Moving onto boat with 5 children

[lrjetav8r]

Hello everyone!...We have been reading this website for several months..part of the process of working up our courage for this. The plan is to buy a bigger boat this winter (we have a Catalina 25), spend the spring and summer learning to handle it, get if outfitted with what we need. Then after hurricane season, head for the Bahamas. We have picked the Morgan 41 out island. It fits our budget and seems to be the roomiest boat in this size. It also has a reputation as a good, solid, safe boat. Our question is...can anyone compare the Morgan 41 outisland and the the Morgan 45 ft. Model 454. We are wondering if the living area on the 454 is larger than on the 41? We have been on the 41 but there is no 454 close enough to look at easily. (our children are 5, 6, 7, 8, and 13).

[cburger]

I have no knowledge of the Morgan 454 you are asking about, however having five children live full time aboard a 45' sailboat you are truly a brave soul. Wish you all the best for safe and wondrous adventures wherever you may roam.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Irjetav8r.

[familycruisers]

Welcome to CF. People said we were nuts with two kids on a 26'. You make due with what you got.

[Cuttyhunk]

Have you looked into an out island 51? Twenty years ago, when I was cruising in the Caribbean, there was a family with 4 or 5 kids on a 51. They were having a great time. The boat name was "yacht to be here", which I liked a lot!

[lrjetav8r]

Thanks for the encouragement CBurger. Bethflkys we looked at the OI 51 and we would love to have one. The problem is Boat US will insure us for 41 ft or less because of lack of experience with bigger sailboats AND only inland, lakes and waterways. Now Allstate will insure us (at 1/3 the cost) for inland lakes and waterways and coastal but the boat can only be 30 years old or newer. So for a 1983 or later bigger boat, they seem to be out of our price range.

[Cuttyhunk]

Originally Posted by lrjetav8r

Thanks for the encouragement CBurger. Bethflkys we looked at the OI 51 and we would love to have one. The problem is Boat US will insure us for 41 ft or less because of lack of experience with bigger sailboats AND only inland, lakes and waterways. Now Allstate will insure us (at 1/3 the cost) for inland lakes and waterways and coastal but the boat can only be 30 years old or newer. So for a 1983 or later bigger boat, they seem to be out of our price range.

Hmmm. What will you do for insurance once you leave for the Bahamas? If neither will cover you then, maybe you can find another company, less restrictive, that can. Or get more experience?

[Amapola]

Welcome and best wishes. I can't imagine living with 5 children on a boat. Please update us on your progress.

[bobconnie]

We raised 4 kids aboard a 42 ftr! 3 girls and 1 boy ! It was a little close but it worked out fine for us ! I really think the way ya bring em up makes more differents then where ya raise em!! Our kids still have friends they met 20 yrs ago in other countrys that they still see or communicate with today!! And they constantly tell us how much they thank us for including them in our dreams! There memorys they say, are worth more then any land locked home they could have had ! Talk to your kids and include them in the plans for your future, it will make them feel like they have at least a small amount of input in both your and there future !! Just our 2 cents

[SV THIRD DAY]

What we found now in year 6 of living aboard (4 cruising Mexico) with our two kids is that the size of the boat and space doesn't really matter. Oh it may matter a little bit if you were considering a 60ft Cat...but on a Morgan OI 41 or 45...no...it's all the same. Personal space, kids having their own room...those are all modern societal "norms" that generations of people before us didn't have and somehow were able to not just survive but flurish.

Your family and friends will call you crazy and give you 100 reasons why you shouldn't go...ignore them all.

[SvenG]

I'd never move onto a boat that had 5 children !



-Sven

[Kenomac]

Two adults and five kids living on a 41 ft sailboat.... Add a couple of pets and you'll have excellent components for a new reality TV show.

[lrjetav8r]

We definitely include the kids, we talk to them constantly and they have looked at the boats with us (they even help work on our current boat!). Thanks!

[lrjetav8r]

Thanks! We plan to tell family and friends when we get on the boat! LOL...We plan to blog while we are cruising and when we get our boat bought!...

[lrjetav8r]

We have a sailing buddy who says he just puts his wife in the dingy and puts out about 100 ft of line and he can hardly hear her...think that would work for the kids?? LOL