Hi! We spent five years living aboard and sailing on a couple of sailboats (34ft then 42ft). We began our journey as a family of 3 on the east coast of the UK in 2017 and sailed across the North Sea to Northern Europe. After a couple of years exploring the continent, Jersey in Channel Islands, the Isles of Scilly, the south coast of the UK, and having a baby(!) - we set sail south down the Atlantic coast from Cornwall, UK and sailed down to southern Portugal when Erin was only 8 months old. We have PLENTY of tales to tell! Now we're ready to share our experiences and all the knowledge we picked up to help other families get out on the water sailing. Come join us!
Advice & Tips To Get Out Sailing With Your Primary School Aged Children (5-11) π¦π»π§πΌβ΅οΈ #5
Hi Reader, Welcome to the 5th edition of 'Families Afloat'! The brand new weekly newsletter full of inspiration, stories and invaluable information for sailing families. If this is the first one you've received - welcome aboard! It's great to have you here. If you want to have a read of previous newsletters, you can find them on our homepage (https://familiesafloat.co.uk). Now, on with this week... This week, it's all about going sailing with primary aged children (5-11) - I'm working my way up the age range! β What You Should Be Thinking About This Week'Homeschooling a Five-Year-Old on a Boat' This week it's all about homeschooling on a boat! Hearing the word 'homeschooling' can break parents out into a sweat! Shouldering the responsibility of educating your child/ren is a lot to take on, but, you're not the first and you won't be the last to do it. This is great because it means there is plenty of help and support available out there to make your life easier. Kim from Sailing Britican has written an article all about homeschooling their daughter Sienna when she was five-years-old. She shares some great tips and ideas for how to apply homeschooling to boat life. Read it here: 'Homeschooling a Five-Year-Old on a Boat'.β β Boat Tour of the WeekI don't know about you, but I LOVE looking around other people's boats! Every week I will share a new boat for you to take a look around. This week we are touring Slow Travelling's Moody 425 called SV Blue Dancer. They are currently sailing around Greece in the Mediterranean with their two children. β β Do you have a family sailing yacht boat tour you'd like to share? It can either be your own boat or one you've found on YouTube! Let us know here.β β Sailing Tip of the WeekFamily Sailing: The Secrets of Cruising With Kids In this article, Theo Stocker (the Editor of Yachting Monthly) speaks to a variety of cruising sailors in order to get their best tips on what to do and what to avoid when going family sailing. There are some excellent tips included on a variety of subjects and for a wide range of ages. Definitely recommend a read of this one. Read 'Family Sailing: The Secrets of Cruising With Kids' on the Yachting Monthly website. β Gear ReviewBehan from Sailing Totem has written an excellent Holiday Gift Guide with ideas for toys and items that kids should have onboard. I know, I know, it's not the holidays! This list is well worth a read though to pick up ideas for things to have onboard when you're in the planning stages. A kids toy selection on a boat is massively paired down compared to what they'd probably have on land so this is a great way to see what cruisers use and recommend for entertainment onboard. It's called 'Holiday Gifts For Boat Kids of All Ages'. β Epic Cruising MemoriesThe memories I want to focus on in this section are the MAGICAL moments that you can only get while you're cruising. Believe me when I say that they are SO worth putting yourself through all the not so good memories! β "One of the best things for me about cruising was arriving at a new destination and going ashore to explore our new surroundings. It's always good to stretch your legs, especially after a longer passage.
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My nose usually led the way around a new town and we'd always find a new and interesting food to try. π
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A lot of my cruising memories revolve around food and what I ate at a particular destination... meatball sandwich in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; hot steaming waffle with warmed cherries, their syrup and fresh strawberries in Cadzand, The Netherlands; fresh raspberry tart from a boulangerie in Brittany, France; fresh prawns from β
βCamaret-sur-Mer, France; the almond croissants from French boulangeries; freshly caught pollock (by me!) in the Isles of Scilly, UK; fresh seafood and ice cream in Muros, Galicia, Spain. That's barely scratching the surface! β
Also, when we were limited on time because the stop we made was just a break on the way to a destination further away, I found we tended to make more of an effort to get off the boat and explore. Great for making memories!
