Cruising with an only child

wilsonlb · #1 (**permalink**) 08-23-2005

A tiny ember of "The Dream" has taken hold in my wife''s mind. As a former bluewater guy I''m excited because I think I can stoke this flame.

But I''m held back by a concern for my 7 year old son. All the articles I read about cruising with kids deal with more than one child. Having another kid around to share life with seems too important.

Anyone have any resources/tales to mollify or substantiate my concern?

Nereus32 · #2 (**permalink**) 08-24-2005

We cruised for eight months with our two year old daughter. I admit, cruising with a child changed our style of cruising - not many long passages or overnights. However, having kids is NOT an excuse to avoid cruising. Extra precausions are needed, but very manageable.

As for not having enough kids to cruise, I haven''t heard that one before. Again, I don''t think it is a valid reason. On our trip, we found boats with kids tend to gravitate together, so if you are worried about social interaction for your son, don''t. The best part of cruising together will be the family relationships you''ll build by being together all the time and working together as a crew. Be sure to include your son as a crew member, as he is getting old enough to have responsibilities. Make him part of the adventure, not just a spectator.

I recommend you go for it. You won''t regret it. It will be a family experience filled with memories to last a life time. My daughter, who is now three, still considers the boat her first home, even though we are now living back ashore. We have found she is socially ahead over her peers, a trait we attribute to our time cruising and having daily social interaction with others, young and old (as opposed to sitting at home watching TV).

We kept a log you can read on the internet at http://www.nereus32.com. It is more geared toward our whole trip than just cruising with our daughter but, you may find some insight in there. Feel free to drop me a line from the "Contact Us" page of the site if you have any questions or need more encouragement.

wilsonlb · #3 (**permalink**) 08-24-2005

That does make me feel better. The departure date (at least the one I have in my mind) is still a year-and-a-half away, but as we/if we get more serious I will likely be in touch.

Haven''t looked at the web site yet, but look forward to it. I always enjoy hearing others'' tales.