Family of 6 circumnavigaton

[SV THIRD DAY]

Just some advice from a guy that took his family (wife, son-8, daughter-9) on a 4yr cruise and was told by everyone he knew that he was crazy and would never make it.

Be aware and accept that some of the comments you will get on CF are a bit jaded because we see these types of "dreamer"posts weekly. Most fade away and they never buy a boat or if they do never make it out past the break water. So don't take it personally when the "here we go again" type of comments start flowing, giving you all the reasons you can't do it. And honestly, if those type of attitudes and comments quash your plans, then you should thank them, because you never would have made it anyway.

The EASY part is having the dream and hatching the plan, the hard part is realizing what part of the dream to let go of and ditch in order to save the rest of it:
Ideal Boat vs what you can get
Circumnavigation vs Coastal Cruising
Long passages that the family could hate vs short hops that they like

Don't make the common mistake of letting the beginning "dream" kill you when the inevitable tweaks to the dream need to happen, not to abandon the dream, but to turn the dream into reality. As someone who sells cruising gear, I see the big dreams collapse all the time when people get too ridged in the dream to let reality mold and shape the dream.

Dreams are great...but I'd rather have 40% of my "Dream" than just the dream any day. At 40%...hell even 20% you would have more adventure and memories than the average man out there busting his ass for a retirement age that fate won't let him reach.

Kids...
I laugh (politely of course) at people who think you can't cruise with kids of any age...sure you can. Maybe THEY can't....but you can, if that is what you want to do.

[chall]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

Just some advice from a guy that took his family (wife, son-8, daughter-9) on a 4yr cruise and was told by everyone he knew that he was crazy and would never make it.

Be aware and accept that some of the comments you will get on CF are a bit jaded because we see these types of "dreamer"posts weekly. Most fade away and they never buy a boat or if they do never make it out past the break water. So don't take it personally when the "here we go again" type of comments start flowing, giving you all the reasons you can't do it. And honestly, if those type of attitudes and comments quash your plans, then you should thank them, because you never would have made it anyway.

The EASY part is having the dream and hatching the plan, the hard part is realizing what part of the dream to let go of and ditch in order to save the rest of it:
Ideal Boat vs what you can get
Circumnavigation vs Coastal Cruising
Long passages that the family could hate vs short hops that they like

Don't make the common mistake of letting the beginning "dream" kill you when the inevitable tweaks to the dream need to happen, not to abandon the dream, but to turn the dream into reality. As someone who sells cruising gear, I see the big dreams collapse all the time when people get too ridged in the dream to let reality mold and shape the dream.

Dreams are great...but I'd rather have 40% of my "Dream" than just the dream any day. At 40%...hell even 20% you would have more adventure and memories than the average man out there busting his ass for a retirement age that fate won't let him reach.

Kids...
I laugh (politely of course) at people who think you can't cruise with kids of any age...sure you can. Maybe THEY can't....but you can, if that is what you want to do.

Well said.

We are living every twist and turn of what you just described right now and I could not of put it more aptly.

[Blue_marble]

Goodness, I hope the OP is still following this thread, after all that. We were in the same position, looking for an appropriate boat for accommodations for a boy and a girl. But that's just TWO kids, lol! As much as I'm a fan of monohulls over cats, I do think it'll be hard finding enough berths for everyone on a mono, within your budget.

Also, when I was a kid, we cruised with S/V Bagheera from South Africa to the Caribbean. At that point, only the two younger boys were cruising with them. The oldest was at boarding school. All this to say, their boat, a Beneteau 38, is not going to work for you.

Try reaching out to S/V Family Circus: Family Circus They're on a Lagoon 470, cruising with 5 of their six kids. While that boat may not work for you, they may be able to give you a list of boats they looked at and considered.

Good luck! Many people find it *fun* to look for their boat. I found it frustrating finding tons of boats that would work for us, but were too expensive. In the end, we came back to the very same type of boat I circumnavigated on as a teenager, lol!

My last recommendation would be to get the boat asap, so that everyone can get to know her over the next 2 years or so, before you take off.