Catamarans make ideal craft for cruising with toddlers.
Source:
SailNet Articles
by Kevin Jeffrey
pictures FTW Racing
 Many couples reluctantly give up the idea of adventure travel when their children
start to arrive. Worries, concerns, and a seemingly endless series of complications
beset them as they contemplate integrating even one infant or toddler into their
previously carefree lifestyle.
Even those couples who long to travel, but have
yet to do so, often mistakenly assume that travel and babies don't mix. Little
do they realize that there is no better time to travel than when their children
are young, particularly on a sailboat.
With their minimal needs, innate adaptability, boundless enthusiasm, and role
as the world's greatest ambassadors, babies make ideal shipmates. There is no
need to convince your child that he or she will love sailing, no severing of friendship
ties, no education concerns or extracurricular addictions to be dealt with.
Introducing
your children to the world of travel as babies avoids their dependence upon the
entertainment devices relied on so heavily ashore—television, neighborhood
playgroups, and an abundance of toys.
Accompanied by a few favorite objects, comfortable surroundings, and a familiar
routine, a baby will happily follow its parents to the ends of the earth. Where
else could one find such an undemanding travel mate? Yes—babies do need
their diapers changed, their favorite foods produced, and their time occupied
one way or another, but this is nothing compared to the challenge of convincing
a reluctant teenager that cruising is going to be fun—or worse yet, not
going cruising at all.
Some years ago I was approached by an author as a potential contributor to her
book Babies Aboard.
Always happy to promote cruising with children, I agreed to
fill out her lengthy questionnaire dealing with every issue from safety and health
to eating, sleeping, and play. As I read on, I quickly realized that almost none
of the issues raised applied to us. Why? Not because we had twins, or were experienced
travelers, but because we chose a catamaran.
With a cat's high bridge deck, a baby can be playing inside and still be on the
same level with you in the cockpit. Accommodations are always spacious, even on
a small catamaran, making it possible to sleep an infant away from the center
of activity, find room to store baby things, and set up a safe play area out from
underfoot. Under sail, the level motion will keep the baby from falling out of
bed, maintain food securely anchored to the table, and make playtime a safe activity
both above and below decks.
Sailing with a baby, like doing anything with a baby, means a relaxed schedule.
Large amounts of territory can be covered, big bodies of water crossed, and challenging
situations dealt with as long as you feel able to cope with them.
Parents, not
babies, usually make the work for themselves.
An overambitious itinerary is one
way in which a cruise can turn from fun into a nightmare, with the baby blamed
for it all.
Caring for a baby is easier on a boat than with any other form of travel because
your home is with you. Not only does a boat have a larger carrying capacity than
a bicycle, backpack, or vehicle, but once you're on board the baby's bed, changing
place, play area, and paraphernalia can all be arranged and left intact no matter
how many times you raise and lower sails or anchors.
Whether your trip lasts a week, a month, or a year, take your baby and discover
how simple, enjoyable, and relaxing adventuring under sail can be with the whole
family included.
Away from the play pens and swing sets, the highchairs and port-a-cribs,
the bouncy chairs and walkers that are too often considered indispensable these
days, you'll soon be wondering whatever made you think babies needed all that.
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