Sailing holidays with family and children

Have you ever thought about travelling with your family on a sailboat? More and more families are considering this type of holiday, which for children becomes a real adventure. A small space in which to live adventures, relax and share moments with the family to remember for a lifetime.

This week, Ramón, one of my best friends, sent me a message: he was thinking, for the first time, of spending a week on holiday with his wife and four children sailing around the Balearic Islands. So I decided to rescue this article that I left unfinished a while ago to send it to him and share some advice for those who are considering the same thing...

Is a sailing holiday safe for families with children?

Some sailors postpone their sailing trips and vacations when they have children, either because of the fear they may have of sailing with small children, or because of the change in plans or types of trips that are required with children on board.

There is no age at which children can sail and spend a holiday on a boat. There are many families who sail with children from the time they are babies, even families who live on board boats and sail around the world with children on board, an example of this is the account " The Yellow Boat " which contains the adventures of a family with two small children who live on board a boat.



The answer to whether or not it is safe to sail with children could be the same as whether or not it is safe for adults to sail... and that is: it depends on the common sense that we apply when planning the holiday . There are several factors that we must take into account when adapting a boat holiday for the little ones: whether they are used to sailing or not, whether they know how to swim well, whether they are more restless or calmer children, whether they are prone to getting bored or restless in a small space or are good at finding games, whether they get seasick easily or not... all children can sail, but knowing them a little, we will know how to adapt the navigation plan to each one.

Although it is not essential, before venturing out to sail for a week with the family, it would not be a bad idea to try a shorter weekend getaway. And it would be reasonable to go sailing somewhere where we can make short trips of a few hours, from one cove to another, avoiding long journeys. The islands are the ideal destinations for this.

In any case, it is very important, before starting the holidays, or when boarding, together with the skipper of the boat, if we are going to have a professional skipper on board, to talk to the children about what can and cannot be done on a boat, the importance of always obeying the skipper's instructions and following some minimum safety rules, especially while sailing. It will not be a bad idea to instruct the children in safety notions, sailing manoeuvres, use of the bathrooms on board and precautions such as not running, trying not to sail barefoot and maintaining a certain order so that nothing falls into the water.

What activities can be done throughout the day?

Life on board a ship can be very monotonous or it can be full of plans and things to do. In order for children to enjoy a day on board, it is a good idea to be a little proactive when organizing the day.

When we sail on a sailboat or catamaran of a certain length, we carry a kitchen and a refrigerator with us, so meals and snacks on board are special moments of the day that we will enjoy on deck. Although it is always a more than pleasant plan to go out to lunch or dinner on land, stretch your legs, take a walk and have an ice cream. It is important that we make reservations in advance to go out to lunch or dinner on land, especially if we are in a place with a lot of tourism.

Children will appreciate going down to the beach for a while each day to run around and burn off energy, and depending on their ages, it will be a good idea to have some toys or sports equipment to enjoy on the beach. Bearing in mind that space on board the boat is limited, we should think carefully about what things, not too large, we can take. Before the trip, it is almost obligatory to visit a sports shop, such as Decathlon, where we will find many things to take on board to make the trip more entertaining.

It is essential to bring a pair of goggles and a snorkel so that children can discover marine life when swimming from the boat. And if we bring a mattress or inflatable object, be very careful with these... we must bear in mind that the skipper will often look for comfortable anchorages, that is, protected from the wind, which means that the wind will generally come from land, and this implies that if a child gets on a mattress, he will tend to move out to sea. If this is somewhat dangerous on the shore, it is even more dangerous from an anchored boat... therefore, if we are going to have floating objects, it is better to have them tied to the boat with a rope when the children play with them.

A day on a boat can be a bit tiring at times. The sun beating down on us all day long tends to tire us out more than usual, so setting up a shaded area on deck for some more relaxing games is not a bad idea. And although this is an ideal holiday to disconnect from screens, it is not a bad idea, even as a plan B in case the weather is bad one day, or for the evenings before going to sleep, to have a film downloaded to watch on a tablet or laptop in the cabin or on deck. Keep in mind that the coverage in some coves may not be very good.

What is a typical day like on board a ship?

The day on board a boat usually starts early. In summer, it dawns early and the daylight invites you to go up on deck... if it's also a hot day, the crew will quickly look for the deck and the first swim of the morning. And here comes one of the best moments of the day: breakfast on deck! If we have made a good purchase, the morning coffee, a fruit juice and a good breakfast to face the day with energy, will sit wonderfully while we enjoy the views on board and the sea breeze.

Before or after breakfast, taking the inflatable boat ashore for a walk along the beach, in the hours before most tourists arrive, will allow us to enjoy the beach almost to ourselves. If there is a shop nearby, it is a good time to buy fresh bread, ice to cool drinks and any purchases we may need for the pantry on board.

