Why? The answer lies in the children that we have met living aboard boats with their families.

The cruising kids that we have known have been active and knowledgeable, curious about the sea, other people, and the great ...Read more]]> There is no topic that we have covered as often and as thoroughly as going sailing with children aboard.

Why? The answer lies in the children that we have met living aboard boats with their families.

The cruising kids that we have known have been active and knowledgeable, curious about the sea, other people, and the great big world they sail. They tend to have loving, respectful relationships with their parents, and are at ease with adults as well as children of different ages and backgrounds. We have seen them grow up to be creative, engaged, caring adults.

Society is all too ready to discourage families that want to go cruising. So, we want to counteract that by giving families as much information (and inspiration) as we can to help them decide whether to go sailing, and if so, how to do it.

Quite a few cruising families have told their stories and shared their advice on Women and Cruising. 20+ families have participated in our “12 Questions for Sailing Families” series in the past 6 years.

Five children so far have written in our “Cruising Kids Speak” series. And a growing number of cruising Moms and children have written for the Women and Cruising blog.

 If you are thinking about going cruising as a family, explore the Women and Cruising site and get to know these sailors through the articles that they have written.

And here is another resource: Several of these cruising families have written books that will inform and inspire you in pursuing your dreams and your plans. Enjoy!

Voyaging with Kids – A Guide to Family Life Afloat
By Behan Gifford, Sara Dawn Johnson and Michael Robertson, 2015

Behan Gifford and the s/v Totem family were one of the first contributors to our “12 Questions for Sailing Families”.

When they first wrote in 2010, they were just starting out.

Since then, they have circumnavigated, maintained an excellent blog, and together with two other cruising families, written an excellent, thorough guide on voyaging with children.

The book is available in both print and ebook.

Lesson Plans Ahoy (Third Edition): Hands-on Learning for Sailing Children and Home Schooling Sailors 
By Nadine Slavinski, 2013, 2014, 2015

Nadine also wrote:
- Lesson Plans To Go: Hands-on Learning for Active and Home Schooling Families
- Cruising the Caribbean with Kids: Fun, Facts, and Educational Activities

Merlin’s Voyage
By Emmanuelle Buecher-Hall, 2014

Emmanuelle and the Merlin family also contributed to the original “12 Questions for Sailing families” series.

They built a catamaran in South Africa, then sailed away crossing the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, before settling in Australia.

Inspired by the voyage, Emmanuelle wrote the delightful Merlin’s Voyage, a book written for young children. In the story, Merlin is a curious catamaran which carries a family with young kids from South Africa to the Pacific.

It is available as an ebook or paperback, in French and in English.

Child of the Sea: A Memoir of a Sailing Childhood
By Doina Cornell, 2012

In 1975, when Doina was 7, the Cornell family left their home port in London, England, and set off cruising.

Over the next 6 years, the family circumnavigated. This is the story of their experiences from the child’s perspective.

Doina is one of the many wonderful examples of the formative effects of a cruising childhood.

As a mother, teacher, writer, and district councilor in England, Doina is a passionate champion for the environment and for tolerance and diversity.

Child of the Sea is available in paperbook, ebook and audiobook.

Boat Girl: A Memoir of Youth, Love, and Fiberglass
Melanie Neale, 2012

Melanie also wrote:
Boat Kid: How I Survived Swimming with Sharks, Being Homeschooled, and Growing Up on a Sailboat

Convergence: A Voyage through French Polynesia
By Sally-Christine Rodgers, 2014

This beautiful book written by Women and Cruising contributor Sally-Christine Rodgers comes with a bonus: all proceeds from the book are donated to marine conservation.

Sally Christine and her husband, Randy Repass, founder of West Marine, designed and built a custom Wylie 65 ketch.

Sally-Christine describes the design of the boat and then the 3,000 mile voyage to the Marquesas they undertook with their new boat, accompanied by their 9-year-old son, and another family with two 4-year-old twins. She describes their experiences in the beautiful islands of the South Pacific, which she illustrates with superb photography.

The journey she recounts is both descriptive and personal – throughout she writes as a sailor, wife, mother, lover, and passionate advocate for care of the marine environment.

Next week, I will highlight another collection of books for sailors and sailing wanna-be’s on the theme of Voyage Planning.

Girl overboard! – Photo by Kristianne Koch

I stood on the bowsprit as we sailed Biscayne Bay.

The wind swept the swelter of the sun from my skin.

A bucket of Noon rain ...Read more]]> Author Ann Lee Miller shares an excerpt from her memoir, Boat Daze, due out in 2016 about growing up on a yawl.

Girl overboard! – Photo by Kristianne Koch

I stood on the bowsprit as we sailed Biscayne Bay.

The wind swept the swelter of the sun from my skin.

A bucket of Noon rain had dumped and now steamed up from the decks of the Annie Lee, taking my troubles—real and imagined—with it.

“Annie!” Dad hollered from the cockpit. “Check our depth.”

I startled and scrambled for the world’s longest mop handle and jabbed it into the water until it struck bottom. 
“Six feet!” I read from the notches Dad had carved in the pole.
“Six and a half… six and a half!” We drew four feet, so I knew we were okay for the moment. I rammed the pole through the seaweed into the muddy bottom again.
“Six—”

The ANNIE LEE sailing away after I fell over the side – Photo by Kristianne Koch

The pole stuck fast in the mud.

In a split-second reflex, I clung to the stick and the Annie Lee sailed out from under my feet.

The pole sunk deeper in the mud as I wrapped my arms and legs around it—suspended over the bay like a girl shish kabob. “Daaaad!” I clung to the pole while my brain registered I wasn’t reading this in Nancy Drew, but living it.

My brother jumped up and down on the aft deck screeching, “Daddy, Daddy! Annie lost the boat!”

I caught a fleeting glimpse of R.J.’s sun-toasted face gone pale as my toes touched bay.

“This water is freezing.” I yelled at the Annie Lee’s transom. “There’s mud down here! I hate seaweed! God only knows what’s slithering around in here!”

