Februar y 2015 51practical: families
Rachel Maas
Rachel lives on Medina with her husband and
son. They currently enjoy cruising around
Moreton Bay while preparing to go on an
extended cruise in mid 2015. You can follow their
adventure of raising a baby while living on a sailing boat and
cruising at http://www.mysailingboat.com.au.to own a sailing boat) recommended we undertake a
marine first aid course and have a first aid kit that is up to
Yachting Australia Category 1 guidelines (as a minimum)
with relevant items for a child our son’s age.
Each family gets their babies from the boat to the
tender and reverse using a different method, however
each method is highly dependent on the wind and sea
condition. We put our son in his life jacket and pass
him from one adult to the other. Using this method is
restrictive because it is dependent on having two capable
adults, little wind and a relatively smooth sea state.
Things will become less restrictive once our son is able to
climb or descend the ladder into the tender himself while
wearing his life jacket.
We first took our son sailing when he was six weeks
old. Since that time the weather window to go sailing has
slowly become wider as our confidence of sailing with our
son has grown. He loves it when my husband starts the
engine, it usually means we are off on an adventure.
We have had some memorable moments sailing, at
anchor and exploring with our son, showing him the
wonderful world around him and to see him grow and
learn from the experience.
The biggest difference between sailing with and without
a baby is: when it was the two of us it was the two of us
sailing, now there are three of us, there is only one of us
sailing. The other is looking after our son.
As our boat is set up for single-handed sailing, it makes
things easier. But there are still times when we are not
able to supervise him, e.g. going in or out of the marina
or anchoring. At these times we pop our son into his bed
where we know he will be safe. We also give him a job
to do so he feels part of the action. At the moment it is
looking after his favourite soft toys and keeping them safe.
We try to be conscious of everything we do because our
son inevitably copies us, from how we get up and down the
companionway, telling each other where we are or going to
and having one hand for the boat and one for ourselves.
The first time we walked down the floating pontoon
with our newborn son I remember feeling all our planning
and organising prior to his birth seemed inadequate for
the responsibility we now had. I have learnt that being
a good parent does not depend on the stuff you have for
your baby, it depends on providing your baby with a
loving and safe environment.
What better place to do this than on a sailing boat?
Yes there are risks and yes it can be dangerous, but just
like in a house, these can be identified and managed.
We are still planning to go cruising in 2015, the only
difference to the original plan is our son will be with us.