Liveaboard/extended trips with 3! kids
 

So we have been planning on making a very big plunge of taking half a year off and doing a liveaboard - probably the VI.

We have read lots of books, blogs etc etc, but one thing I have noticed is a trend. All the families that do this usually have at most 2 kids, and a smattering of girls.

Can parents with 3 energetic boys pull this off?

Apologies about implied gender bias there, but I *do* think girls make easier first mates in the 3-10 years old range!

I think CruisingDad has boys that age and is successfully cruising now - anyone have a link to his blog?

This?
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/members/cruisingdad.html

Looks like he only has a pair of first mates (or maybe one is a cabin boy :) )

Yes, if you carry an adequate supply of manacles and leg irons.

lol

how far are you straying away from land?

once i get some sailing hours under my belt i plan on making a trip to the gulf in the winter for some sailing around the keys islands to escape what we call winter in the caolinas.

I plan on sailing from morning to about noon. After that stop at the nearest island for camp the rest of the day. Only spending nights/ morning hours in the boat will be much easier on everyone. The dogs will also appreciate the time out to run and stretch. I won't ever be leaving the site of land so stopping points for me will not be much of an issue. I'll also hopefully avoid all the afternoon thunderstorms.

If me, my 2 kids and wife were all stuck on our venture 21 for a week solid....there would be a fight!

Since a month has passed I'll follow the thread drift. We've cruised the East Coast US for many years, including the coastal hops and ICW route from the Carolinas to the Keys. Is this your route,- you mentioned a gulf? Plans to find an island to stop and camp at each noon are not realistic. There are some good places for this, but they won't be presenting themselves frequently or by your schedule. What is the route that you are considering? Take care and joy, Aythya crew

I live in the upstate of SC so i'll be trailering the boat to the keys.

I've yet to set a destination to set sail. Hopefully not far from the hundreds of uninhabited islands that are around the keys

the orginal plan was to take a trailer full of kayaks down there and camp on the islands. Basicly fishing and hopefully manatee sight seeing.

Now that i've aquired a sailboat and found out that the wife and daughter only like kayaking down rivers (lakes are too much work) so the kayaks are out.

I've also had issues finding out just what islands you can camp on. I'm not into camp grounds, i prefer true primitive camping. Leave nothing behind but foot prints kind of camping.

The dogs also like island camping. The smaller the island the better, that way it's easier for me to clean up after the dogs and i don't have to worry about them disturbing the wildlife.

with the sailboat i'm not acutally planning on caming on the island, only hanging out on the beach all day.

Ah,- now I see the plan! I just didn't see it working for the coast from the Carolinas, but it can happen in the keys. Probably best on the bayside, though there's a shortage of sandy beaches. There's an amazing stretch of white desolate undeveloped wilderness beach at Cape Sable, but no easy protected anchorage. Also, some very nice protected places out the "Big Spanish" channel west of Marathon. Take care and joy, Aythya crew