Cold fingers of water and fear climbed my ribs as I inched down the pole. Dad would rescue me, but the barracuda and hammerhead I’d met this summer still lived between my ears.

In up to my neck and treading water with one hand, I kicked slimy kelp.

Treading water, debating swimming for the ANNIE LEE
Photo by Kristianne Koch

The chill crawled up my scalp as my hair slurped sea, morphing into soggy noodles.

Water lapped into my mouth and I tried to spit out the salty taste and my fear, but they hung around.

I peered at the shoreline. I could swim that far if I had to.

Clouds bunched their way across the horizon, white bumper cars converging and parting.

In the distance, Dad dropped sail. The anchor would be next. I knew Dad wouldn’t about-face the Annie Lee in shallow water to fetch me.

Should I swim for the boat and drag the stupid pole along?

While I debated, Dad landed on cat feet in the dinghy, shoved the oars into the oarlocks. He glanced over his shoulder to get a bead on my location.

Dad’s shoulders and arms flexed and relaxed under his T-shirt as he stroked.

Dad always loomed larger than life, but today as I watched him, he approached super-hero status.

At last he coasted up beside me. He grabbed my forearms and hauled me into the boat with a grunt. I couldn’t read his tight-lipped expression.

I inhaled the scent of Dad’s sweat and safety as I landed in a soggy lump in the bottom of the dinghy.

Dad braced his legs and yanked the pole from the bay in one heave.

The pole clattered where he dropped it—one end extended over the bow, the other oozing mud into the water behind the dinghy.

As I launched into a litany of every little detail Dad needed to know about my lapse overboard, I thought about how good it felt to be rescued.

I usually felt left to fend for myself.

Normal was bumping my knees against the ring where Mom and Dad went rounds in a marital bout. When they shed their mouth guards and gloves, and stepped off the mat into Mom and Dad, they were black and blue and beat.

I walked alone two stints of kindergarten—Miami and LA. My barracuda and shark were a graffiti-scrawled tunnel and a freeway bridge where cars whizzed by my elbow, blowing exhaust in my hair.

At seven, I rode two Miami buses to ballet, poised on my knees with my hand at half-mast beneath the pull cord.

I fixed my own breakfast every day. And once or twice I forgot and fainted in school.

My third grade picture—put down for posterity in the family album—is a shot of the Pippi Longstocking braids I did myself.

Mom pasted a smile on life, as if a Groucho Marx nose and mustache could make happy.

But when I really needed them—like today—my parents came through.

They whisked me to the hospital when I downed a bottle of baby aspirin as a kid.

Mom carted me to the orthodontist to un-buck my teeth, the orthopedist to fix my inward-turning feet—with ballet, saddle shoes, and nighttime boots nailed east and west on a plywood board.

Dad taught me how to pinch a penny, skin a fish, and feel things deep down in my gullet.

Back on the Annie Lee, before my suit completely dried, Dad spotted the cove he’d been looking for. We’d tie up along the seawall and head inland.

But we dropped sail too late and came in hot against the concrete.

A crunch sounded as the Annie Lee sideswiped the rough wall, skinning off a two-foot section of fiberglass, resin, and paint.

I gritted my teeth. We should be called the Four Stooges instead of the Fettermans.

But Dad went grimly about tying the Annie Lee to nearby pines, positioning the bumpers to insure there’d be no more blunders today.

 We tumbled out onto land and traipsed after Dad.

My mood had swung south with Dad’s. I swatted a mosquito from my sweaty neck and braced myself for an afternoon digging clams with my fingernails or wading through mangrove swamp hunting antique bottles.

Dad stopped and my nose bashed into his shoulder blade.

A rope swung in the breeze from the high reaches of a banyan tree. Sun dappled the smooth green water below.

My mouth dropped open.

A tree-gnarled Nirvana.

I glanced at R.J. and saw my grin written on his face.

Dad climbed down the bank and scouted the rope’s span for rocks and logs. Satisfied, he caught the rope with a dead branch and pushed it into my waiting hands.

I swung out into air and let go. Cucumber crisp water closed around me, encasing me in a delicious coolness I’d thought frigid when I fell overboard.

Dropping like an ice cube into the delicious, cool cove – Photo by Kristianne Koch

An hour later, I perched on a sprawling tree root at water’s edge, breathing hard. Rivulets ran down my arms. I wrung the moisture from my hair and watched my family swing and drop like ice cubes into the cove.

R.J. did a cannon ball, Dad a jackknife, and Mom, a graceless plop.

I laughed at R.J.’s next let-go. His arms and legs flailed in mid-air before landing in the water.

I savored this sweetest day of childhood—not realizing it would shine through the stormy seas ahead.

I savored this sweet day of childhood. – Photo by Kristianne Koch

About Ann Lee Miller

Ann Lee Miller earned a BA in creative writing from Ashland (OH) University and writes full-time in Phoenix, but left her heart on a yawl in Miami where she grew up. 

Over 100,000 copies of Miller’s debut novel, Kicking Eternity, have been downloaded from Amazon.

When she isn’t muddling through some crisis-real or imagined-you’ll find blogging sailing memoir at AnnLeeMiller.com.

Ann’s fifth novel, Chasing Happy was launched September 1, 2015.

After an epic fail in the hetero world, Ash Jackson heads cross country to Arizona to figure out his bisexuality and make peace with himself and God.
     Nashville Star Samma Templeton’s music career bankrolls her future husband’s political campaigns. But she throws up before every concert and feels relegated to an item on the senator’s calendar.
     When Ash moves into Samma’s apartment building their childhood friendship resurrects, and Samma must choose between promoting a political agenda that will benefit millions or following her heart. Ash must face his inner demons for the girl who was his past and feels like his future.

Chasing Happy is available at Amazon and most on-line retailers.

Read also on this website:

• Pint-sized Maritime Explorers, by Ann Lee Miller
• Living Aboard—Same-Old-Same-Old When You’re 12, by Ann Lee Miller
• Cruising Children Speak: Cruising children tell us about their experiences growing up aboard.

