# Recent Cruising With Kids Interviews



## Livia (Jul 20, 2006)

As part of the Interview With A Cruiser family I recently published two interviews I thought might be of interest here.

One is with the entire crew (2 parents, 3 children) aboard SV Fluenta - currently in New Caledonia:
10 Questions for Fluenta ~ The INTERVIEW WITH

A CRUISER Project



The other is with the 12 year sailor, Lily, aboard Delphinius:
10 Questions for Delphinius ~ The INTERVIEW WITH

A CRUISER Project



Hope you enjoy!


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## annaba (Nov 30, 2017)

Love those interviews. Cruiser kids rock!


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## OleBlueNose (Nov 25, 2017)

As someone who grew up with sailor parents I love those interviews!


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

My general impression from these interviews... is that cruising is about the destination and sailing is not "fun"... maybe not a chore... but a means to an end. Cruising is a lot of work... maintenance, stowing, unstowing lots of things which occupy time as if there is something better to do... Life is 90% maintenance... you do it or someone does it for you.


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## Sal Paradise (Sep 14, 2012)

Yes, these both involve kids, which seems like much more work. I don't know if I would raise my kids on a boat. Kids on land have other opportunities to have friends, be on baseball teams and get to know their home area very well. And cruiser kids miss out on this but they have other opportunities. The moral dilemma is that the kids really have no choice and they really have no way of knowing if this is the best way to raise them. 

It is almost an impossible question -to me it seems to really be a moral riddle - but the kids might turn out to be great people!


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

Sal Paradise said:


> Yes, these both involve kids, which seems like much more work. I don't know if I would raise my kids on a boat. Kids on land have other opportunities to have friends, be on baseball teams and get to know their home area very well. And cruiser kids miss out on this but they have other opportunities. The moral dilemma is that the kids really have no choice and they really have no way of knowing if this is the best way to raise them.
> 
> It is almost an impossible question -to me it seems to really be a moral riddle - but the kids might turn out to be great people!


There is the option of having a decent cruising yacht and using it for family vacations... even having it delivered to the Caribe for example.... family flies down for winter vacation. This gives kids best of both worlds. Obviously not something every family has the means for... But cruising ONCE you have the boat is not terribly expensive compared to staying in a hotel... and the kids get to participate too.


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## Sal Paradise (Sep 14, 2012)

Sandero,

I've thought the very same thing. In my previous post I was wondering about what a cruising upbringing would do to a child's psychology. You don't get a second chance. I found a relevant quote in the Delphinius Interview:

What do you miss about living on land?

_I miss having familiar grounds to roam around on. I miss going to school, especially since I never got the chance to have the secondary school experience. I miss being able to see my friends whenever I like_.

What question do you wish I would have asked you besides the ones I've asked you and how would you answer it?

It would've been interesting to answer this question: did cruising change you at all? If so, how?

_I'm not sure if this would've applied had I not started sailing, but I do think I've changed since before I began travelling. Before, from what I can remember, I was quite gullible, naïve, attention-hogging and I never used to eat anything that was outside of my comfort zone. Now I've changed, though: I've learned not to take people so seriously (probably from living with Paul for the past four years), I prefer to be the mob rather than the centre of attention, and I eat a lot more things now. So all's a-gooden!_

These are great insights from a 12 years old. I suspect she will grow up to be an amazing person.


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## chall03 (Oct 14, 2002)

Great interviews! Love it.



Sal Paradise said:


> Yes, these both involve kids, which seems like much more work. I don't know if I would raise my kids on a boat. Kids on land have other opportunities to have friends, be on baseball teams and get to know their home area very well. And cruiser kids miss out on this but they have other opportunities. The moral dilemma is that the kids really have no choice and they really have no way of knowing if this is the best way to raise them.
> 
> It is almost an impossible question -to me it seems to really be a moral riddle - but the kids might turn out to be great people!


Every decision you make about your kids is a moral riddle!

I mean land based kids equally have no choice in how they are raised really. What if little Timmy from Ohio really hates baseball and wishes he was on a kayak in the Tuamotus?

In terms of friends and socialisation your right it's something you need to be aware of. Kid boats tend to make a point of seeking each other out and will maybe linger in a place longer if there are kids about.

Totem have done a great write up on this. 'Happy boat kids, Happy Boat'

The other thing to be aware of is of course education, but there are great resources and options to cover this out there.

We have found it to be a great lifestyle for the kids, we monitor their wellbeing closely of course and make adjustments as we need to.

As SanderO suggested there are different ways of cruising. Being a Boatkid doesn't mean disappearing over the horizon and farewelling civilisation for a 6 year circumnavigation.

Our very own beloved Smack is doing the back and forth, cruising part time thing.

Other sailing families I know have stopped in foreign countries for extended periods and enrolled kids into local schools and local sports. This is something we are looking at doing in Italy. Totem mentioned above did this while in Australia. So not only do they get to play baseball they also got to give cricket a go


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