After a swim, mid-morning is usually a good time to change coves, we weigh anchor and prepare to sail for a while to our next destination. If the wind is good we will take out the sails and enjoy sailing without the noise of the engine. If we are lucky we may even be accompanied by some dolphins.

Depending on the cove we want to reach, we will sail for more or less time... what will most influence us when choosing the cove will be the weather forecast. Generally, when we are on an island, we will make short trips of two or three hours. Once we reach the new cove, we can take a swim and prepare lunch or go out to eat at a beach bar.

After lunch we can take a nap or relax for a while in the shade on deck and then enjoy the rest of the afternoon going down to the beach, swimming, doing some sport or enjoying a land excursion until dinner time.

The sunset from the boat is a very special moment that we can enjoy while having dinner and before relaxing for a while and going to sleep. During the night, children will be able to enjoy seeing many more stars than usual if we are away from light pollution, and some days it will be a good idea to go out to dinner in a town on land.

Advantages of boat holidays compared to other types of travel

These are some of the reasons that may help you decide to go on a family boat holiday:

1. Interaction with nature : A few days at sea participating in activities such as snorkelling can instill in children a greater appreciation for nature. It is also an ideal time to teach them to respect and protect the environment.
2. The safety of a private boat : A family vacation is much more relaxing when you don't have to constantly worry about staying away from crowded places and other tourists.
3. Unforgettable experiences : No child will forget the thrill of living on a boat, even if only during their vacation!
4. No complaints about noise : Children can be noisy at times, and if you are in a hotel, you may get complaints from other guests next door. On a boat, that problem disappears.
5. No annoying noises : Similarly, in a hotel, we can find ourselves with a noisy party group next door. A boat guarantees peace and quiet.
6. Exciting Days = Restful Nights : After a full day of swimming, exploring, boating, and more, kids will fall exhausted into their beds, which means better sleep for everyone.
7. Zero crowds : Even if you are lucky enough to have a hotel with a pool or a beachfront, you will have to fight for space to enjoy it. But when you are on a boat, you have your own space of waves around you.
8. Extras on demand : No need to wait for kayaks or jet skis to become available (or only be able to use them for a short time); many extras can be included in a boat reservation and used throughout the holiday.
9. Eat what you want, when you want : Forget mediocre hotel breakfasts consisting of overcooked eggs and boxed cereal, and forget about waiting for the buffet to open (or getting the family out of bed before it closes). On a sailing vacation, you decide your meal and prepare it at the time you want.
10. Quality family time: Traveling by boat means spending quality time with your children, creating a bond with them in an environment that is more enriching than what we will find in other more common settings.
11. See more places - When you're traveling with kids, you need things to be as easy as possible. Navigating makes it easy to quickly and conveniently get from one destination to the next, without the hassle of constantly packing and unpacking day packs or suitcases or checking in and out of multiple hotels.
12. Learning new skills : Children thrive on the challenges of learning new things, and being on a boat gives them ample opportunities to acquire new skills such as fishing, sailing, or diving.

Ideas for safer sailing with children.

In addition to those mentioned above, here are some interesting ideas to help us navigate more safely with children and prevent some of the most common risks:

1. Ask for a child safety net on the boat. Some charter companies offer this as an extra. It is a net or mesh that is installed along the entire boat to prevent falls overboard.
   

   Red seguridad barco niños
2. Safety harness or lifeline: For smaller children, while sailing, or for more restless children or if the boat does not have a safety net, it may be useful to use a safety harness with which to have a lifeline, preventing the child from falling into the water.
   

   arnes niños barco
3. Install a jellyfish pool when anchoring. At certain times of the year, there are some destinations where jellyfish appear, which can frustrate the time of taking a bath. An interesting solution offered by some companies is the jellyfish pools that, when tied to the boat at anchor, form a pool with an inflatable plastic from which a net hangs that does not allow the entry of jellyfish.
   

   piscina antimedusas
4. It is important to establish a safe area where children know they can stay while boating, usually in the bathtub.
5. Putting booties on the children will be very useful when we go ashore in the inflatable, with them they will be able to jump on the shore more safely, not hurt themselves on the rocks, and avoid stepping on bees or jellyfish.

Choosing the right boat and skipper for a family vacation

At Sailwiz we can help you choose a boat and skipper that meets your family's needs. We can also advise you on more family-friendly destinations and the best times of year to visit each one.

As usual, most families tend to go on holiday during the weeks when there are no classes in schools, which is generally high season. This will mean a slightly higher budget. To get an idea of the cost of a week on board with the family, we must bear in mind that the boat alone will cost a minimum of three thousand euros, if we think of a monohull, not very new and we book several months in advance, and if we go to a newer boat, with more extras, larger and in a very popular destination, the budget can easily go up to six thousand euros.

If we think of a catamaran, it is easy to see that the prices are double those of a monohull.

To these prices we must add the cost of the professional skipper (around 200 euros per day), fuel, food, mooring, if we go to port one day, which is not usual, and any other additional costs we want to incur, such as eating out on land.