I have been living on Merlin, our 44ft Dean Catamaran, for the last 5 years, 2 of them spent cruising across 2 oceans with 3 kids. I would like to share some ...Read more]]> This is the first half of a 2-part article published in the South African Sailing magazine of April and May 2014.

I have been living on Merlin, our 44ft Dean Catamaran, for the last 5 years, 2 of them spent cruising across 2 oceans with 3 kids. I would like to share some of my cruising experience, ideas and tips especially for women.

However, I do not consider myself an expert in cruising or in sailing. Apart from inspiring travelling articles, sailing magazines usually describe specifics of boat repairs, latest technologies or how to improve manoeuvres.

It is all very instructive but how about a feminine point of view, especially regarding cruising life.

I hope that this alphabetical inventory may help some women find answers to their own questions and help them know if they are ready to live aboard.

Adventure

At first, going cruising seems a big adventure with so many preparations, so much that is unknown and so different to usual lifestyles or what the society expects.

Going cruising is an adventure but it is a feasible adventure and will offer you so much, even during a short period. You will meet friends and maybe even family who will judge you as crazy or irresponsible. Try to stick to your dream of setting sail.

You don’t have to be a big explorer to do it, as being curious, loving the sea and staying positive will take you a long way. Little by little  you’ll find your own bearings, you’ll adapt your course and you’ll learn.

You’ll learn so much, about yourself, your partner, your kids and about others. Of course, you’ll learn about sailing and cruising too. It is a great and exciting adventure to be part of. I am very grateful to all those who helped along the way and happy that I could realise this dream. In 2 years of cruising I discovered so much more about the world and myself than in 2 years of “normal” land life.

Cruising is an adventure, not an impossible adventure. It is worth trying it and rather sooner than later!

Activity

How do you keep fit on a boat?

I have been doing some sport since I was 5 and I like being active. While you are sailing it is not always possible to exercise a lot. However, I started doing some exercises on the foredeck, 15-20 min a day, early in the morning. That’s was enough to feel good physically. You can use a yoga mat on your floor boards or on deck. Small weights and physio bands offered me a bigger variation of exercises.

If you are worried about a lack of inspiration, a book or a DVD could help you with some great pilates or yoga moves. While at anchor, I still enjoy my early exercise sessions.

It is generally easier to be active close to shore. The water provides plenty of fun activities such as swimming, snorkelling, diving or paddling. Ashore, we did lots of walking (you walk a lot, everywhere) and even cycling (we had folding bikes on board).

From time to time I went for runs as it is an easy and great way of discovering the surroundings.

Beauty

I am not a manicure or hair fanatic. While cruising I didn’t change my behaviour but I didn’t neglect my appearance. Being a little bit tanned and happy was the best way of dolling myself up.

However, I met few women who spent much more time looking after themselves than I did, doing hair colours, wearing makeup or jewellery. So it is possible to keep your beauty habits on board and you don’t have to be sloppy even during long passages.

One thing I never did though was to let my husband cut my hair.

Cooking

On board Merlin, our motto was “well fed crew, happy crew”!

So cooking was an important part of our cruising life. Unfortunately I don’t have a husband who is too inspired in the galley, so I tend to be the main cook on board, sometimes with help from the children.

While sailing, I might have had more spare time than at anchor but I was limited with the selection of ingredients. However, it was a good time to be inventive and try new recipes.

On the other hand, when anchored close to villages, we could try new fresh products and be inspired by the local traditions. Going to the nearby markets is a true travelling experience and a great way to discover new ingredients, to start a conversation with a villager and learn about new local recipes.

Provisioning is another aspect of cooking and seems a woman’s lot, while men look after the spare parts.

Before every long passage, I have fun being in charge of the pantry. Luckily space on board is not really an issue. It might look like an interesting challenge to go shopping for unknown and extended periods. I am neither a list nor a menu person but I know more or less how much of everything we eat per week.

Before we left Cape Town for Brazil we had 4 trolleys full of food for 3 adults and 3 young children. We arrived in Brazil, with lots of left overs which lasted a few months into our Caribbean cruise.

Before we left Panama I revised my quantities and went shopping for a week. We ended up with about a ton of food, which worked very well during the Pacific crossing. Next time we’ll buy less food as we always found basic food shops on every island.

On board, we have 2 freezers so I didn’t preserve anything. Lots of women were doing it for fun and for the practical side of it. Apart from frozen products, I trusted tins. Even if you can read what’s on the label, it is not always easy to find the ingredients you have in mind to cook some special dishes or even simple meals. Imagine when the language is completely unknown as in Brazil, we had a few surprise tins!

Another great side of cooking is the social aspect. At anchor, it is really easy to invite new friends to taste your new recipes and chat about the local ingredients.

Tip 1

Making our own bread on board. I was kneading the dough the night before. The bread was left to rise over night in a high edge “Tefal” pan with a lid on.

Early in the morning Gregory cooked it on the gas stove. It took less than 15 minutes to bake, and you have to turn it half way.

It was a massive gas saver not using the oven and I loved waking up in the morning to the smell of freshly baked bread.

Tip 2

• Buying eggs: It is nice to buy eggs where you are sure they will be fresh. A good smell is worth it, but will guide you only if the eggs are not cold. Only in Panama we bought eggs that turned rotten quickly.
• Keeping eggs: You will read different stories about the best way to keep eggs on board for a long time. I kept them in a fresh locker, turning them only when I thought of it (every couple of days).
• Using eggs: Before adding your eggs to your mixture, crack them into a separate bowl. That way you won’t spoil the mixture if you have a bad surprise with one or two of them.

Dinghy

While at anchor, the dinghy is the main means to go ashore, to visit friends and to explore around.

A good dinghy is important. I would also suggest to every lady not to be “scared” by the dinghy and feel confident starting it, driving it, and if not too heavy lifting it at the end of the day. This will give you some freedom to get about when, for example, your partner is taking longer than planned with the service of the motor. It could also give you some extra confidence in case an emergency.

Tip

Buy the best dinghy (large, fast and light) that you can afford. It is a real extension of your boat that you will need to get ashore and to explore places.

Electronics

With all the electronics on board, cruising is now very different to a few years ago and navigating appears easier.

