Yachting & Children

[Tintin]

My son came on the boat first time when he was just one, my daughter when she was almost 4.

Both have loved just being moored up abnd the adventure of it. They have great boat sense.

This year we will do more now they are 5 & 8. Short trips. A night at anchor. The delay was due to a court order from ex, now thankfully rescinded.

The best thing I have on board is the DVD player 'cos it keeps them occupied and inside safe when I need to do a job, e.g. washing up or cooking.

 

[Pleiades]

Small crew

If you do fit out with small crew, like these,

bear in mind that they need to be well dragged up and a boat is no place to find out that you are not up to the considerable task of raising them proper like. On the other hand, a boat is a great environment to prove your parenting skills - you just have to work a bit harder on the hazards.
If Mr and Mrs Skipper run a tight ship, sea going risks can be safely managed and the rewards are huge.

Sadly they do not get cheaper to run as they become bigger crew people....

but all being well, if they have grown to love their sea time they will choose you a nice old folks retirement home with a sea view .....

Oh and a practical tip - I suggest an old fashioned carry cot for when they are little nippers - fitted snugly into the quarter berth on my Caprice.

Robin
Pleiades of Birdham
MXWQ5

 

[gunman]

My 2 eldest (only 8 and 5) loved all boats from they were 6 months, my 3rd son is a little..., well, best not to finish that one. He is 20 months old and won't sit still for a second, when he's in the cabin he wants out to the cockpit, when he gets out he wants straight back in again (I think he thinks the ladder is a climbing frame). He spends most of his time on the boat crying and screaming.

He's grand in our small motor boat but for some reason in the yacht he's a nightmare to the point I was close to selling the boat a couple of weeks back. It just isn't enjoyable.

My 8yr old has his own sailing dinghy and is going to a sailing school this summer at our club, he loves it and is really keen to learn. It depends on the child, all ours have been raised in the same way and introduced to boats around the same age, yet this one is nothing like his brothers, I think he must get it from his mothers side.

With any luck he'll grow out of it before I give up.

 

[Rivers & creeks]

I fully agree with that. We bought a 13 ton wooden motor sailer with very little experience and absolutely no training, and enjoyed a baptism of fire with a 3 year old and 1 year old twins (now 9 and 7 with a 'proper' sailing boat and with various RYA quals - parents that is, not children yet).

Our biggest issue was anchoring, picking up a mooring or going alongside when the children kicked off, so to speak. It's worrying enough going into a marina with no experience and 13 tons of fibreglass crushing boat without the distraction of children going bonkers.

Once you've established the grounds rules and you - and they - have enough experience under your belts, nothing beats it.

Good luck.

On our cat the then youngest would bawl her head off as we left the marina and when we motored back in, all because mummy and daddy we're too busy to pay her attention. The rest of the time sailing she was as good as gold. We imagined how folks in the marina must pity us, thinking that the child cried all the time

 

[gunman]

On our cat the then youngest would bawl her head off as we left the marina and when we motored back in, all because mummy and daddy we're too busy to pay her attention. The rest of the time sailing she was as good as gold. We imagined how folks in the marina must pity us, thinking that the child cried all the time

Mine does cry all the time

 

[ma99ing]

Thanks Dave and every one else for their positive feedback. Its great to know its doable.

We live in Ireland, so the NE Atlantic is our back yard. Id be looking for a yacht that can be sailed single / short handed, suitable for kids obviously, and one that makes passage making enjoyable ,and not tortuous !

Id imagine initially Id be making many short passages either on my own / with crew and then meeting up with family at the next port, and then day sail from there, at least till we got confident enough to go to sea with a young baby

 

[Babylon]

My 2 eldest (only 8 and 5) loved all boats from they were 6 months, my 3rd son is a little..., well, best not to finish that one. He is 20 months old and won't sit still for a second, when he's in the cabin he wants out to the cockpit, when he gets out he wants straight back in again (I think he thinks the ladder is a climbing frame). He spends most of his time on the boat crying and screaming.

He's grand in our small motor boat but for some reason in the yacht he's a nightmare to the point I was close to selling the boat a couple of weeks back. It just isn't enjoyable.

From his perspective, the ladder is a climbing frame! - although, with all the crying and screaming, I think there is something else going on there as well. Could it be that you're busier sailing the yacht compared to driving the small motor boat, and so he's neither getting your full attention nor feels as secure than when huddled up with the family in the MB?

When my ex-BIL was a toddler, he didn't stop screaming day and night for 48 hours whilst on a caravan holiday in France. He went strangely quiet once my ex-FIL had put a teaspoon of mustard into his mouth. He still doesn't like mustard!

Just don't sell the yacht on account of a problem he'll likely grow out of.

 

[farquart]

Before we had the kids we did the whole liveaboard thing around the Med. Now we just potter around Poole Harbour.

The Kids love it and its a cheap day out. 10 quid to park and launch, keep the boat on the driveway.

