On Fri, 8 Apr 2005 11:45:00 -0400, "Miech"
wrote:

We're due in June and would like to hear from people who have experience
sailing with a 0-4 month old. Pros, cons, advice and warnings as well as any
product suggestions to purchase are greatly appreciated. We have had
fabulous feedback from our vessel-specific forum and wanted to tap the
veterans here as well.

Well, this depends on the type of sailing, location and time of year,
but here's some generalizations. Our son is now 3 1/2 and we are on
Lake Ontario with a 33 foot C&C designed racer-cruiser from the '70s
(tiller and narrow beam, pretty spartan by today's standards).

1) He first sailed at five days...attached to his mother for the most
part.

2) At seven months he was in a Bjorn chest carrier on either of us to
get on and off the boat. We used netting in the V-berth once he
started to roll around a bit.

3) We lashed him into a car seat wearing a PFD, and lashed old
kapok-style vests around the car seat for cushioning and floatation.
Then we lashed the whole lot into the cockpit, put on some sunscreen
and a floppy hat and went sailing. No problem.

4) The problematic part (1 year-2 1/2 or so) wherein he could walk but
didn't necessarily "get" boat safety is over. He had a vest-style PFD
with crotch strap and neck strap, and did not leave the cockpit
unescorted at any point. Last year (2 1/2) he did have the run of the
cabin, unless he was naughty, and then into the netted V-berth (or
"brig"). His PFD has a lanyard and a Gibb snapshackle. He is snapped
on in the cockpit while under way.

5) This year he is 3 1/2 (4 in early September) and he has a new PFD.
He knows port from starboard, is starting his knots, and will steer a
course this summer under close supervision and only near otherwise
unoccupied plastic marker buoys. I am considering pad eyes and
jacklines.

A few observations: Bring hats, juice and sunscreen and
sweater/windbreakers. Children suffer more from weather, thrist and
wind. Bring a musical instrument (on a lanyard) and tell them they can
finally play as loudly as they like...in the V-berth. This works quite
well, as the sounds of wind and water overwhelm the sounds of say, the
spastic tambourine, whilst letting you know exactly where Young Cap'n
Bligh is.

Bring snacks that can go overboard: fruit slices, carrots...NOT
potatos chips, which are greasy and make a mess. Small and often keeps
'em cheerful.

Bring little activity bags with medium sized toys that don't come
apart, or lively picture books with nautical themes. A surprising
favourite, considering he can't read very well yet, has been a
sailboat spotter's guide. Anything to do with pirates and the
opportunity to yell "arrr!" and "avast ye!" at passing craft seems to
be very popular.

Let them...within reason...work the boat. This could include buoy
spotting, "locate the nav hazard", listen for traffic on the VHF,
watch for "special birds" or just vocalizing mental checklists and
"consulting" the child. Use 'nautical language' on the boat, if you
intend to use it at all, as the extra effort to figure out a proxy
language will keep the kid's mind working. "Keeping watch" can help a
child learn to read clocks and to read the numbers on a compass.

The point? If he/she feels a part of the boat, they will take an
interest. You want crew, not another passenger.

This year I will teach him to swim and to identify sails and start to
watch the weather. At six we will suggest junior sail school in
Optimists. My fairly intense training of him is partly safety
oriented, and partly because we want to world cruise for five or so
years starting when he's seven or eight. A familiarity with shipboard
routine...and disciplines...will help him and his parents.

Hope this helps,

R.