High school will be over in the blink of an eye and once they get that car license they will be off doing there own stuff. If you want to go sailing with your son, now is the time.

cammd said..
High school will be over in the blink of an eye and once they get that car license they will be off doing there own stuff. If you want to go sailing with your son, now is the time.

Yeah you're right. Thanks for the advice. I bought a motor for him so we could go motoring instead of sailing the mirror and he just wasn't that into it . . . not thrilling enough but I want to make that connection with him and I reckon he will enjoy a compass 28 with a bit of adventure thrown in.

RE: Am I rushing this? Will this be a good decision?
What's your experience?

Re; Am I rushing this?
You mention the mirror. Do you have experience on a larger boat?

RE; Will this be a good decision? my son is addicted to gaming and hasn't helped me a minute on the boat, he hasn't the interest.
What does your son think of sailing with no internet connection?
have you discussed this with him?

You can get a fixeruppera and not fix her up.
Just sail her the way she is.
As long as she is safe, that is.

Lastly, How far from your house to the boat?

gary

garymalmgren said..
RE: Am I rushing this? Will this be a good decision?
What's your experience?

Re; Am I rushing this?
You mention the mirror. Do you have experience on a larger boat?

RE; Will this be a good decision? my son is addicted to gaming and hasn't helped me a minute on the boat, he hasn't the interest.
What does your son think of sailing with no internet connection?
have you discussed this with him?

You can get a fixeruppera and not fix her up.
Just sail her the way she is.
As long as she is safe, that is.

Lastly, How far from your house to the boat?

gary

As mentioned I've done my comp crew and sailed at SAGS but only once a year. I've done some dinghy racing too and have my start sailing one and two.
cruising boats are slow paced compared to racing dinghies and that's the biggest adjustment I think.
My son will disagree on sailing without internet but then have a ball after we get going. That's what I've experienced in the past.
yeah there is a compass 28 going under 10,000. As long as the chain plates and engine and through hulls are good then that will get me through the first year.
The mooring is 30min away . . . fairly close and I am planning on using my mirror dinghy as the tender.

I have 2 boys, now aged 25 and 23. The eldest is living with his partner away from home and the youngest is in BC, Canada working for a heliskiing company. I turn the outside lights on every night in case they come home ...

We started out with a Mirror on Lysterfield Lake and then got time shares in a Rob Legg 34 at Paynesville on the Gippsland Lakes. It was hard at times, they both enjoyed it but sometimes I had to push them to clean the boat up after a weekend sailing. And sometimes it got a bit windy and I learnt to take it slower ("Dad, REEF NOW!"). But they gradually learnt to work together, learnt the satisfaction of doing something difficult that not many other people were doing, learnt that sometimes their old man knew more than them or was less scared than them and learnt that the world is a beautiful and amazing place. Then we got a couple of Paper Tigers because they liked to go FAST. And then I bought Kinora, sailed her from Pittwater to Paynesville with my youngest son (eldest had university exams) and at night we watched dolphins leaving a trail of green phosphorescent bubbles somewhere between Gabo Island and Lakes Entrance.

This is only my opinion, and your situation will be different, but the best time to do it is now. Maybe start with a time share or charter first before buying your own boat (an older boat will cost you way more than you expect). Be prepared for it to not work, it just might not be their thing and that's OK, you just have to find something else that is their thing. They don't have to share your dreams but your job is to help them start dreaming and then give them the tools to follow those dreams. Don't give up the first time it goes wrong. They'll absorb resilience by osmosis while watching you be resilient. You'll make mistakes, own them, apologise and move on. They'll absorb that too.

We started this about 15 years ago so technology wasn't as pervasive or as addictive as it is now. I don't know how to work with that except to say do any weaning off slowly. We had limited power on the Rob Legg so phones couldn't always be charged and cell service was patchy. No laptops or tablets (paper charts). No streaming stuff at night but board games. A canoe on the foredeck so they could get away when they needed to. We were lucky to be able to do this before social media really took over.

Good luck! After all, what could possibly go wrong?

Cheers,
Kinora

Kinora said..
learnt that sometimes their old man knew more than them or was less scared than them

Pure gold.

Thanks @cammd and @kinora for your advice and input. I think that adventure bring out anxiety about money or failure or whatever because it is something new but that's adventure right . . . it gets your heart racing and that's all part of it.
my wife is very anxious and the last think I want is stress from her about how much money I have "wasted" but that's for me to manage. This boat idea is a risk and if it fails then I've learnt something and I think that's positive.
I tried to tee a mate up to go halves with me so my kids and his kids can enjoy together but maybe that would require something bigger than a compass 28. I think that it's a great starting boat none the less. Go simple, go now is what some say and that's my train of thought but I guess what I really want is someone to coach me through it all and tell me that everything will be okay and you are all doing a great job at that so thank you!
I've done up a spreadsheet of expenses to help me visualise what the boat will cost me. I can afford more but it's about budgeting so it doesn't cause too many money conversations between my wife and I.


It's basic I know but let me know what you think about it.

If I may, I would suggest getting excited about the mirror you have, do stuff with it , fish, motor, camp cruise, campaign it. Doors will open. Check out small craft Tasmania for inspiration. A boat you can put back on the trailer & forget about for awhile has a lot of upsides, a keel boat is a way of life, otherwise it becomes another one of neglected fleet that is already an issue. Enjoy what you have!

It's time....

Thanks everyone for your input. I am going to enjoy my mirror dinghy this winter and focus on my RYA day skipper to fulfill my extended sailing thrills and competency. I'll look into a bigger boat around this time next year.

The unlikely voyage of jack de crow is a must read for any mirror skipper, young & old