Youngsters having fun,learning and messing around in boats ,a rare sight

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saltyrob

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Hi Folks,

Mrs Salty and I were recently anchored in the Walton Backwaters enjoying a glass and we both commented that there were few young families about and young people having their own adventures .

When we are in Holland it seems common to see late teens/early 20's out in oldish small cruisers, sometimes camping under a boom tent or squeezing into a small cabin. They seem to have fun roughing it and must be learning a lot in the process. I know the inland waterways of Holland offer relatively safe non tidal sailing areas with more nooks and crannies to explore, but it seems a shame that we don't seem to see many youngsters in our neck of the woods, enjoying the same freedom and adventure. A sound old pocket cruiser or day boat keeping to the rivers would offer possibilities. Maybe its the cost keeping a boat in the uk , lack of cheap facilities or attitudes of some clubs , but youngsters will be future customers , members and boat owners.

Maybe our non too scientific observations are incorrect , I would hope so ,as we would like to see more young folks out there enjoying the fun we have had in messing about in boats

Rob ( ok I'm bit of an old hippy).
 
You'll be in trouble.
We are about to get incoming from folk telling you that the kids should do an RYA dinghy course and should not be let near water without at least 10 years experience in offshore cruising, before the mast.
What you suggest is downright dangerous and I'm pleased to say that in Call-Me-Dave's Britain we don't put up with that sort of thing.
 
Lakesailor said:
You'll be in trouble.
We are about to get incoming from folk telling you that the kids should do an RYA dinghy course and should not be let near water without at least 10 years experience in offshore cruising, before the mast.
What you suggest is downright dangerous and I'm pleased to say that in Call-Me-Dave's Britain we don't put up with that sort of thing.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IunaRAEc4x0

 
Yes, but cadet weeks are essentially organised. What Rob is saying is that you don't see groups of kids on cheap pocket cruisers hacking around the place in the same way as you do in Holland. Having just returned from a Dutch cruise myself, I also noticed the number of "lads on boats" and it's something you just don't see in the UK. Even around the east coast, which in many ways is the ideal place for it.. But having had the experience of dropping a group of kids on Mersea Stone to camp overnight a couple of years ago and being confronted by some officious pillock who tried to chase them off, it's not surprising that kids are discouraged. The're not generally welcome. The fact is that here in the UK we don't like young people much. I'm sure a group of lads sailing round in an old boat would attract the hostility of every jobsworth and official busy-body including the police who would discourage such unregulated adventuring as much as possible.
 
bromleybysea said:
Yes, but cadet weeks are essentially organised. What Rob is saying is that you don't see groups of kids on cheap pocket cruisers hacking around the place in the same way as you do in Holland. Having just returned from a Dutch cruise myself, I also noticed the number of "lads on boats" and it's something you just don't see in the UK. Even around the east coast, which in many ways is the ideal place for it.. But having had the experience of dropping a group of kids on Mersea Stone to camp overnight a couple of years ago and being confronted by some officious pillock who tried to chase them off, it's not surprising that kids are discouraged. The're not generally welcome. The fact is that here in the UK we don't like young people much. I'm sure a group of lads sailing round in an old boat would attract the hostility of every jobsworth and official busy-body including the police who would discourage such unregulated adventuring as much as possible.
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in my experience you see lots of kids fekkin about in boats at Brightlingsea

not often in cruisers

but perhaps we should be prepared to loan out our cruisers more often

D
 
Hi Folks,

When I mentioned cruisers, I meant small 16 to say 22 foot mostly elderly boats ,most likely bought cheaply ,basic and run on a shoe string, all very informal . Crews often lasses as well as lads and all seem to muck in .We have been rafted up next to these crews several times and ,found them polite and willing to chat to us oldies. Mrs Salty is a 50 something bass guitarist in a rock band, so has no problem being on the same wavelength.

We tend to see lots of organised dingy racing in the river where we keep our boat ,and hats off to the people who make it happen ,but not so many having little cruising adventures, maybe camping overnight , that sort of thing.


Rob
 
No 3 son had a Pandora (£750) which he ran on a shoestring (borrowed moorings etc) when 18yrs old for a couple of seasons cruising it locally and racing it a bit (& winning trophies with it).
No 2 (aged 21, student) son currently has a J24 (<£1k) which he races locally on a budget (borrowed mooring again) with similar aged/younger crew & also has won trophies.
I did not provide the capital for these & minimal (<£200 each) towards running costs.
Friends daughter (when aged 22ish) ran a Prelude for a couple of seasons cruising locally again borrowed mooring (working away got in the way).

So some do it.
 
I ended up on a similar subject when I bought my daughters buoyancy aid. Certainly where I live now there are plenty of opportunities to get kids sailing, in a structured manner once they are old enough.

Sailing lessons, Courses, Race training, etc. etc.. They are often out and about.

I agree what I do not see is kids out just having fun, in a none structured way.

Maybe its the requirement for rescue boats, which obviously mean the sport is dangerous, which obviously means they need teaching, which obviously means there will need to be lessons, which obviously need assessing for safety.

Also talking to some parents there is an attitude that they are here to learn not to have fun!

At 6 I was left to sail a dinghy on my own, I just had to stay insight of my parents (in the beer garden).