It is important to understand the use of all the screens which are around the navigation table and at the steering position. Don’t only learn to switch them on and off but also how to use them (how to read the chart, how to read the radar, how to plan your course…). While sailing, there is lots of time to try all the different buttons and options.

There might be a situation where you will have to take control of the boat. It is good to feel you can be in charge of the vessel. The electronic charts are very easy to read, the weather software is user-friendly  and easy to understand.

If you are eager to communicate it is now very easy to have a blog and share your adventures even with a very limited connection. I really enjoyed keeping our blog up to date with stories and photos.

Tip

A sat phone is a great way to stay in touch with everybody via emails and keep everybody ashore reassured. We got great Sailmail weather grib files and updated our blog via email. We bought a second hand one and bought a 500-minute one-year pack each year, which was more than enough.

Fashion

Simple advice: Don’t take too much! You are on a boat and space could be an issue. Your life will be much easier with less social pressure. Simple and practical clothes work very well.

While cruising in the tropics, I was wearing a dress or shorts/skirt and tee-shirt or just a swimming costume. We have a washing machine which runs a cycle using the quantity of water made in 1 hour of watermaker. So laundry is not really an issue on board, even though we are 5.

During crossings you don’t get very dirty, but I was still asking everybody to wear the bare minimum and not change outfits every day. Also, be prepared to have some rust stains or tears on some of your clothing, so keep your fancy or expensive pieces for a special occasion. It is nice to have 1-2 fancy items (when I say fancy it is smart/casual, don’t go over the top as a real smart outfit would be useless). Dressing up in your smart/casual outfit will lift your spirit for a night out or a special party. So don’t forget them.

In less remote places, you will also find shops to renew your wardrobe. It is always nice to buy some local fashion and wear a colourful souvenir.

Tips

• You don’t need many pairs of shoes. I would suggest the classic “Crocs”, good walking shoes, sandals or nice/casual comfy shoes, good fins and maybe some running shoes (as running around a place is a good way to discover it).
• Try to have plastic pegs as they will not leave rust stains. We even had some more sent over from South Africa while in the Caribbean.

Friends

You will feel sad to leave your family and friends behind.

However, the cruising life must offer one of the easiest ways of meeting amazing and interesting people who can become really good friends surprisingly quickly. They will be there to share your stories, compare anchorage spots and discover new places with you. They will be there if help is needed. The cruising community is growing but it is still a close one and you’ll be amazed of the diversity of your new friends (age, socially and country).

Definitely, you won’t feel alone. Your old land friends will stay close, always happy to hear about all your discoveries and sometimes giving you good reflective feedback on your adventures. Some might even come and experience some good time with you.

Tip:

Keeping in touch. We had our own boat cards made with the name of our boat, our names, email and a photo of the boat. It is very common to exchange sailing cards. It is a nice way to stay in touch with all your new friends and to remember their name when you see the boat again a few months after meeting them! We used VistaPrint (an on line self-service) in the US and only paid for postage.

Gregory

I am not sure I would have fulfilled my dream of sailing if I hadn’t met Gregory, who is now my husband.

It was only few years after we met that we realised we both had the same dream. It was then natural to extrapolate our plans and work towards this project so we could set sail together.

Having a common dream is nice but how about persistent proximity? Being on board nearly 24 hours a day and 7 days a week might not seem easy… and is not easy. We met some couples who weren’t together on the other side of the Pacific. Reassure yourself, this is not the norm! Confinement might amplify everything. Thankfully, even if we had some tensions, it worked out well for us. I was usually the one starting the little fights and most of the time this was due to some stress that I couldn’t manage properly. I am lucky to have a very calm and caring husband who knows me well enough to accept my anchorage spots or finds the right words to change our course.

We are in fact very complementary. On board Merlin, we divided the “blue and pink jobs” without thinking about it. We each do what we are best at, being able to help the other one if needed. I wouldn’t mind changing the oil filters, but I prefer kneading the dough. I leave Gregory fiddling with the sails because they need to be perfectly trimmed and I leave him servicing the winches because it might remind him of his Meccano games when he was younger.

I would say that most of all, feeling a sense of individual freedom and trust are two important aspects. I wouldn’t have lived this experience if I couldn’t trust my husband, especially in his sailing, fixing and planning abilities and I think the feeling is reciprocated.

Headaches and other medical issues

Headaches can be, for me, a sign of seasickness, which seems to be a medical problem more frequent amongst women than men, or maybe they speak more openly about it.

There are few simple rules to follow before setting sail for a passage such as having a good night sleep, and avoiding a lot of alcohol or fatty food the night before. However, even if I follow all the right steps, I can feel sleepy and nauseous for a few days after departure. So, on board we have all kind of seasickness solutions, from the more holistic wristbands, ginger biscuits and essential oils to the more chemical solutions. If only the chemical way works for you, there are lots of drugs available on the market. Testing them before would be a good idea.

In the end, what worked quite well for me were the patches that you stick behind your ear (Transderm Scop with scopolamine). You can’t find them in every country and a prescription might be needed. Beware, they can be quite strong and have a few side effects. For example, my short distance vision became very blurry which can be an issue when reading the charts. I reduced the dose to a third and that was enough to prevent me being seasick.

Even if I know that all will be fine, I am still stressed before a departure. Is it real seasickness or simply anxiety nausea? For one passage I tried antianxiety medication. The effect was as good as the patches! I would encourage trying few things and finding the one which works the best, from yoga to medication. Remember, you are not the only one in this situation and the best of all is that it stops immediately once the anchor is hooked.

During our cruising I was the medical officer. I was the one in charge of making up the medical box, the one who did an intense medical training course and the one reading the medical dictionaries we have on board. Thankfully we didn’t have any serious medical issues. We mostly went to see dentists, sometimes in very remote places. We have been positively surprised by the professionalism of the medical staff we saw in the Caribbean Islands, Galapagos and Tahiti. If you need special check-ups, ask the cruising community as names with a good reputation do circulate around.

Inspiration

There are loads of inspiring books and stories out there. Do a bit of research to arouse your dream and to be mentally prepared.

