Top tips for sailing with tweens
For families planning a long-term sailing trip, the pre-teen years are probably the best. But as Aimee Nance, discovered, tweens come with their own set of challenges
We deliberately chose set sail with our daughters when they were 9 and 11. We figured that at these ages the girls still wanted to hang out with us, could help contribute to our adventures and remember spectacular memories.
Sure, we set our ‘Set Sail’ date so that Phil and I could both turn 40 in Mexico, but a far bigger consideration was getting out of Dodge before boobs, braces, and boyfriends.
There were still challenges, of course. And the challenges faced will be different for different family. But these are the general tricks we learned to make sailing with tweens as stress-free as possible.
1. Give your tween space
Because we were sailing for a long time, and because our girls had always had their own private space, we knew it would be important to continue giving them their own space by way of separate cabins. Finding a boat with spacious cabins, and a list of other essential amenities all within our price range was a challenge. We eventually found Terrapin and while we love her, if it were just the two of us sailing, we’d have bought a much different boat!
While not everyone can provide separate cabins for children on board, there are other ways to give your kids space. We purchased a sailing dinghy for our girls as a way to help teach our daughters more about sailing and to provide a way for them to have their own space. If ever one of the girls needs their own space, they just hop in the dinghy and go!
It’s something every boatkid dreams of doing…. learn how to drive the dingy sans mum and dad. The girls have permission (weather permitting) to hop in the dingy and go whenever we are being lame.
2. Encourage new hobbies
One purpose of our major lifestyle change, was just that – change. Except for a few Kindle Fires that the girls use primarily for homeschool, we have replaced any ‘typical gadget with hobbies. Instead of a Nintendo DS or iPad, our girls have with fishing poles, spear guns, snorkel gear, kayaks, surfboards and other fun items.
We’re thankful that Jessica wakes up and greets the sunrise with a fishing pole in hand. She talks about her lures like most girls her age talk about boys; some are cute, dull, flashy, or reliable.
