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Old 15-06-2012, 06:18   #1
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Looking for Crusing families with kids

We're a rather large family that would like to talk with cruising families to hear their stories especially how the children enjoy sailing and the destinations you've reached. We're not cruisers yet, but are "looking before we leap" in purchasing a boat, selling mostly everything and then sailing off. (At least that's the theory of it all).
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Old 15-06-2012, 11:29   #2
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Re: Looking for Crusing families with kids

My family is doing the exact same thing! Our house will be taken back by the bank by next year and we're looking to make some really big changes. We also have a large family with 4 children ages 14, 7 and 4. The 14 yr olds are twin girls. My husband has been talking and reading about sailing for over a year now and we've started to sell some of our larger belongings (furniture, aquariums, etc.) to put towards our funds to buy a boat. Our goal is to buy a smaller boat, under 30 ft, to get really comfortable and familiar with sailing. Then to sell it and upgrade to a 40+ with room enough for all of us to sleep comfortably. We are in California so we're looking to buy and practice on the west coast for about a year before we load everyone up and sail away!
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Old 15-06-2012, 18:42   #3
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Re: Looking for Crusing families with kids

Check out Totem's blog. They also have lots of links to others cruising with kids on boats all around the world.
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Old 15-06-2012, 20:17   #4
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Re: Looking for Crusing families with kids

We took our kids and went sailing doing "boat schooling". The kids loved it, and the memories are awesome. Our kids didn't have cell phones and TV, and they adjusted quite nicely. They made their own peer group among themselves and among the islanders that they met along the way.

Go for it.
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Old 15-06-2012, 20:28   #5
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Re: Looking for Crusing families with kids

We raised 4 on board. 3 girls and 1 boy! They all still sail, they were home schooled till high school, we marina sailed for 3 yrs why this was going on !! They have many tales to tell and loved their life aboard. Theres no way to tell how they will adjust to the sailing life but kids are way more adjustable then most any adult !! just our 2 cents
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Old 15-06-2012, 20:54   #6
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Re: Looking for Crusing families with kids

Thank you, all, for your replies. My wife and I have 5 children. The problem we sort of face is getting a boat big enough so that we'll all fit comfortably. It seems that the 50 foot range is probably what we'll get. At least that's what I think.

Our intentions are to cruise the East coast and possibly into the Carribean for the next several years. But there are many matters that must be resolved first. One big issue is- "are you REALLY sure you want to do this?"

I would like to hear more if you folks have the time.

Thank you
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Old 17-06-2012, 03:42   #7
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Hi where sailing around Australia we two kids with us 14 f 12m just past our first year aboard and all is going well just make sure you have room on the boat .we have a blog at sail logs.com/member/wattsailing/
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Old 17-06-2012, 03:44   #8
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Hi where sailing around Australia we two kids with us 14 f 12m just past our first year aboard and all is going well just make sure you have room on the boat .we have a blog at sail logs.com/member/wattsailing/
sailblogs.com/member/wattsailing/
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Old 18-06-2012, 03:00   #9
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Re: Looking for Crusing families with kids

'Just read your webpage. Is your boat really a ferro-cement hull? Amazing.
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Old 18-06-2012, 15:21   #10
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'Just read your webpage. Is your boat really a ferro-cement hull? Amazing.
Yes Argos is FC, you see a lot a things are said about FC buy a lot of ppl that think they know what there talking about, all mediums that we use to build hulls out of have there issues Argos was built by professional boat builders she has been around the world 2times and we are on the 3rd I would say FC is as good as anything out there.
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Old 20-06-2012, 19:21   #11
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Re: Looking for Crusing families with kids

Do you think you'll have enough room with a 30 footer?

Is there any particular brand of boat you have in mind?

We're looking at Jeanneaus or Beneteaus. Island Packet are our preference but they don't have enough sleeping space.
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Old 20-06-2012, 20:46   #12
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Re: Looking for Crusing families with kids

Quote:
Originally Posted by PDA1 View Post
... My wife and I have 5 children. The problem we face is getting a boat big enough so that we'll all fit comfortably. It seems that the 50 foot range is probably what we'll get... Our intentions are to cruise the East coast and possibly into the Caribbean for the next several years... One big issue is- "are you REALLY sure you want to do this?"
We only had 2 kids, 12 & 15, when we took off in 2001, but we've had as many as 9 on board for extended periods. The kids each have their own sections of our website (unedited by us). Amanda & Christopher now love cruising, but it took a good year before they really engaged the lifestyle, so don't expect your kids to jump into it right away. We also published pages like Cruising With Teens & Family Cruising under our Cruising Info section that you might find interesting.

I will say that the cruising life usually produces GREAT kids, & I don't just mean our own, as we see it over & over. But it's a good idea to get your teens (at least) their own space, if at all possible. Teens need privacy, which is a rare commodity on a boat. We've known a couple of cruising families that have had to swallow the anchor because their kids revolted. When the kids are happy, the whole boat's happy. So we do what we can to cruise with other kid-boats.

Cruising kids are given more responsibilities, & they generally rise to that, becoming more responsible themselves. Amanda was standing a full night watch, responsible for the whole boat & the lives of her favorite people, when she was only 13. I was only a loud shout away, but she had to make the call.

Kids are also curious about what they're missing, like school life. So ours attended school when we came home to visit friends & family. They learned that cruising adults are more accepting of kids than many teachers. We treat kids more as adults, & the kids learn to relate to adults as adults.

Some of our kid's friends got back to their homes in time to return to school, & they universally wrote that school on the boat was MUCH better than on land, for lots of reasons.
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Old 21-06-2012, 03:46   #13
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Re: Looking for Crusing families with kids

Jon, I have read part of your adventures from your website. We've talked about your family and adventures at length.

You folks are now in Thailand...do you plan on going around South Africa?

Are there times you wished you had a monohull?

Are you running Ubuntu 11.10?
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Old 21-06-2012, 09:10   #14
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Re: Looking for Crusing families with kids

Hi PDA, We certainly do plan to go around South Africa, but not in 2012 & possibly not 2013 either (having too much fun in SE Asia).

I can't think of any time when we'd rather have had a mono, even those (very) few times we've had to go upwind at night. While we've crossed between Cape Town & Annapolis as crew in 47'-56' monohulls, we prefer multis for our own cruising.

We skipped over Vista, but much of the software we run needs Windows, & it's easier to do that running native Windows. After all, Bill bought me the boat
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Old 21-06-2012, 11:00   #15
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Re: Looking for Crusing families with kids

Best wishes to you and your crew in your adventures around the world.

Really enjoyed reading your story about converting the refrig/freezer and adding a washing machine.

It seems that cruising is the closest thing we'll ever come to space travel. That is- you have to carry everything with you.

Your resume is very impressive and congratulations to you on all of the hard work required to attain it.

Bill. Have you ever heard this one, "a world without fences and walls doesn't need windows or gates"?

Oh, I noticed you mentioned OpenCPN. Do you use it still or rely more upon Raymarine integration?

Thank you.
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