For example before we left we were dreaming of future destinations with Jimmy Cornell’s books. I would suggest having a look at www.womenandcruising.com, a great blog, just for women that is full of advice and great articles.

Some stories are reassuring when you feel down and will help realise that we all have our tough times and worries. The most inspiring of all was to see the smiles on my children’s faces on a daily basis as we realise our dream together. The many rewards of such a life will keep you going and inspired.

Joys

There are many joys.

I might not have appreciated them enough at the beginning and I miss lots of them now that we are moored in a marina. While sailing and exploring, our daily life was filled with strong emotions (highs and lows), amazing encounters, beautiful landscapes and discoveries.

These two years of cruising were very rich and intense and gave us unforgettable memories. Even if the proximity was sometimes too much, it was real happiness to spend so much quality time and share magical moments with our kids.

Joys come in many ways - arriving somewhere new, watching together so many green flashes, meeting 5 whales at sunset, swimming with black tip sharks, catching a delicious fish, anchoring perfectly, and the joy of being self-sufficient and living your dream.

Kids

We wanted to travel and discover the world with our children. We left Cape Town when our three kids Cléa, Félix and Victor, were respectively 2 1/2, 6 and 8 years old. Together we discover some great places, but we also discovered more about our family, its dynamic, its weaknesses and its strengths.

The family circle even extended to the boat. We were called “The Merlins”, which is what cruising families become, a unit.

Travelling with children opens a lot of doors ashore and at the anchorage. The kids often find local friends to play with and people are curious about your kids. Arriving at an anchorage, we always checked for signs of other kids (sounds, smaller clothes on the line, toys in a dinghy, …).

Whatever age, gender or language, the kids met good friends, and their parents usually became our good friends too.

Limits

Be prepared to go further than what you think you are capable of. There will be times where you’ll discover a new you. Some situations might push you to what you think your limits are, but you’ll be able to go much further. You might shout quicker and louder but you will laugh with all your heart too. A very unknown or critical situation will feel like you’ve reached these limits but they all can be assessed and a solution will be found.

Maybe women feel the stress quicker or evaluate more with their heart than their head in some tense times. I can recall more stressful situations than Gregory did although we did the same trip. So it is important to evaluate real fears from misplaced worries. For me staying calm would be a good answer to these tense moments. Again having the ability to trust my partner and our boat worked for me and I relied on them to take me through harder situations.

Don’t forget, it is right to be afraid. All these little panicky times will become good conversation topics, and will help you grow stronger and improve your confidence in yourself, your partner and your boat.

Part 2:
A cruising wife’s A to Z – Part 2 (M to Z)

About Emmanuelle Buecher-Hall

Emmanuelle studied marine biology in France, then went to do some research on jellyfish in South Africa.

There, her life took a new course. After having built a catamaran, she went sailing with her family, crossing the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Merlin’s Voyage was inspired by this adventure. She is now living in Australia.

Her website (in French and English) is:
www.merlinsvoyage.net

Emmanuelle wrote Merlin’s Voyage, a children book mostly for children around 4-8 years-old. It is available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback, in French and in English.

Colour photos taken during the trip are the main illustrations.

At the end of the book, there is also a detailed index explaining nautical terminology and giving geographical information of the various stops.

Also on this website

• Part 2 of this article: A cruising wife’s A to Z – Part 2 (M to Z)
• 12 Questions To 12 Sailing Families: the MERLIN family
• Merlin’s voyage: Living our dream for real!, by Emmanuelle Buecher-Hall

One summer when I was a teenager, I read all Bernard Moitessier’s books, I continued with Joshua Soclum and Eric Tabarly’s adventures. Inevitably, I then started dreaming about ocean crossings, long passages and spending lots of time at sea.

However, I grew up more than 1000km away from the sea and I couldn’t consider myself a ...Read more]]>

One summer when I was a teenager, I read all Bernard Moitessier’s books, I continued with Joshua Soclum and Eric Tabarly’s adventures. Inevitably, I then started dreaming about ocean crossings, long passages and spending lots of time at sea.

However, I grew up more than 1000km away from the sea and I couldn’t consider myself a sailor. I started working during my summer holidays so I could go to some sailing camps in Brittany. Soon, I learnt how to sail and navigate. I just loved being on the water. On a boat, I could find out who I really was, I felt light, free and happy. I started looking for boats that were planning to cross oceans and on the lookout for extra crew. However, I was then 18 and my mother thought it wasn’t a good idea to embark on such adventures.

I waited nearly 20 years before realising my dream to go sailing and crossing oceans.

Even better, I realised that dream with those I love, my husband (a very experienced sailor) and our three kids, on Merlin, a catamaran we built in South Africa. What a privilege!

This sailing dream was with me all these years, sometimes more buried than others, but during all these years I could hear the waves and the wind calling for me.

We moved on board Merlin in 2008 and 6 months later we left Cape Town. Our kids were then 8, 6 and 2. With a tight knot in my stomach and loads of strong emotions, I saw Table Mountain disappearing slowing below the horizon. After one day of sailing we were all by ourselves, ocean all around, our first stop being a 10-day sail away.

We had to learn so much: find our sea legs, acclimate to our new floating but now moving home and most of all we had to realise that we were living our dream, thought and described so many times – we were living our dream for real!

After crossing the Atlantic, we spent nearly a year in the Caribbean islands. It didn’t take us too long to adapt to our new lifestyle. We found a good balance between home schooling, boat maintenance, swimming and snorkelling, discovering new places, meeting new people, locals or other cruisers, hoisting the sails and anchoring.

Our children bloomed in such an environment. Our eldest was sceptical when we left and gave us a hard time for the first few weeks of our voyage. However, he opened to the world and adapted to this new life so well.

 In 2010, we crossed the Pacific. By then, our cruising life was just our normal lifestyle. We were in harmony with the environment, with our catamaran Merlin and simply happy to be together in so many spectacular places.

Unfortunately our sailing kitty emptied and we decided that Australia wasn’t a bad place to start a new chapter of our lives.

