Who's got a boat and how old were your dcs when you started taking them on it?

[Kathyis6incheshigh]

Am dying to talk about boats. Please indulge me as I never get to go sailing any more and I really really enjoyed Katymac's Oppie/Topper thread last Fri.

We have a little plastic dinghy called a Bobbin, which cost £100 and which we have never sailed, a 12 foot clinker Tideway dinghy which I bought to do up but had 2 children in quick succession so she is still very leaky and unusable, and a Canadian canoe hanging up in the garage.

Am suffering from serious boating withdrawal symptoms....can anyone come and talk about boats (any sort will do) and cheer me up please?

My dad had a broads boat (sailing with a cuddy?) and DD has been going on since she was about 2

We have a speed boat which we acquired last year when Ds was 6 months and DD was 3. They both love it, in fact DS will often fall asleep on it while DD sits at the front shouting "awesome" and "faster daddy/mummy"!!!

DD also goes in the doughnut! She is self confessed mermaid though

Katy, my dd is 2....

Marmite that sounds FUN.

It is serious fun! I mastered kneeboarding last year (to my dh's disgust I was a bit of a natural for once in my life ) We are going to tackle the wakeboard this year!!!

I would suggest a very good lifejacket and a harness (not a sailing one - a high chair one)

How tippy is your boat?

We have a mirror dinghy and are teaching our 7 and 5yo dds to sail it. Slightly hampered by the fact I've forgetten everything I learnt in pre-child days, though DP knows it all, he's a watersports instructor. we're also hampered by having a 3yo who likes the boat but we aren't teaching her yet. She has had a go at rowing it.

Oh, we also have 5 windsurfers, 4 canoes and dd2's inflatable dinghy. . Plus use of Dp's brother's yacht when we want it. Too many boats and too many small children here....

Marmite, what is kneeboarding????

When we get the Tideway fixed it will be totally untippy because it's so big and heavy, and a perfect boat for children. I'm in the middle of contacting boatbuilders at the moment.

DH is very scared of strapping children to things in case anything goes wrong and they get trapped - I think he is being a bit excessive tbh.

It's funny how dinghies multiply and you end up with a bit of a fleet, isn't it?

DH used to own half a SCOD (South Coast One Design) but he sold it when we got together as she's on the Isle of Wight and we're in Yorkshire and it's just too far

Instead of standing up on a board you kneel on a padded board. Easier to get your balance than water skiing I think (have not tried skiing yet!!)

We have a Wayfarer, Tooper Byte and a semi-rigid inflatable with an engine. The kids have been going in boats since they were 6 months old. DS loves it but dd who is 4 has a litle more desire for self preservation! I had an oppie and then a topper when I was younger, and will definitelt teach my dc to sail. I am in a rush to start but keep being told that 7/8 is better, or you could put them off.

I second getting a good life jacket, and then tying them into the boat.

I am beginning to think dh and I are being quite wimpy about getting the children involved - will show him this thread.

We have not taken ours in boats at all yet unless you count a week on my parents' motor cruiser when dd was 3 months.

We have a friend who took his daughter sailing from 6 months but he is not the sort of person whose attitude to risk you would emulate IYKWIM. Plus he was in the Norfolk Broads which has got to be about the safest water in the country.

While Boaty people are around - can you all keep your eyes open for a reasonable Oppie for DD?

ds has gone on grandparents yacht a fair few times. He has a safety line and life preserver. He is now 7 but 1st proper sail when 5, overnight when 7. When younger he would gone on yacht perhaps in oand out of marina. Always use a line tho. Ds is able to go round yacht independently although is obviously watched.

WIth the dingy, we have put a long line on dingy and attached to cleat. Ds has then gone out on his own (still attached to cleat) and I have watched from pontoon. He has loved that. Started that last year aged 6. It was my mum who suggested it (I dont think I would have let him by himself but tbh I think my mum was right). Obv wearing life preserver at all times.

THing to remember is that there isnt an awful lots ofr little ones to do on the yacht, dont want them bleow deck because of motion and they arent quite ready to do tacking. Ds did helm a fair bit under grandpas watchful eye . I also bought tubs of bubbles which we sat on the bow and blew. We also sang alot of sea shanties!

Dramaqueen, Wayfarers are great aren't they? My parents had a Wanderer, which is based on a Wayfarer but a couple of feet smaller.

forgot to say is a Gibsea 35(?) Sailing yacht

My parents don't want me to bring dd on their motor cruiser which I am a bit about as I think she'd be fine (though obv a lot of work to supervise) but I think they've been put off by my nephew who tends to do the opposite of what he's told.

Awen, our friend who took his dd sailing at 6 months used to end up basically single-handing his yacht when the children were older while his wife stayed below with the children and mopped up the vomit.
At least one of them has been put off sailing and I don't think his wife enjoys it much any more.

I don't think I'd take mine to sea for a while but dinghies or inland waters ought to be ok. More to look at, as well.

Going below deck is more than likely going to end up in vomit. My parents have dishes on lines just in case . I got ds kwells and seabeands. Kept him occupied too. He loved it and slept well on the boat too.

We used to have a little Dory (sp?) and we would take DS1 on it when he was about 6 months or so. Breastfeeding a baby in a life jacket takes a bit of mastering though.

Not me but my Dad. A little fishing boat type thing with a cuddy and an outboard. Called Rowan, moored in Tobermory. Sadly it's gone now along with the house, but my eldest was on it and fishing at about 2 and my DD went on it as a tiny baby (6 weeks) - got a photo of my dad in his woolly hat holding her and grinning from ear to ear. I was 3 months pregnant with DS#2 when we visited for the last time after they'd decided to sell. Still makes me very very sad to think of it....

Oh I forgot! Mum bought a plastic salmon and managed to tie it to DS#1's line under the boat so that he caught a fish the first time he went out. He was really chuffed. Still a bit bemused about it though to this day

At 9 days old my DD was on board our yacht albeit it was berthed at the time. At 8 months old we had a weeks holiday on it though it was berthed mostly then too. We did take it out for a wee trip but motored mostly and DD slept either her car seat or bicycle seat which was strapped to the transom. We now have 2 kids and have had them out for a sail but always when there were plenty other folk on board to keep watch or hang on to them. We did venture out last week for a very short motor with just me, DH and the two kids aged 3.10 and 2.5 but TBH it was just a bit too stressful for me. I couldn't concentrate properly. They had their lifejackets on at all times and were made to stay below when we were setting off and coming into berth but like someone mentioned before, there isn't much that they can do so unless the marine wildlife is putting on a spectacular display I don't think we'll be doing much until they are a good bit older.

My friend and her brother were tied on board a very small boat from a very early age when they went to sea with their parents for weeks at a time. They both turned into brilliant sailors. My friend however would never do the same with her own kids.

Megalegs, breastfeeding in a life jacket has to beat breastfeeding in a winter wetsuit though (windsurfing gear). I used to have to practically strip naked on the beach just to feed dd1. Most undignified.

Expressing in a wetsuit is also grim, IME.

In fact now I remember why I lost enthusiasm for watersports for a few years...

Selling boats is so sad - I get v emotional when I see a SCOD (and apparently there is a new Woody Allen film coming out with Ewan McGregor restoring one, so I will be sobbing all the way through that).