Last summer I had the odd experience of having a crew member "jump ship"
after sleeping on the mooring preparatory to an early morning start. He
just said, "I have to go" leaving myself and my 12 year old daughter
on board.

I had a "serious" talk with her, along the line of "If we go, you have
to really help work the boat, not just be a passenger" I told her we
could change our plans, keep closer to home, etc., etc. If we went she
had to do *exactly* as I said, ask why later

Up till now I have let her participate as she wishes, which varies from
day to day.

As we went down river and different situations came up, I illustrated
some of my criteria, such as, "If I am resting and you see a boat get
this close, wake me ASAP", "if the autopilot does this, do that, or
call me, etc. etc."

I would not have traded the ensuing trip for anything, she really
reached down inside and found what I hope is her responsible future
self, and brought her out for the next three days.

You are making a bigger passage than we did, but I would still urge you
to give yourself and your son the chance to stretch the limits a bit, if
you are reasonably sure you can mostly carry the load yourself if need
be. You will probably be pleasantly surprised, I know I was. Worth every
stressfull minute on my part.

Jonathan

wrote:
After my aborted cruise, I want to bring my boat back from Sarasota to
Shell Point in N. Florida (Just south of Tallahassee) for hurricane
season. It is 185 miles straight across the northern Gulf of Mexico
and I estimate this is about 36-48 hours sail. My only crewmember
currently is my 14 yr old son who isnt really qualified to do a watch.
I do not want to do the several days coast hopping route as I have done
that too many times and just want to get her home (a 28' S2). So, I am
wondering if I should venture to do it with just my son or if I really
need another crew member. Strange but I no longer know many qualified
sailors, most I know are beginners who would just get in their own way.
"Ragtime" is a 1981 8.5 M S2 with new standing rigging, running
rigging, sails etc, Epirb, etc so is probably well equipped. What do
Y'all think?