During these two special cruising years, we savoured our dream daily. We enjoyed many green flashes. We had whales following Merlin. We swam with manta rays and sharks. We discovered extraordinary marine life (corals, fish, birds). We explored splendid scenery from pristine beaches, to active volcano. We met amazing people. All the stars of the world were with us at night.

The elements weren’t rough. We didn’t have major breakage. Merlin was our faithful companion, always there, welcoming, securing, trustful.

We landed in Australia more indulgent, more respectful, more curious, more united and so proud to have accomplished an old dream.

This voyage taught us that dreams are important and we should try hard to realise them, even if it is little steps by little steps. I believe in those dreams which push us to take decision, which give us energy, which force us to wake up even when it is grey outside, which drove us a little further than our comfort zone, which stay in our mind and grow into something more and more tangible.

Going back to landlubber’s life (work, school, kids’ activities etc.) wasn’t easy. However, our traveling experiences carried us through the tough times of settling in a new unknown place. It was nice to have Merlin as our comforting home during these new uncertainties.

I started writing a children book (Merlin’s Voyage) as I didn’t want to let fade my emotions gained during our travels, I wanted to share all these amazements. I was hoping that readers would find a little inspiration or that new dreams would arise. I didn’t want to write a travelling journal describing our stops and passages. I wanted a book which could bring open discussions between kids and parents, discussion about sailing boats, about new places, about the wonders of the world and about dreams.

Merlin always seemed more than a sailing boat, carrying us around, being a safe and cosy home. I feel its soul and its presence helped me during what I would call the stressful times. It was a comforting thought to know that Merlin could be trusted as the one carrying a family of five across oceans. It was then logical to tell our story from Merlin’s point of view, taking us safely from Cape Town to Brisbane.

“Merlin’s Voyage”, the book, is now ready in different versions (ebook or paperback, in English and in French). It is for 6-12 year-old kids or for any dreamers. It offers 48 pages of inspiration.

My kids now have their own dreams. They would like to go back cruising one day; they would like to sail across the Indian Ocean and finish the loop.

• Victor would like to see the Himalaya.
• Felix would like to play lots of clarinet.
• Clea would like to have a pet.
• Gregory would like to cross the Pacific again.
• I would like to drive through Africa and see Cape Horn.

Unrealistic? We know dreams can become tangible and we hope we won’t have to wait another 20 years before realising one of them!

“Merlin’s Voyage” might plant seeds of new dreams…

About Emmanuelle Buecher-Hall

Emmanuelle studied marine biology in France, then went to do some research on jellyfish in South Africa.

There, her life took a new course. After having built a catamaran, she went sailing with her family, crossing the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans.

Merlin’s Voyage was inspired by this adventure. She is now living in Australia. 

Her website (in French and English) is:
www.merlinsvoyage.net

Merlin’s Voyage is a children book, mostly for children around 4-8 years-old. It is available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback, in French and in English.

Colour photos taken during the trip are the main illustrations.

At the end of the book, there is also a detailed index explaining nautical terminology and giving geographical information of the various stops.

More from this website

• 12 Questions To 12 Sailing Families: the MERLIN family

If chores built character, I’d be a twelve-year-old Mother Theresa. Today, on a perfect summer morning, I stood in Annie Lee’s porthole-less gloom washing last night’s marinara from ...Read more]]> Author Ann Lee Miller shares an excerpt from her memoir, Boat Days, due out in 2015 about growing up on a yawl.

Photo by Kristianne Koch

If chores built character, I’d be a twelve-year-old Mother Theresa. Today, on a perfect summer morning, I stood in Annie Lee’s porthole-less gloom washing last night’s marinara from Mom’s sailboat emblazoned Melmac.

Fish bones floated in the dying suds, making me shudder. Picking bones out of spaghetti was wrong on so many levels.

Six-year-old R.J. had found something more interesting to do than dry dishes. Dad puttered above deck. Mom slept off her hospital night shift in the bow. The boat echoed quiet—always. Sometimes I wished Mom and Dad would yell at each other like the hotheads on the rundown cabin cruiser next door.

My bargained-for freedom – Photo by Kristianne Koch

I bargained for my freedom by promising Dad I’d wash down the cockpit after lunch.

Matt and Kate Canfield, eight and nine, and I left our little brothers lying on their bellies peering over the edge of the dock at a blowfish inflating like a speckled balloon. We climbed down the Pier 1 ladder, sneakers clenched in our teeth by the laces, into the bay.

We treaded water, looked both ways, and darted into the channel.

A marine engine gunned a couple piers over, and I scrabbled faster with my three appendage stroke, shoes aloft in one hand.

No Wake signs were posted at the end of our pier, but boats barreled through the marina channel at high speeds a dozen times a day. I glanced back at Pier 1 to see if our parents stood on the T of Pier 1 drinking coffee and chatting, ready to shake their fists at law breakers, but no luck.

My shoes felt like they weighed ten pounds, and my breath sucked in and out of my throat.

Kate and Matt matched my snaggled crawl.

A Checkmate powered toward us, looming twice as big as it looked from the dock.

 “Oh, crap,” Matt panted.

 “Hey! Don’t run us over!” Kate hollered.

 The rumble of the engine drowned out her voice.

 We swam for all we were worth.

We swam for all we were worth – Photo by Kristianne Koch

The pilot saw us, cut the engine to a crawl. “Are you kids crazy? I coulda killed you.”

Lucky for the pilot we were winded, or Matt would have had choice words to say about his speed.

We touched bottom and hauled ourselves, chests heaving, onto the beach.- Photo by Kristianne Koch

We touched bottom and hauled ourselves, chests heaving, onto the beach. We brushed sand from our feet and donned our semi-dry tennis shoes while spitting out smart-mouthed retorts we should have said to the speedboat driver.

Matt unrolled a soggy notebook paper map of the portion of the island we’d explored last time—which wasn’t much. Two steps off the beach, we’d yelped and yanked sand spurs from our feet—thus the extreme effort to transport shoes today. Kate must not have minded the sand spurs since she grew up to be an acupuncturist.

