Before moving onto the boat we had typical kids. They didn’t like heights, swimming in deep water, nervous about meeting new kids and scared of wearing clothes with itchy tags.
I don’t know what’s in the salt air but we have been trying for almost 2 years to teach Pri how to swim and an 8 year old girl at Atlantis taught her in just 2 hours. It’s now been just over a month and now she’s trying her hand at snorkeling, jumping off the side of the boat and even jumping off a bridge at Spanish Wells. She could officially be apart of the Aquanauts. Pri will even approach other kids on the beach, introduce herself and Wags and ask to play. As for little Wags she now goes in the water and screams FASTER in the dingy. Both girls are learning how to drive the dingy which often leads us to motoring in circles looking like a bunch of drunks.
I often think to myself how adventurous they’re going to be in a years time. Will they be wearing leotards swinging from the rigging? How wonderful to raise our girls in an environment where they can grow from the inside out.
The girls even prefer to ride on the back of the golf cart together, but who wants to sit next to Mumma?
Wags is our little Pop-Eye. She loves to hang in the cockpit while sailing and finds it even more amusing when the boat is “wobbly”
Given time I’m sure our little man will be just as adventurous, but for now he’s getting used to dinghy’s and nursing in the cockpit with a strong sea breeze.
Robin Crichton says
It is amazing what getting out of the home environment and into the sailing world can do for kids 🙂 Our kids have always loved sailing even though we never realized cruising. Sold our Ingrid and now live in Belize with our five kids. We still sail – a little racing dinghy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKofwA6MKmU