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Robyn Hawkins - @sailing.mutiny and @robyn.sailing.mutinyβ
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β What's the most Epic Cruising Memory you have? Let us know here.β β Galley Recipe of the WeekThis week it's 'Oven Roasted Spiny Lobster'. Seeing the photograph of the lobster reminded me of the time we were anchored up in the Isles of Scilly and we saw a fisherman picking up his pots in the bay. We called him over to ask if he'd caught anything and then bought a crab and lobster from him to cook onboard. You can't get much fresher than that! The recipe this week is from Lynn Van Den Broeck of @the.hungry.sailor. Oven Roasted Spiny Lobster
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Ingredients for lunch for 2 people:
1 live spiny lobster (2 pound)
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 crushed and minced clove of garlic
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper or another spicy pepper (to taste)
Salt and pepper
Slices of bread to serve
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Recipe:
- Heat the oven to 180Β°C
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- Kill the lobster right before cooking: stab a knife or very sharp object in it's head between the eyes. Cut the lobster in half lengthways (you could use sharp kitchen scissors for the tail). Some people throw away the head but I think that's a shame, there is more meat in it than you think. You can separate the tail meat from it's shell and put it back in for cooking in the oven.
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- Melt the butter, take off the heat and add the garlic, lemon juice, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to taste.
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- Put the lobster parts, shell side down in an oven proof baking tray lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Brush the butter mixture on top of the lobster meat and save a little for serving.
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- Now put the lobsters in the oven, broil until opaque and lightly browned (not too long or it's going to be rubbery). 8-10 minutes should be enough. The meat inside has to be white, if it's still translucent, put it back in the oven for 1-2 minutes.
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- Serve with bread and salad
β β Have you tried to make it? Why don't you let Lynn @the.hungry.sailor know on Instagram how it turned out! β What's your favourite galley recipe? Let us know here.β β YouTube Video of the WeekThis newsletter, my video of the week on YouTube is 'Sailing with Kids | Part 1' by Yachting World. Caspar and Nicola Craven share some excellent tips for getting out on the water with your children to make sure that everyone in the family has the best experience they can. Go and check it out! β β Have you watched a really good video this week? Let us know here.β β Pets CornerOur furry friends are most definitely part of the family. Each week, we'll share a picture of our favourite boat dog or cat (though we're not limited to those - show us what other animals you have onboard!) β This week it's our salty seadog, Scrappy from @sailing.mutiny. Scrappy LOVES dinghy rides, especially when they're taking him ashore. A lifejacket is a necessity for Scrappy as he's had a few 'incidents' when he's been a little bit TOO keen to get off the boat! π One time when we were approaching a beach in the Isles of Scilly, the water was very clear and it looked shallower than it actually was. So, when Scrappy launched himself off the front of the dinghy, he got a dunking! Another time, we were approaching the shore but the ground was very muddy. He launched himself off the side of the dinghy straight towards a big sticky muddy mess. Somehow, Dave saw it happening out the corner of his eye and with superhuman reflexes, he grabbed Scrappy's life jacket handle mid-air. It was a real blink and you miss it moment, made all the more amazing because Dave wasn't even watching him at the time, I was! π Want your salty seadog (or cat, or other pet!) to be featured in the newsletter?! Let us know here.β β Bilge BanterComplete the following (and get as inventive as you want!!!) β Your husband falls overboard. What do you do? β βSubmit your answers here.β β Puzzle CornerIt's time to get your thinking caps on. Can you solve our nautical themed puzzle?! This week it's a RIDDLE! β Find out in the newsletter next week if you're right. β Last Week's Puzzle - ANSWER β β The answer to the puzzle last week was... FAMILIES AFLOAT! Did you get it?! β Competition TimeEach month we will partner up with a company to provide an awesome nautical themed prize. This month we have teamed up with Kim from Sailing Britican. She has very kindly offered one of our readers the prize of enrollment on her online Boat Safety Course (complete with personalisable Manual for your boat) worth $347! β To find out more about it (and enter!), please visit our competitions page - just click the big orange button below! β
