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Original poster

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

66 replies

Kathyis6incheshigh · 18/06/2007 12:33

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?

OP posts:
dramaqueen · 18/06/2007 20:02

Optimists here Katymac

Katymac · 18/06/2007 20:31

Dramaqueen thanks the one in London is one I'm kinda eyeing up

But I don't know much about buying boats & I'm not sure about travelling that far in case it's no good

I might keep looking at it for a few days to see if I can make up my mind

NannyL · 18/06/2007 20:57

MY old charge 1st went sailing on the family yacht aged 3 weeks

1st STAYED over night on the family yacht aged 5 weeks (along with me, mb, db and brothers aged 5 and 8)

His eldest brotehr had his 1st sail aged 10 days!

aged 15 months.... 15 month old spent a MONTH on a motor baot (a 40ft gin palace).... he learnt to crawl and climb stairs while on the boat...

we had a cot / high chair / buggy / steriliser, and all other baby (and children) paraphenalia on the boat as well..

did the same the following year... but up graded to a 50ft gin palace... again me, parenst and 2 older brothers!

We all had a super duper time!, and given the cahnec i would re lives both of those months of my life anytime

We live by the sea.... there are lots of families who get their young toddlers and children out in family mirrors etc many weekends.... children start learning to sail oppies aged 4 at our sailing club.... they can 'crew an oppie' once they are about 3... and the even tinier ones can sit 3 or 4 of them in an oppy while a 'grown up' toes them along in a canoe!

Never too young to sail IMO!

Skribble · 18/06/2007 22:02

DS 10 has an AB, dinky little boat only big enough for 1, he sailed it himself last year on the end of a very long rope.

BIL has a Mirror dingy, had some great times in it.

Both of them are salvage boats, BIL draged his from the bottom of a Loch where it had been for years, he had to swim down and hook a rope on to it. DS was given his boat by a lovely old couple whos kids had grown up and left the boat behind, DS helped his grandad restore it.

Original poster
Kathyis6incheshigh · 18/06/2007 22:31

Never thought you could sail at the end of a rope though I learned to row with one.

God we really must get ours in the water this year - at least the Bobbin, even if the Tideway doesn't get fixed up.

OP posts:
TooTicky · 18/06/2007 22:35

Am reading Arthur Ransome atm.

Original poster
Kathyis6incheshigh · 18/06/2007 22:36

Which one, Tooticky?

OP posts:
TooTicky · 18/06/2007 22:38

Picts and Martyrs. A friend has been lending them to me - am devastated to be on the last but one.

octo · 18/06/2007 22:42

My brother has just sailed round the world on his 46ft yacht with this wife and 3 boys age 3,5 and 7. Had a great time - and survived - back in England now on solid ground. At one point they were 3 weeks at sea with no land .....

Original poster
Kathyis6incheshigh · 18/06/2007 22:42

I love that one! Great Northern is a bit of a disappointment but you can always re-read the rest.

Then go sailing.

OP posts:
Original poster
Kathyis6incheshigh · 18/06/2007 22:43

Octo - your brother.

DH's best friend from school is sailing round the world at the moment and we were invited out but have been busy having babies instead

OP posts:
Skribble · 18/06/2007 22:47

Kathyis6incheshigh Sailing on a rope involved grandad running up and down the shore while Ds tacked back and forward, needs the wind in the right direction and a very patient Grandad.

octo · 18/06/2007 22:48

Same here!!

Original poster
Kathyis6incheshigh · 18/06/2007 22:51

It's a fab idea though Skribble - I'm sure dh would be up for some running backwards and forwards when dd is a bit bigger

OP posts:
katelyle · 18/06/2007 22:59

We live on a boat! We also have a sailing canoe which dd (11) is just starting to have a go at, and I have just bouught an inflatable on Ebay for ds (6) to paddle about in

Original poster
Kathyis6incheshigh · 18/06/2007 23:00

Ooh Kate, what sort of boat?

OP posts:
TooTicky · 18/06/2007 23:02

Kathy, I would love to learn to sail but we have no sea, no lakes, 4 dcs and no money. Still, one day...

Skribble · 18/06/2007 23:05

Fortunatly we are near the sea, lochs, have 2 kids and no money, hence the salvaged boats and second hand life jackets and wetsuits, its amazing what you find at bootsales.

Original poster
Kathyis6incheshigh · 18/06/2007 23:11

Tooticky maybe you will find a friendly MNer with a boat near you to take you out

It's amazing how many little reservoirs and man-made lakes there are dotted around the country that you never knew about with dinghy sailing clubs on them.

Also it's surprising how cheap the stuff can be if you are lucky - eg our perfectly sailable Bobbin dinghy which dh got for £100.

The 4 dcs are more of an obstacle though....

OP posts:
TooTicky · 18/06/2007 23:11

We are very near a canal

Original poster
Kathyis6incheshigh · 18/06/2007 23:13

mmm rather hard work if the wind is against you and you have to tack.

OP posts:
TooTicky · 18/06/2007 23:16

Aah, all these enchasting and only half-understood words like tack, bowsprit, boom, jibe, reef... Jibbooms and Bobstays, I must find a way to do it!

Original poster
Kathyis6incheshigh · 18/06/2007 23:17

I think when you have read the Ransome books you have a pretty good idea of how to sail

OP posts:
Original poster
Kathyis6incheshigh · 18/06/2007 23:19

A weekend course would cost about £150 to get you started. That would get you RYA Level 1, then the same again for Level 2. Once you have Level 2 you can hire dinghies at most places.

OP posts:
TooTicky · 18/06/2007 23:24

Definitely not yet then. Am off to bed to read and dream...