Tonight, we were invited on a sail. It was supposed to be a nice, relaxed sail on a weekday evening at a yacht club 5 minutes away from home. It's the very end of August, so the sun sets early. It was also the first day of school for our oldest boy, and the third day in the new class of the daycare for our youngest.
I was worried as soon as we were invited. It will take skilled convincing to get our oldest son, now 7 onto the boat. We started with the big guns right away: Pogo sticks and fries. We usually eat healthy food, so junk food is really an exception. It worked to get them on the boat, and we got at least 5 minutes of sailing before the complaining started. We were on Sharks, which are 24 foot long narrow keelboats. The ones for member use at the Royal Saint-Lawrence Yacht Club don't have engines.
I have to admit I was also annoyed. The wind was just enough to overcome the current and there were lots of flies, and some of them bit. Not exciting conditions. The air was hot and muggy. We had the impression the boat was not moving for the first half of the sail. Everybody tried helming, the kids did a wilfully bad job, wanting to turn back to the club. Our eldest was saying he never wanted to go on a sailboat again. When we finally did turn back, we had wind in our faces blowing the flies away, and I could sense the kids were having fun running around this sailboat with no lifelines. The kids had their life-jackets on and the lake water around us is at 26 degrees Celsius. With the current helping us progress, the way back felt much too short and the kids did not complain at all. The sunset in the distance was beautiful.
We quickly stored the sails and the lines (though never fast enough) and went back home. It was just 8 when we arrived home, if the kids could get in their PJ fast, it would still be reasonable for a week night. However, they did not have the opportunity to wind down, it's 10 PM and our youngest is still getting up and complaining about throat ache, leg pains, asking for more water or what ever.
What could have been a nice evening sail was an ordeal.
What could we have done differently?
I was worried as soon as we were invited. It will take skilled convincing to get our oldest son, now 7 onto the boat. We started with the big guns right away: Pogo sticks and fries. We usually eat healthy food, so junk food is really an exception. It worked to get them on the boat, and we got at least 5 minutes of sailing before the complaining started. We were on Sharks, which are 24 foot long narrow keelboats. The ones for member use at the Royal Saint-Lawrence Yacht Club don't have engines.
I have to admit I was also annoyed. The wind was just enough to overcome the current and there were lots of flies, and some of them bit. Not exciting conditions. The air was hot and muggy. We had the impression the boat was not moving for the first half of the sail. Everybody tried helming, the kids did a wilfully bad job, wanting to turn back to the club. Our eldest was saying he never wanted to go on a sailboat again. When we finally did turn back, we had wind in our faces blowing the flies away, and I could sense the kids were having fun running around this sailboat with no lifelines. The kids had their life-jackets on and the lake water around us is at 26 degrees Celsius. With the current helping us progress, the way back felt much too short and the kids did not complain at all. The sunset in the distance was beautiful.
We quickly stored the sails and the lines (though never fast enough) and went back home. It was just 8 when we arrived home, if the kids could get in their PJ fast, it would still be reasonable for a week night. However, they did not have the opportunity to wind down, it's 10 PM and our youngest is still getting up and complaining about throat ache, leg pains, asking for more water or what ever.
What could have been a nice evening sail was an ordeal.
What could we have done differently?
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