For years, there has been a noticeable trend towards family holidays with children on boats and yachts. In this context, more special kids’ and youth sailing programs are being offered on the market, and not least, boat dealers are reporting increasing interest in family boats with appropriate equipment. For a successful boating holiday with the family, we have summarized various aspects and fundamental points here, because sailing and motorboating with children is a real challenge, despite all the joy.
Safety First
What applies to everyone on board applies even more to small and older children, and not least to teenagers: Everyone should feel comfortable and safe on the boat. Reading tip: These rescue devices are essential on board
Wearing life jackets and non-slip shoes is non-negotiable. Like every person on board, children must also have a suitable and functional jacket (and wear it!). Depending on age, weight, and height, retailers offer automatic life jackets as well as toddler-appropriate solid foam jackets, whereby crotch straps are essential in any case to prevent slipping out over the head. The solid – and therefore rather bulky – jackets are also available in children’s colors or printed with corresponding motifs. However, these are intended more for use in the harbor, where playing, fishing, and other adventures are the order of the day.
To nevertheless give children sufficient freedom of movement on board, appropriately dimensioned lifelines with a loop for the jacket and snap hooks for clipping on at strategic and manageable points are a good option.
Other conditions must also fit in order to be best prepared for childish urge to move, curiosity, and behavior that is not always predictable. A guardrail net can be very helpful here to prevent accidental falling overboard; it can also be mounted on a charter boat before the start of the trip without too much effort.
The Pros and Cons
Even with the general fundamental question “sailboat or motorboat?”, the child topic appears in this context: On which boat type can (small) children be accommodated more safely on board? A spacious aft deck and a clear cockpit have great advantages, but if the steering wheel and other standing and running rigging literally stand/lie in the way of the little crew members, accidents are pre-programmed. Benches invite climbing, and a steep companionway represents an additional source of danger. Here it means weighing all pros and cons.
Deck salon yachts and motorboats, on which the salon and cockpit are on one level, can represent a good movement and supervision area when it comes to supervision, “play corner”, and other safe movement space. Even below deck, the author has already succeeded in converting bunks using nets & co into a “cave” or a safe afternoon resting and sleeping place.
Always an Eye on the Kids
In addition, supervision and responsibility within the family/crew for the children on board can be helpful through a fixed assignment, for example, divided into the phases while underway and for the times after docking in the harbor. But despite all aids and special attention, a certain risk always remains, and as with all crews, trip plans must be tailored to the needs of the weakest link in the chain. Short daily distances, varied shore leave, beach games, fishing, and other “adventures” should be the focus, and the dinghy can quickly become a pirate ship in a small bay.
Older children and teenagers can be explained the basics of sailing in simple explanations and illustrative examples, and a small knot-tying course can become a fun competition for the whole family.
The Most Important Points at a Glance
- Boat tours and trip plans must be aligned with the children’s needs, for example, through defensively planned daily stages.
- Life jackets and non-slip (bathing) shoes are non-negotiable.
- With small children on board, a guardrail net belongs to the basics.
- Child-appropriate instruction in events on board and the necessary behavior should start at home (playful handling of the often unloved life jacket) and must lead to a few, but clearly understandable rules and practical hints before the first casting off (secured areas, slipping hazard not only when the boat pitches and rolls, hints on sharp edges, lines, forbidden zones, etc.).
- Clearly regulated supervision duties among the adults.
- Small toys, coloring supplies, and books ensure meaningful occupation/variety on board, not only in bad weather.
Conclusion: Sailing and boating with children and teenagers is and remains a real challenge, even with all precautionary measures. For it to become and remain a wonderful experience for the whole family, safety on board must be given top priority. With a prudent and responsible approach to this quite complex topic, the foundation for a lifelong joy in this beautiful hobby can be laid for children already with the first days on the water.