 

[jonic]

Before we had the kids we did the whole liveaboard thing around the Med. Now we just potter around Poole Harbour.

The Kids love it and its a cheap day out. 10 quid to park and launch, keep the boat on the driveway.

Whats the boat?

 

[farquart]

Whats the boat?

Coastal Whammel / Lune Wammel

http://www.characterboats.co.uk/ind...w=article&id=49:coastal-dayboat&catid=34:demo

 

[jonic]

Looks fantastic

 

[farquart]

Looks fantastic

Its a cheap way to get the whole family afloat, I guess we will move to something bigger in time, but we just bought a new house so funds are tight especially with 3% stamp duty.

 

[Chrusty 1]

Yachting and children!!!!

The two things are diametrically opposed as far as I'm concerned, don't do sprogs, no way, no how, not ever!

Anybody that thinks differently is just a sad masochist that needs therapy! Haven't you heard, keep your dicks in your pockets, and save the planet!!

Based on some of the posts I have read on here, the thought of some of you breeding gives me the screaming abdabs!

Now is he joking or is he not???...You decide.

 

[Rivers & creeks]

Now is he joking or is he not???...You decide.

Maybe a third option - sad lonely git

 

[Chrusty 1]

Maybe a third option - sad lonely git

Sad???..Oh no, far from it, happy as Larry, whoever he was? Lonely? Naaaaaaaa, not one bit.

Git?................Probably

 

[Babylon]

The two things are diametrically opposed as far as I'm concerned, don't do sprogs, no way, no how, not ever!

Anybody that thinks differently is just a sad masochist that needs therapy! Haven't you heard, keep your dicks in your pockets, and save the planet!!

Based on some of the posts I have read on here, the thought of some of you breeding gives me the screaming abdabs!

Now is he joking or is he not???...You decide.

Being the parent to a child has been (for me) the most wonderful thing that has ever happened.

 

[gunman]

I would have agreed with you 2 years ago.

No, I wouldn't swap them for the world but they drive you mad at times.

 

[Pleiades]

Competent (small) crew

Watch keeping duty is normally best shared with all the crew,

but sometimes the smallies just don't pull their weight....

If they are mutinous try withholding their Ready Brek until they have polished the deck fittings

Robin
Pleiades of Birdham
MXWQ5

 

[Rivers & creeks]

Those are great photos Robin. Reminds me of a trip to Nieuwpoort from the Deben, about half way across I noticed all the crew had disappeared, one by one the wife and crew had taken themselves off and each had found a little corner of the boat and curled up fast asleep. I did toy with the idea of changing direction and wake them up just before Ramsgate

 

[YachtAllegro]

Mmm, lovely photos from Pleiades. If we're doing photos, perhaps I can add a few of my own!

Our three have all sailed with us from a few weeks old, and the oldest is now ten. There's been some good advice above, and most importantly its very doable and a lot of fun for adults and children alike.

I'd been sailing singlehanded for some years when I met my wife and we started having the kids. I'm sure that helped, because as everyone else has said, one of you needs to be free to keep an eye on / entertain the children, which means the other is essentially singlehanding. Bit more tricky, I'd have thought, if you're coming to both children and sailing at the same time. To some extent it makes sense to get confident yourself first, then have your wife and child with you. But on the other hand, do that too much and sailing will be just become "Daddy's thing" with them occasionally along for the ride but immediately wanting to bail out if its looking tricky. I'd say, as much as possible, do it all three of you together, but be very unambitious and accept you'll be learning more slowly than if you were doing it alone.

Someone above said don't go out in a 6 - I'd quite agree. We'd try to avoid fives too, unless in very sheltered water. And limit journey times too - we've rarely done a passage longer than three hours in the past ten years. On the other hand, we do cruise the west coast of Scotland, where its easy to do that and still explore everything between northern Ireland and Skye. If you're on a flat exposed stretch of coast it would be a bit trickier.

Lifejackets are tricky below about six months. There are "life cots", but they're very expensive and really seem to be made for abandoning ship into rather than wearing all the time. At least babies stay where you put them at that age, and when transferring between boat / dinghy / shore we often wore them in a sling and hoped our own lifejacket would do the job for both of us if needed. Fortunately we never had to test that theory. After six months infant / child lifejackets are fine, and work well (they have been tested, by all three!).

And entertainment? Well, they actually mostly do what they do on land, but with a few nautical twists. Towing a bottle / stick / toy boat on a piece of string can entertain for a suprisingly long length of time (I should credit one of Libby Purves' books for that tip!). They'll have a go at steering, pull ropes etc. Take a ball to play with when you go ashore. They'll learn to row from age three or four, and we've let ours explore in the dinghy on the end of a long length of rope from soon after.

Its all great fun - I've no doubt I've had much more enjoyment from sailing with my children over the last ten years than I would have had from the most ambitious trips without them. Enjoy!

Cheers
Patrick