My daughter is now 6 and the sailing center on that lake will not give her sailing lessons until she is 8, by that age I had crewed in my first National Championships.
 
Lakesailor said:
Lost me there. These are organised events with LJs and all the other safety paraphernalia we expect these days.

Coot Club forever.
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Dearest Lakey,

I have a few things to pass on to you

Father Chritsma does not exist - fantasy

Tooth fairy does not exist - fantasy

Gog - almost certainoy does not exist

swallows, amazons, coote club.... they never existed either

I fear that some of us remember a halcyon time of wooden boats and freedom that never existed

D
 
My lad turned 8 recently, and for his birthday party we organised a private floating bouncy castle session at the local pool.

The children had to be 8 and had to be able to swim 25 meters.

Some of his friends were just short of their 8th birthdays and despite being able to swim extremely well (one could even do 25m Butterfly for feck's sake, another was the star swimmer in his year at school) a total of four children were not allowed to join in.

There were three lifeguards for fifteen kids (a ratio of 1:5), plus at least a dozen parents at the poolside, including one father who'd bought his swimmers.

Some of the children obeyed their parent's instructions to lie about their age, but the four unfortunates were just too honest and were therefore excluded.

Messed up country this. Rools is rools, and the only winners were the kids who were good liars.
 
I enjoyed watching some youngsters in Oppies in the Helford a few years ago. They were accompanied by the club rib and the instruction seemed to consist of encouraging to behave as badly as possible - the games involved colliding with each other and splashing each other with water. I got the impression that they were learning much more than if they had been formally taught.
 
The juniors at our sailing club often meet up for unofficial, impromptu messing about in boats.
Someone discovered that you can make a topper nosedive by two people standing on the foredeck. This is obviously much better than just sailing the boring thing.
About 25% of the time they were in boats and 75% in the water.
A well meaning member of the public saw this and called the emergency services and a huge police RIB [4 black suits and 100HP] soon appeared. They were determined to rescue or arrest someone and it was very difficult to persuade them that the kids were just having fun. Fun didn't seem to be on their list of things that happen on water.
 
dylanwinter said:
I fear that some of us remember a halcyon time of wooden boats and freedom that never existed
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I used to sail a wooden boat (ok, stitch and glue plywood, not 1930s clinker) in Chichester Harbour from the age of seven, often with my younger brother as crew. I suppose mum or dad was keeping an eye on us from the shore, but it felt pretty free to me.

That would be the late 80s, very early 90s.

Pete
 
at our lake the rule is that there have to be two boats on the water

no need for a rescue boat

so people would tie a canoe to the pontoon and then go sailing

our kids spent a lot of time just arsing about while we sat and drank on the shore

D
 
At my club a new member - who forumites will be familiar with - had a ' duty ' to assist on a rescue boat for a race; the traditional workboat and a RIB were deployed.

The race consisted of 2 lasers, so 2 people sailing and 4 rescue staff !

I'm sure Lakesailor will like that...

OTOH, I started cruiser sailing ( as skipper ) at 16 and before that did a bit of cruising & camping in my 10' gunter Caricraft dinghy.

At our club a few years ago some of the junior members got together and bought an old grp Silhouette which they toured the Solent in, so it does happen, but I agree it should happen more.

Better drowned than duffers...
 
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saltyrob said:
... I meant small 16 to say 22 foot mostly elderly boats ,most likely bought cheaply ,basic and run on a shoe string, ...
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But isn't there the problem that unless you keep taking your boat home, the cost of parking it will depend only on length and not on how basic or cheap it is?

Mike.
 
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DanTribe...absolutely loved reading that! We did exactly the same thing on the Toppers we sailed. We once got 13 kids on a topper, not for very long but it was fun.

I manned rescue boats when I was 8 or 9. Was teaching aduilts to sail and sailing Bosuns on my own at 10, out on the trapeze with tiller/mainsheet/jibsheet all in my small hands too. We unfortnuately live in an age where accidents won't/can't/should not ever happen. How often do you read the phrase in the paper: "the family just want answers." It's usually the pre-amble to "you're getting sued"

in pratical terms on my summer trip last week and the week before I saw a RIB full of teenagers (no adults) in a beautiful bay in Sark. I also saw many many boats with kids in in Carteret....great, they just tow a huge line of boats out and plonk them in the sea

I don't see it in the Solent though. the misses and I at 32 are always usually the youngest in the marina
 
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I forgot to mention, my club has formed a plan to actively encourage all sailing, especially dinghies as there seems to be a national drop off of activity; this involves other clubs inc rowing gigs, and dinghy camping cruises in company; a traditional type rescue boat goes along on these trips, carrying tents and provisions etc.

Maybe not Swallows And Amazons type independence, but a good idea for modern times.

There is also a cruise to an IOW beach with any dinghy who fancies it, in company with cruisers who usually put the dinghy crews- of all ages but a lot are young - up for the night.

There is a Junior Section with various small 1 & 2 man dinghies provided for the Juniors, all they have to do is sign a boat out.

This facility seems well used so I'd say a natural progression would be a cheap simple grp cruiser on a club mooring, I have suggested this in the past but was quoted elf n safety, and of course we crusties like to think it's all far too demanding for youngsters, forgetting what we got up to at that age !
 
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