Maybe you should try to get your family involved in the sailing.
Let the 9 yr old take the wheel when you have the room, etc
everyone will enjoy it more...

It take it that's what he was doing. What he's saying is that it didn't work
for anyone. I congratulate David on being realistic enough to recognize
reality and enjoy it.


I agree but I also don't think he should give up... unless
he really just plain prefers sailing alone. I know a number
of men who get on their boats (many of them don't
necessarily go sailing) specifically to get away from their
wives.

wrote:
We have done family sailing for many years and I have lost count of the
number of times I have taught my wife how to tie a bowline or even to
put a line on a cleat. It isnt important to her so she forgets
quickly.

That's OK too. Why should it be important to her? Let her
relax & read a book or something.

... She did take sailing lessons many years ago. My 9 year old
may "connect" with sailing but my older kids did not. However, my wife
objects to me taking the 9 year old sailing without her.

So you have some good reason to go all together. Especially
if the 9yo likes it.

... In fact, I find my brain nearly shuts
down around co-workers so I must be alone to do real work.

I have to turn off the phone.

... My wife is
very sociable and is easily distracted by people and ignores the boat.
I admit, I fiind guests aboard to be a distraction I dislike. Being
the ultimate geek physics/engineer, my love for sailing is with problem
solving and this is hard to do with distractions.

Sounds like a limiting factor in your sailing development, too.

Anyway there *is* a way of getting it all to work out, you
just to be patient & creative enough to find it & put it
into effect.

A larger boat is a poor solution because I think my 28' is the ideal
size for single handing.

And a 28 footer should certainly be large enough for three
people, especially when one is a child.

One thing that will get your child interested in sailing is
if you let her bring a friend. Boats are inherently cool,
and other factor is that she will love showing off her
sailing ability.

We will continue to do family sailing, but I really want to do single
handing too. I've tried various strategies like always wearing my
auto-inflate harness/lifejacket, wearing a personal EPIRB and strobe,
having the cell phone with me, etc. to alleviate her fears for me. Any
suggestions?


Don't worry about whether she is worried. Just do what you
can (within reason) to allay her fears and move on. And let
her find her own enjoyment... maybe being tolerant enough to
bring other company once in a while.

When my wife and I started sailing together, our focus was
racing small one-designs. She knew very little about
cruising. When we spent some time on bigger boats, I made
sure that it was a vacation for her. Then (being an
intelligent and capable woman) she got interested in some of
the challenges of cruising, like navigating.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King