[Alberg30] elementary aged kids and sailing

[T. Kevin Blanc]

I have a 10 year old girl who first sailed at 3 months
and a 7 year old boy who first sailed at 2 months.

All the kids will be bored until you let steer. Then
you'll be terrified.

There is nothing worse then spending a choppy,
steamy-hot rainy day with kids on a sailboat. Oh, yes,
we brought the dog once. I was about ready to load the
flare gun and put it against my head...

It's kind of like spending the day with them on the
sofa. The bathroom is at one end of the sofa, and the
kitchen at the other.

I consider myself a good father. The only time I ever
scream at my kids is when we are on the sailboat, I'm
trying to come through some small channel with huge
powerboats flying by and flipping me the bird (sails
up engine running: they can't see wake unless it
consists of two feet of spray so they assume I have
the audacity to be SAILING in potentially slowing them
from the posted 6 knots to, oh, I don't know, 5.75)
and the kids are asking over and over if they can have
a fruit rollup while they take turns turning up
Brittany Spears or In Sync. By this point, my usually
nurturing wife has given up and is shooting me that
"what the HELL were you thinking" look. You know the
one. And she LOVES to sail. 

On the other hand, seeing my girl steering the boat
with a look of bliss on her face is, well, sublime.
Watching the boy slide down the bridge deck over and
over when the boat is heeled is a kick. Watching them
play with other kids in the Alberg fleet is wonderful.
My son doesn't think so right now: virtually all the
kids in the boats we raft with are girls. But when
he's 14 and they are all tanned and in bathings suits,
he'll be happier.

Be prepared for oscillating fear. The boy went through
a whole season where we couldn't leave the marina
(sobbing himself naseaus, crying to get off the boat,
etc.). Last year he wouldn't swim. He saw a show on
the Discovery channel. Baby sharks lived in bays (and,
by logical extension, so must their caring parents).
We tried to explain that all the OTHER kids were
swimming. He understood what he understood. The others
were chum.

The other day he announced he couldn't wait to swim in
the bay. I screen the nature shows now.

Plan short sails, bring a dinghy (even better with a
motor), have some place to explore, better yet touch
land (not with the boat, with your feet) and get ice
cream, and be prepared to stay at the marina and swim
in the pool if the weather looks crappy. And bring
lots of sunscreen and some method of washing up. We
sail with a bimini, which helps a lot. 

Harnesses are often the answer when it's too hot for a
life jacket (I have a padeye in the compass box on the
bridge deck: they get 6 foot tethers). I know that's
unlawful, but how many of us can wear two inches of
insulating foam over our torso when it's 98 degrees?

Good luck! 

--- Matthew E Oster <matteobeth at juno.com> wrote:
> 
> I've been looking to buy a sailboat and have decided
> on the A30.  I've 4
> boys twins 5, 7 and 8.  I'm thinking the boat would
> be a great thing for
> us to do together especially as they get older.  Can
> give me the skinny
> on how kids this age do on the boat?  I was out on a
> test sail this
> weekend and my oldest son came along.  He said he
> liked it and when I
> asked him he said we should buy the boat.  He seemed
> kind of bored to me
> and this was his first time on a sailboat.  The
> weather was rough and he
> stayed below most of the way home.
> 
>
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