A number of years ago, a guy in a town about 10 miles from me, built a big
old boat in his backyard.

When he started, there was an article in the newspaper. The family was
there, his kids were little.
The reporter asked them if they wanted to sail around the world, and they
said yes, they could not
wait to go.

A few years goes by .. another article in the newspaper. The guy was
finally finished with the home
built boat.

The reporter went to do a followup story. And of course, the reporter
wanted to ask the kids how
excited they were to sail around the world.

Guess what? The kids were "busy", they had no interest whatsoever of
sailing around the world.

In fact, they told the reporter that as far as they were concerned, it was a
nutty idea.

The guy got the boat trucked to the seacoast, put in. He used the boat for
coastal sailing when
he could find a crew.

The kids? They all went off to college, lived their lives.

There is nothing wrong with going cruising. In fact, in my opinion it is
wonderful.
But don't kid yourself, your children might not think it is as important as
you do.

For some good reading on a family that cruised together, even as the kids
became adults.
Read some of William F Buckley's sailing and cruising books.

Let the kids live their lives, and if they feel that cruising is what they
want to do,, good for them.
I do believe it is nutty to bring a 15 year old on a boat with mom and dad,
to go off cruising.
Who is the 15 year old going to socialize with? What about stuff like the
school dance, the prom,
clubs, sports, boyfriends, going to camp, going to the beach with friends,
...... can't you see, that
kids need to be with kids so they can grow up, then they can go cruising.






"Jere Lull" wrote in message
news:2008011122182175249-jerelull@maccom...
On 2008-01-11 08:22:47 -0500, BAR said:

Jere Lull wrote:
On 2008-01-09 17:17:11 -0500, "Sir Thomas of Cannondale"
said:

Drop the kid off at boarding school .. and leave.

The little **** can sit in algebra class while mom and dad are off
cruising.

Oh, Gawd! You've definitely demonstrated your incompetence.

Real cruising kids demonstrate far more intelligence. At a minimum, they
know where they are and where they want to be.


What about the social skills they learn when they are in a school with
other students. You can't survive alone in the world you need to know how
to interact with others.

The ones I've known all had better social skills than the stay-at-home
kids who haven't experienced being sociable in international settings, who
have not been in situations where their interactions with others directly
affected their comfort or maybe their chance of survival, who have never
needed to accept real responsibility for their actions.

--
Jere Lull
Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/