We hiked into the scraggly trees, Kate in the lead, as usual, even though I was three years older. As an adult, I still happily traipse after Kate.

We hiked through underbrush, so pristine and scratchy on our shins, we were sure no man had ever gone before us. At the tip of the island, wind gusted our salt-stiffened hair against our faces—raising squawks of surprise from me and Kate.

Matt’s summer-shaggy head bent over a perfectly preserved fish skeleton. “Duh. Why do you think they call it Windbreak Island?” He’d go on to earn three master’s degrees.

We harrumphed and marched down the beach on other side of the island, Kate scooping up half a conch shell and rubbing her thumb over the smooth, pink underbelly.

I bent to pick up a piece of blue glass, admiring how the sun warmed it green—the dank quiet of the Annie Lee seemed far away.

“Look! Another island!” Kate shouted.

Matt came up beside us, his fish skeleton forgotten.

The three of us stared, open-mouthed—like Columbus sighting the New World—at the second island snugged behind Windbreak Island.

A ribbon of light water stretched between the islands as though they held hands. It took my brain a second to recall from multiple sailing aground experiences that light color meant shallows. “A sand bar!”

Matt tore past me, his legs pumping as fast as he could make them go.

Kate and I took off after him.

I chased Matt across the sandbar – Photo by Kristianne Koch

Matt careened across the sandbar, high-stepping through calf-deep water until it sloshed above his knees and he face-planted in the surf. He righted himself, and pressed on until he made virgin soil. He turned and faced us, chest puffed out, grinning.

Kate and I sloshed up and collapsed under a tree.

Matt was all for exploring the new land, but Kate and I smacked at the sand fleas munching on our skin and voted for home, food, and a long list of necessities for our next trip—by dinghy.

We waded back across the sandbar, our shoes heavy with grainy silt and water.

Sun fried us from above and reflected up in white rods from the water till it burned fleshy orange through our eyelids.

Kate and I stepped into the brush at the narrow belly of Windbreak Island.

Matt stopped to poke a bug-brown horseshoe crab the size of one of Mom’s Melmac plates.

My stomach growled. “Hurry up!”

Matt ignored me.

Kate and I trudged onto our beach, deciding to swim back to the pier in our shoes.

“Let’s go,” Kate said as Matt appeared.

“Wait!” Matt dug furiously, flinging sand through his legs like Deliah, their English bulldog. “I have to bury my treasure.”

In went his sinister horseshoe shell, Kate’s conch piece, and my blue bottle chunk.

The three of us dropped to our knees and pushed sand over the hole—one of a thousand moments that cemented us like cousins for life.

Matt marked the spot with a stick, hatted by a crumpled Michelob can.

Burying my treasure – Photo by Kristianne Koch

 We slumped into the cool green arms of the water, looked both ways and swam for our lunch.

About Ann Lee Miller

Ann earned a BA in creative writing from Ashland (OH) University and writes full-time in Phoenix. Over 100,000 copies of her debut novel, Kicking Eternity, have been downloaded from Amazon. Her other titles include Avra’s God and The Art of My Life. She guest lectures on writing at several Arizona colleges. She may be reached via Facebook or her website where she blogs on Fridays about sailing as a kid.

Ann’s novel, Tattered Innocence, is on sale in all e-formats through June 15 only for .99 at Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com, and Smashwords.

Back cover:

A tale of passions indulged, denied, and ultimately forgiven: On the verge of bagging the two things he wants most—a sailing charter business and marrying old money—Jake Murray’s fiancée/sole crew member dumps him.

Salvation comes in the form of dyslexic, basketball toting Rachel Martin, the only one to apply for the first mate position he slapped on craigslist. On a dead run from an affair with a married man, Rachel’s salvation is shoving ocean between her and temptation.

Rapid fire dialogue and romantic tension sail Jake’s biker-chick of a boat through hurricanes, real and figurative. A cast of wannabe sailors, Rachel’s ex, Jake’s, a baby—go along for the ride. The many-layered story weaves together disparate strands into a seamless cord. Mother and daughter look eerily alike—down to their lusts.

Their symbiotic bond, forged in the blood of childbirth on the kitchen floor and cemented by their secrets, must be cracked open. A son must go home. Sin must be expunged. Tattered Innocence is for anyone who’s ever woken up sealed in a fifty-gallon drum of their guilt.

Read also on this website:

• Living Aboard—Same-Old-Same-Old When You’re 12, by Ann Lee Miller
• Cruising Children Speak: Cruising children tell us about their experiences growing up aboard.

The Kaufman family aboard SV Rebel Heart was rescued at sea this week when their youngest child became sick during passage from Mexico to the Pacific. This news has spawned ...Read more]]> “Let the naysayers know that there is no greater gift you can give your children than the beauty of the world.” Cruising Mom, Cidnie Carroll

The Kaufman family aboard SV Rebel Heart was rescued at sea this week when their youngest child became sick during passage from Mexico to the Pacific. This news has spawned a media frenzy with many people criticizing a life they know little about.

Cruisers have rallied behind the Kaufmans and the choice of the cruising life, and cruising families have sent Cidnie photos of their children living this unique and precious life on the sea.  Enjoy this window into the amazing life of cruising families.

• A site has been set up for those who want to help the Kaufmans:
  Help the Kaufman Family (FundRazr.com) 
• Eric and Charlotte Kaufman’s blog:
  Rebel Heart
• A podcast interview/story with the Kaufman family.
  525: Call For Help (ThisAmericanLife.org)

Want to read more about cruising families:

