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Rebel Heart- Keeping positive

10036 Views 53 Replies 29 Participants Last post by zeehag, Apr 11, 2014

Mimsy

Discussion Starter · Apr 8, 2014

Firstly, Charlotte of Rebel Heart is my friend so not only has the huge criticism thrown at them and all cruising families by the public riled me up as a sailing mom but it's hurt me right where it counts- in my heart.

In an attempt to show the masses that sailing with kids- even crossing oceans- is not something only ONE person has ever attempted I, with the aid and photos of a couple of hundred of sailing moms put together this video in support of Rebel Heart and to promote sailing with your kids in a positive way.

This is about showering some compassion and support on a family who has literally just gone through hell and faces a fairly painful bit of mobs with pitchforks when they dock. More importantly, we want to let the world know that we who choose to sail with children are not irresponsible gadabouts, we are loving families who want to share the beauty of the world with our kids.
Hope you like it. Feel free to share as you like- I and the contributors think the positive message needs to be louder than those from people who do not know what it is to love the sea.
Peace,

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TomMaine

· #19 · Apr 9, 2014

Great idea to put this together. It's a nice video of something that's been going on for a long, long time. Non-sailors don't know this experience exists. Learning a sailing life and taking your kids(babies) with you across bays or oceans is one of the best things you can do as parents. I know it was for us.

caberg said:
If you publicize your family's entire life on the internet--complete with some very intimate details I might add--be prepared for the consequences. This story would have garnered far less interest had this family not had the blog and the following that they encouraged.

I sure agree with that. What you write on social media can be as personal as you want. But if something happens and you're put into a media-focus, media may treat casual lines as states evidence.

Some media have taken a line or two of this mothers blog and used it as the lede in article on a sensational parenting article.

We all know as sailors, life on the water has high, highs, and low, lows. Everybody vents the extreme emotional side(some on the internet).

It's not fair for responsible media to take those personal snippets, and create an article around it. It's certainly not journalism.

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TomMaine

· #21 · Apr 9, 2014

Minnewaska said:
It's just hard to take it in context, because we used to only hear about it when it boiled over.

I do predict that the self-exploitation of facebook and personal blogs is going to eliminate the sense of privacy for future generations. May or may not be a bad thing.

We had an imaginary button on our last boats bulkhead. "If you want to get off the boat and go home, PUSH" The gelcoat was worn off around it. Then something would change, and nobody would want to push it..until the next time.

I could be wrong, but having grown up in and around a whole village of kids, now, just becoming adults, I've witnessed a sort of fire-wall social media culture. They know how to use it because they've learned how it can bite them.

On the other hand, I'm still amazed at how many- their parents age- 'post' on the internet, as if they're talking to a small group on an island.

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TomMaine

· #30 · Apr 9, 2014

Maine Sail said:
Tom,

Oh and we know judgmental idiots. You should have seen the flak we took for this photo, which graced the cover of a local sailing rag..

I can't see what's wrong with that photo. Maybe they aren't used to kids like ours, that spend a lot of time, on the water?

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TomMaine

· #40 · Apr 9, 2014

I love all these photos of kids on boats.

Everyone will have a different experience, but for us, when they were the youngest aboard, they would have been well suited for long distance on a sailboat.

As babies and toddlers, the boat was a whole world to them. Sea berths were easily fashioned(they sleep a lot at this age), safe play areas with lee cloths in several berths, the cockpit well with a little water in it formed a perfect swimming pool for toddlers(in calm conditions). Best of all, when we were sailing, we spent every minute together.

But we(parents) were not up for crossing oceans or long term cruising. Yet during a few short cruises, one like this to the Bahamas from New England, they were perfectly suited having just turned 2 and 3.

From this age on though, their world was a beach. We sailed from beach, to beach, to beach,...

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