Brand: Sailing Britican Prize: Enrollment on their Boat Safety Course and Manual (online) Retail value: $347 Giveaway open to: Entrants worldwide aged 18+ This competition will run: During March 2023 and the winner will be chosen and announced in April 2023. β If you are a brand or company that is interested in giving away a quality sailing or travel product or gift voucher, please leave your details here.β β Really Useful WebsitesEach week we'll share some of our favourite sailing related websites that we have found super helpful and/or found ourselves revisting time and time again. β This week it's all about getting experience on other people's boats or finding crew for your own boat. Both of the following websites allow you to search for boats worldwide that are looking for crew. Get on a boat near to you or fly and meet one anywhere in the world. Some boats need crew for short passages, others are looking for crew to accompany them around the world. Some are paid positions, others require you to contribute towards costs. There is a wide range of captains looking for crew - if you want to gain experience then I'm sure you'll find something to suit on one of the following websites. On the other hand, if you already have a boat yourself and would like to have extra crew aboard to help with watch schedules or cook on longer passages, you can advertise to get crew onboard. β Find a Crew βhttps://www.findacrew.netβ β Crewseekers βhttps://www.crewseekers.netβ β It goes without saying but before you get onto someone else's boat or invite them into your home, take the time to get to know them and ensure you are 100% happy and feel safe with the person/people before you leave port. I'm sharing these websites as they can be a very useful tool for those that use them as long as they are used correctly. β What websites do you find yourself going back to time and time again? Tell us about them here.β β Have You Found This Newsletter Helpful?Have you found this weeks newsletter helpful? Do you know anyone else who would benefit from reading it? Please forward this newsletter to them and recommend that they subscribe so they don't miss any future emails from us! (You can subscribe here!) By doing this, you are helping our community grow. The more of us there are, the better this newletter will become! β Join Us on Social Media β Enjoyed Families Afloat?βFind out how you can support us here so we can keep sharing Families Afloat with you all each week. π₯° β Thanks for joining us! I really hope you enjoyed reading this week's edition of 'Families Afloat'. Hope to see you again next week. In the meantime, fair winds and following seas! Robyn and Dave β Experiment
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Families Afloat | Sail Away Together
by Robyn, Dave, Erin, and Scrappy
Hi! We spent five years living aboard and sailing on a couple of sailboats (34ft then 42ft). We began our journey as a family of 3 on the east coast of the UK in 2017 and sailed across the North Sea to Northern Europe. After a couple of years exploring the continent, Jersey in Channel Islands, the Isles of Scilly, the south coast of the UK, and having a baby(!) - we set sail south down the Atlantic coast from Cornwall, UK and sailed down to southern Portugal when Erin was only 8 months old. We have PLENTY of tales to tell! Now we're ready to share our experiences and all the knowledge we picked up to help other families get out on the water sailing. Come join us!
Hey Reader, I hope you've had a great week. Did you see my email last weekend where I told you I'd just relaunched Families Afloat as a brand new website?! Visit Families Afloat by clicking the image above or the links in the email Have you had a chance to check it out yet?! I'd love to hear what you think of the new (and IMO very much improved design! Let's be honest, the last website was a bit crap...! π) It's still early days for it but I'm adding new posts to it as often as I can. What...
Hi Reader, Iβm back!!! Itβs been a while since I emailed and a LOT has happened since then! Weβve moved back to the UK from Portugal and are in the process of trying to resettle into βnormal lifeβ. The bottom line is that itβs not going very well - moving back in the middle of winter probably wasnβt our smartest move! π Weβre missing boat life like crazy and have started boat hunting again π. The other thing Iβve been doing which has taken up a LOT of time is redesigning Families Afloat from...
Hi Reader, Welcome to the MAY edition of 'Families Afloat'! The monthly newsletter full of inspiration, stories and invaluable information for sailing families. If you want to have a catch up of our previous newsletters, you can find them here: NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE. This week's topic is what cruising is really all about... Fixing your boat in foreign countries! π I'm pretty sure that almost every cruiser we've met has had to fix their boat abroad at some point in their journey, if they haven't,...