• When Boating With Young Children, by Rachel Lee Harris (New York Times)
• 2 Tots, a Sailboat and a Storm Over Parenting, by Jennifer Medina (New York Times)
• In Defense of Rebel Heart, Cruising Families and Choosing a Life Less Ordinary, by Jen Brett (Cruising World)
• Video: Sailing Consultant Defends Kaufman Family Rescue (Inside Edition speaks with Pam Wall)
• Raising a Child Dangerously, by Diane Selkirk (Slate.com)
• Baby On Board: Cruising with Kids and Dangerous Parenting, by Brittany Stephen-Meyers (Windtraveller blog)
• What Sailing the World with My Kids Has Taught Me About Risk, by Michele Elvy (WhatToExpect.com)
• Growing Up at Sea, by Ania Bartowiak (New York Times)
• In Support of Babes On Boats (ItsANecessity.net)
• Are we crazy? by Victoria Bradford (ForgeOver blog)
• Rebel Heart–A Reality Check (Landfall Voyages)
• Twelve Questions for Twelve Cruising Families (Women & Cruising)
• Voyaging in a boat with young children, by Emmanuelle Buecher-Hall (PDF, published in MultiHull World magazine)
• Crossing Seas with Kids, by Amy Schaefer (Sail)
• Bluewater Families: Cruising with Kids, by Patricia Zumstein (Sail)
• Cruising with Teens – Part I, by Meri Faulkner (Hotspur blog)
• Cruising Children Speak (Women & Cruising)
• Cruising Families, by Gwen Hamlin (Women & Cruising)
• A Mom looks back on the decision to go cruising as a family, by Behan Gifford (Women & Cruising)
• Debunking the Baby Myth, by Michelle Elvy (S/V Momo blog)
• Video: Kids speak their own minds about cruising (Women & Cruising)
• Elli Straus shares her logbook from her family’s year of cruising (Women & Cruising)
• Books by Cruising Children:
  – Child of the Sea: A Memoir of a Sailing Childhood, by Doina Cornell
  – Boat Girl, a Memoir of Youth, Love and Fiberglass, by Melanie Neale

Growing Up at Sea, by Ania Bartowiak (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/13/opinion/sunday/growing-up-at-sea.html?src=rechp&_r=1

Seeing their enthusiasm for this, we parents agreed to assign the kids a group project as part of their ...Read more]]>
During our stay in Tauranga, New Zealand, the kids from two boats (Namani and Alouette) really hit it off. One activity they particularly enjoyed was learning to program computer graphics using a program called KTurtle.

Seeing their enthusiasm for this, we parents agreed to assign the kids a group project as part of their home schooling: to create a video documentary about life on a sailboat. The idea was for our children to learn new computer skills while producing an informative and interesting video, not to mention having fun.

We thought it might take them one to two days, and they ended up taking four to produce quite a good five minute video. The video met all the requirements we set, which included a minimum length, use of different scenes / transitions / titles, as well as including a musical clip and credits. They decided that their audience would be kids who were familiar with sailing but hadn’t been cruising. The project also called on the organizational framework they usually call on for written reports: brainstorming, planning, outlining, drafting, editing, and finally, presenting their work.

As so often happens with boat kids, the three worked very well together despite only having recently met and an age range of 9-14. They worked very independently of outside guidance, taking advantage of a lounge room and power supply in the marina we were staying in while completing projects on our boat.

The assignment also met another important requirement: giving the kids something fun and interesting to do while we parents were occupied with repairs! Markus of Namani acted as tech support, but for the most part, the kids were able to figure out the home video-making program (“kdenlive”) through logic, trial, and error, and the resulting video is entirely their own work.

To follow up the assignment, each of the kids wrote a reflection on the project (what worked well, what we could have done differently, what was difficult, etc). Katie, Nicky, and William are quite proud of their work and justifiably so.

It’s great to let kids speak their own minds about cruising, and we hope that others will find their work interesting and informative.

• Watch the video on NAMANI’s website and read Nicky’s reflection on the movie-making assignment:
Boat life – the kid’s perspective
A video documentary about what it is like to live on a sailboat by Katie, William and Nicky

•  Watch the video on Vimeo:
vimeo.com/58241254

More:

• Nicky’s school projects (Nicky’s webpage on Namani’s website)

About Nadine Slavinski

Nadine Slavinski is the author of Lesson Plans Ahoy: Hands-On Learning for Sailing Children and Home Schooling Sailors.

Nadine is a sailor, teacher, and parent. She  holds a Master’s Degree in Education from Harvard University. She has been teaching in international schools since 1996.

A  lifelong sailor, she has taken two extensive sailing sabbaticals with  her husband and young son. Living aboard their 35 foot sloop Namani  for three years, the family sailed from the Mediterranean to Maine, and later,  from Maine to the Caribbean and across the Pacific.

Articles by Nadine Slavinski have appeared in various sailing magazines and websites, including Cruising World, Blue Water Sailing, Caribbean Compass, and YachtPals. Her website, www.sailkidsed.net lists many free resources for home schooling sailors.

Lesson Plans Ahoy (Second Edition) is available from:
- amazon.com (Printand Kindleedition)
- and CreateSpace.com 
For details check www.sailkidsed.net.

More from this website

• Cruising children speak: Cruising children tell us about their experiences growing up aboard
• 6 Tips for home-schooling sailors, by Nadine Slavinski
• Nadine Slavinski answers 12 questions on sailing as a family aboard NAMANI

Pam says: “These popular webinar presentations by Seven Seas Cruising Association are terrific because you can watch them from the comfort of your home or main saloon! All you ...Read more]]> Pam Wall, one of Women and Cruising‘s founders,  is presenting another webinar for Seven Seas University on Thursday, December 9 at 8PM Eastern Time.

Pam says: “These popular webinar presentations by Seven Seas Cruising Association are terrific because you can watch them from the comfort of your home or main saloon! All you need is your computer and internet, and there is a presentation right up close and personal!”

About Pam Wall

Pam sailed around the world in a 7-year adventure with her husband and young children before finding her important niche as West Marine’s Outfitting Manager.

In this role Pam has done much to support cruisers, both new and experienced, as she has through the many seminars she presents at boat shows across the country (including Women and Cruising Seminars) and the sailing she teaches annually at Women on the Water Week in the British Virgin Islands.

Read also on this website

• Pam WALL  Answers 12 Questions about Sailing as a Family aboard KANDARIK
• 12 Questions to 12 Sailing Families
• What Pam Wall likes Most about Cruising
• Galley Advice from Pam Wall

More information (external links)

• The Seven Seas University’s website
• The Seven Seas Cruising Association’s website
• Pam Wall’s website