Re: Sailing with children

Strangely , children les than a year old are easier to look after. We had a car seat strapped to a bunk - and when mooring or hoisting /dropping sails - which were the only manoevres we couldnt do single handed  - the kids were strapped in with some chocolate for company . 5 mts later the mess was indescribable - but the child still happy! We also had  one of those baby chairs that clip to a table - which fitted well onto the companionway hatch - so once the main was down , they could sit strapped in and see everything that was going on. I can remember locking into st malo with several boats and the inevitable conversations re how windy it had been ( like fishermans tales - exagerated!) came to a stop when our youngsters were seen gazing happily around from this perch!

Its when they are mobile , but insufficiently strong/co-ordinated to brace themselves that life can get difficult - ie 2 is v difficult , and not til they are 6 can they really be left to themselves in any sea. We used to have waterproof cushions in the cockpit and lodsa toys and colouring books etc . probably the most difficult thing was using a potty - - oilies, lifejackets , loadsa clothes - it took an age!

At this stage most of our sailing was in the sheltered waters of the Solent - now aged 22 and 19 they  have just sailed me back non stop 150 miles from France under spinnaker in 20 hours - and i didnt have to touch a sheet.

In Europe , kids sailing is quite a phenomenon. Most people have kids so there must be others in your situation. Start them in rowing boats , then dinghies and remember their attention span is shorter than a flea- so make everything short and snappy with plenty of time to play