New to Living Aboard and Being Pregnant.

[Ansmith]

Originally Posted by Cap Erict3

I have to say that one of the best things that we gave our children was space. That is hard to come by in a boat.

Not much room to crawl.

Best wishes.

Thanks for the input! That is one thing we are def looking at because we have a dog and cat as well. I guess a lot of outings is one of the best things to do to not delay them walking.

[svHannabel]

Awesome lifestyle and so cool to hear that you're planning to bring a baby into the world as a liveaboard! We don't currently live aboard, but we've spent lots of time cruising weekends up to 3 months at time with our 3 young daughters and feel blessed to have done so.

The folks at Zach Aboard have tons of great info about living aboard with kids. Check 'em out!

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by Ansmith

............What would you say is the biggest challenge of having a small child on board? .................

Our biggest challenges came when our children were learning to move about independantly outside on the boat and the docks. Our three year old daughter fell from our finger pier into the water on the very day before our son was born. Fortunately I was nearby, but Nancie was in no condition to help. There is a concern for the condition of the slip and the ease for getting on and off the boat. Actually, we never put netting around the perimeter of our boat. Our children were at a greater risk with all the open area around the docks and we never left them unattended as toddlers. When we did feel that they were old enough for some independance we had them wear life jackets while playing outside. We were very careful to find well-fitting life jackets that were not bulky or cumbersome. We were very structured with our designation of which parent was attentive to the children and we kept strict rules as to their movemoent on board while we were sailing with attention to where they required life jackets and what areas of the deck they were free to travel. There is risk among the running rigging with the great stress and sudden changes in the tension of lines.

[cwyckham]

Also check Windtraveler and rebel heart blogs

[rw58ph]

You did not mention what area, marina and boat?

A lot depends on the area climate, the marina, the slip and the boat! My wife bought the Eagle with our children with grandchildren in mind. Our youngest daughter moved aboard with a 7 year old, one years old and 7 month PG. Certainly change our live style plans. It certainly can be done. However, the further north you are the more concerns there will be.

[gonesail]

one of the biggest risks you face while living aboard is getting in and out of the boat .. whether at a dock or anchored out. especially when you are carrying a child or a dog. be very careful.

[Ansmith]

Originally Posted by rw58ph

You did not mention what area, marina and boat?

A lot depends on the area climate, the marina, the slip and the boat! My wife bought the Eagle with our children with grandchildren in mind. Our youngest daughter moved aboard with a 7 year old, one years old and 7 month PG. Certainly change our live style plans. It certainly can be done. However, the further north you are the more concerns there will be.

Sorry we are in Norfolk va right now and depending on what life choice we decide to do will determine where we end up. My husband is military and he still needs to decide if he will stay in or not but our plans are to end up in Florida. Our boat now is at a marina in Hampton va.

Right now we are looking at getting a 45' Morgan 452 ketch. We still have yet to go look at it since it's down in Florida but by the looks of it, It looks like something for us. I'll have to look up an eagle. Thanks for your input.

[Ansmith]

Captforce... I could completely understand that being an issue and I guess that would be the biggest problem that we could come across but it can be easily avoided with making sure one parent is glued to the kid when outside or on the dock. Thanks so much!

[Ansmith]

Originally Posted by gonesail

one of the biggest risks you face while living aboard is getting in and out of the boat .. whether at a dock or anchored out. especially when you are carrying a child or a dog. be very careful.

Agreed! I find that it can be a challenge getting on the boat alone sometimes. All it takes it's stepping wrong and you'd be in the water. That's my biggest fear of it all is falling in while pregnant. I'm lucky to say my dog has no issues jumping on the boat alone.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by Ansmith

................. That's my biggest fear of it all is falling in while pregnant. I'm lucky to say my dog has no issues jumping on the boat alone.

Let the dog do the leaping. When you are in a term of a different balance and responsibility, make a point of not being alone!

[bobconnie]

I changed the rules when Connie was with child aboard our boat !! No longer one hand for the boat and one for yourself, it was two hands for the prego lady !! No kidding , you will find the safe ways to go aboard and off and up and down ! Not really any worse then a two story home maybe??

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Ansmith

Thanks Dave that's a good idea.

My biggest fear is my stomach getting too big and falling off and hitting my stomach while going down. We plan to be docked but I know there will be days out or weekends anchored. I was told your balance isn't always good while pregnant.

Yes and doubly so if the boat is moving , even at the dock. Getting on and off can be tricky , depending on the boat , and the dock. My wife refused to use passarelles. ( stern boarding gangplanks)!. Most of the time I had to get onto a finger. Even then sailing boats with high freeboards can be issues.

I bought a small 2 step step ladder to make things easier. But A heavy plywood box with two steps is better. ( buy hubby a saw!)

dave

[rw58ph]

The Eagle is the ugly old big trawler shown in my avatar. If you are going to be a live aboard and room/space is important to you then you might want to look a motor/power boats especially trawlers as they are sort of square and multi levels. Trawlers are full/semi displacement like a sail boat cruise/go at hull speed, and fuel efficient. Hull speed is the square root of the boats water line to a max of 1.3 times. So the longer the water line in theory the fast the hull speed.

If the boat has a stern that the boat can be entered through when tied to the dock is usually the easiest. When our PG daughter live with us I had the Eagle stern tied and the swim platform hung about a foot over the dock, so it was an easy safe way to enter the boat. However, what ever boat you get make sure you can get on/off and in out of the boat with one hand as the other will be full. Best to start thinking and practicing while you are still able.

Also might want to install emergency ladders, ropes, floatation around/along the boat. I installed emergency ladders at the bow and stern of the boat, we have fenders, ropes, and whistles with in easy reach if needed.

Thank GOD for grandchildren as my wife wanted to have another child while we could.

[Ansmith]

Thanks for the input everyone! I'm starting to feel a lot more eased and knowledgable to do this without fear. Especially knowing there are ways around everything!

[Ansmith]

Originally Posted by rw58ph

The Eagle is the ugly old big trawler shown in my avatar. If you are going to be a live aboard and room/space is important to you then you might want to look a motor/power boats especially trawlers as they are sort of square and multi levels. Trawlers are full/semi displacement like a sail boat cruise/go at hull speed, and fuel efficient. Hull speed is the square root of the boats water line to a max of 1.3 times. So the longer the water line in theory the fast the hull speed.

If the boat has a stern that the boat can be entered through when tied to the dock is usually the easiest. When our PG daughter live with us I had the Eagle stern tied and the swim platform hung about a foot over the dock, so it was an easy safe way to enter the boat. However, what ever boat you get make sure you can get on/off and in out of the boat with one hand as the other will be full. Best to start thinking and practicing while you are still able.

Also might want to install emergency ladders, ropes, floatation around/along the boat. I installed emergency ladders at the bow and stern of the boat, we have fenders, ropes, and whistles with in easy reach if needed.

Thank GOD for grandchildren as my wife wanted to have another child while we could.

We have looked at powerboat and I will say I'm in love with them. Anyone could find enough room in them to live. We thought about getting one simply because of the room it has but we also know that if we would do a powerboat we won't be able to travel much. Having a sailboat would give us the ability to travel more due to costs. We have said if we are going to live on a boat we want the whole experience! Traveling and all! Def don't want to live tied up to a dock just so we can say we live on a boat. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

That's a great idea with setting up emergency equipment around the boat for easy access. I will def do that! Thanks!