in a year, which makes it good value if you use it.
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+1 I've lost count of the hours we have spent in Action Stations :)
 
It will be a great time. the first trip will always be remembered.
I used to take my wife and three kids out for weekends on a 24ft C&C with 4 bunks.
Stuff wife and two smallest into fore peak. self and biggest on each bunk. all of us uncomfortable.
We still had great fun.
 
Well the trip was a success, flat calm, no wind but my wife and son still felt queasy but they will get better with more trips.

My wife knows how to operate the boat if I go over board and I always run through the drill just in case she has forgotten. We spent most of the time at the swings in the park but will take the ferry over next time and look out for 'Action Stations' thanks.

The boy went into the shortened 4' quarter berth, and my daughter on the floor. If we do more of this I can convert the front locker into fold down longer births which is a Crabber option...

Bembridge was rafting 6 deep apparently on Friday so that why I avoided it. It was packed mid week a couple of weeks ago when I was there!

Coming into West Pole, no wind so boom cover on and managed to get other things on the boat done whilst my wife skippered - great to be able to do things on the boat for a change as I am always single handed. Lobster pot watch was the main focus! Need to get them some sunglasses...

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Really glad to hear it was a success. Need more people with young kids on boats on the Solent - far too many oldies (apologies oldies)

Fingers crossed that it won't be too long before they are all demanding to go every weekend and your wife is excited about shopping in chandlers.
 
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