I havent done much sailing this year on my 28' S2 but have been sailing
smaller boats instead, like a Laser, my MiniCups and Flying Scot.
However, yesterday we went sailing on the S2 with another family. I
asked them to sail with us because this friend had remarked that his
small son wanted to try sailing. They arrived at the dock with a 12 yr
old daughter, a 9 year old son, and a 18 month old and the two of them.
FORTUNATELY, my 19 year old daughter was working and my 16 year old
son realized how crowded it would be and decided to hang out on shore.
(The couple, their 3 kids, my wife and I and 9 year old daughter)
I thought, "OK, we sail back and forth under main alone and finally one
of em gets seasick so we come in". It was slightly choppyand about 14
kts and I got the main up in spite of the crowd. The kids mostly
stayed down below at first and out of the way. My own family makes me
crazy when we sail so I was nervous about somebody elses. Sure enough,
the kids finally all wanted to sit on the bow. This was all I needed,
trying to sail while I watched a bunch of other kids. I insisted they
all wear life jackets when out of the cabin AND that they all tie in
when outside the cockpit. Of course, my wife couldnt figger out how to
tie em in so I had to leave the tiller to her while I did it and she
gets so busy talking the boat wanders all ovetr the bay. With the main
flapping like crazy I finally regained the tiller. At least the dad
decided to stay on the bow with em. Still, I was nervous as i could
possibly be.
My wife realizing we were really going slow decided we had to unroll
the RF jib so I insisted the kids leave the bow cuz I just knew someone
would get hit by the clips on the jibsheets. So this meant they could
play in the V-berth and stand in the forward hatch. Unfortunately, it
meant three adults and a baby in the cockpit, waaaaaaaay crowded. I
can almost not sail under such conditions. Every time I tacked I had
to ask the wife holding the baby to move and was constantly stepping
over someone. My cockpit is large but seems very crowded with just
three adults. How do other people handle this?
Next. they all wanted the bimini up. Sure, its sunny, being June in
Florida, but I really want to be able to see my sail and hate the
bimini for this reason but up it went. Do other people dislike their
bimini for this reason?
Finally, the mom goes below to nurse the little one so I can finally
really sail. I get on a good point of sail and even with only a
partially unfurled jib she digs in, heels over and starts charging
across the bay. It feels wonderful. The Clino says 20 degrees and I
ease off to get a little more speed and she heels more. Crash, slide,
uh-oh, their baby stuff slides across the cabin and mom on the downhill
settee looks concerned so I ease off.
The wind picks up a little more, the beginnings of Alberto hundresds of
miles away and the chop is a little more. The 9 year old son sits in
the cockpit corner with that look that says SEASICK, a perfect
opportunity to go in.
So, you'd think a 28' boat would be large enough for company but three
adults and a baby int he cockpit is simply waaaaaaay overcrowded. I
cannot imagine that larger boats really have much larger cockpits, it'd
be unsarfe. So, what do people do? Do I decide to not have company
and go back to sailing alone or just with one of my kids?