Ultimate Guide To Sailing With Kids By A Sailing Family

Want to introduce your kids to the joys of sailing?

We’re a sailing family from Hamble in the UK with two small kids, our toddler Cameron and our baby Dylan. Carl’s work as a sail yacht captain means that we spend a lot of time onboard yachts of all types and sizes. And both of our young crew members have been sailing since they were babies. This makes keen to spread the word that sailing with kids can be fun for the whole family.

Perhaps you’ve always sailed, and now you have young sailors in the family you want to head back out onto the open water but you’re not sure how to start? We want encourage more families to sail with small children. Because a sailing trip with kids is a fun way to spend quality time together and explore the world. Whenever you’re planning any new experiences and sailing with kids is definitely an experience. It’s important to ask lots of questions, and we hope to answer lots of them for you.

We hope that we can help you have a smooth sailing (excuse the pun) first time away!

A mum is in the middle of her three year old and baby boys. The boys are wearing bright yellow lifejackets and smiling at the camera. The mum has on a flowery vest top and a baseball cap. She is sailing with her kids.

Planning your sailing trip with kids

If you’ve sailed before then you’ll know that sailing without kids requires lots of planning. From things such as route planning, to checking the weather to deciding where to go. And when you add into the mix small kids there’s then an extra level of planning. If you have your own boat you might want to consider making adaptations such as adding sailing nets. If you’ve decide to use a sailing charter company then you might want to think about what type of boat best suits your family. And where you’d love to head.

Your kids will vibe off of you. So the chances are that the more prepared you feel the more relaxed you’ll be. And your kids will pick up on this. You’ll also find that once onboard, the distraction of kids means you might not have much time for ad-hoc route planning etc so it’s best to get it all done in advance.

If you’ve got older children then getting them in on the planning is a great way for them to feel involved and excited about their sailing trip.

Get your kids excited about sailing with you

It’s all about the prep!

Once you’ve started the planning you’ll want to start to get your young kids excited. That can involve talking to them about your sailing trip. You can talk to them about where they’re going. Or, about he boat that they’re going to be on. And maybe who they’ll be with. We’ve found with Cameron that our first step before any new experiences is to prep him for these big adventures before we go. He’ll have lots of questions and we can answer some before we go so that he’s not anxious or worried. It was the same when we taught him to snorkel, and we watched underwater TV shows.

Get excited by showing them videos of yachts sailing, talking about the parts of the boat, and where they’ll be going. For older kids, you’ll want to start teaching them the basics of sailing. And depending on their age, you might want to find a youth sailing program. This way they can learn new skills ahead of their first sail. This will also show them that it’s a fun activity.

A man is stood on the bow of a sailing yacht wearing a grey t-shirt and in his arms is his very young son who is wearing a yellow t-shirt and blue shorts. They are both looking at the camera. In the background is Nelson Dockyard and marina with it's buildings.

How to keep kids safe when sailing with them

This is the most important part of any sailing trip because having a safe environment allows you to relax and have a good time. Whether you’re new sailors or advanced sailors you’ll need to look at things differently now that young children are onboard. Because, unfortunately, kids can be a bit clumsy and reckless. This means the chances of them injuring themselves is much higher. You need to do everything you can to reduce the chance of them hurting themselves. That way your kids won’t get hurt during your trip, so you’ll spare yourselves lots of unnecessary upset (from you all). Plus, you won’t have to go ashore if a child gets hurt more seriously.

Also hopefully, you’ll finish your holiday having had a perfect sailing trip way. And in return, your sailing children will be excited for their next sailing holiday.

1. Life jackets that fit your kids

Wearing a life jacket should be a must for all children when onboard a boat. Even if your kids are older or the boat isn’t moving, you should get them used to wearing one. It’s also important to teach them how to put one on themselves. Life jackets aren’t just for kids, adults should have them too. This is something that you can practice at home so that they get used to how they feel. Because they could be wearing one for hours at a time depending on the length of your passages. Be sure to find one that fits and is comfortable otherwise you’ll have a battle on your hands. That said, teach your kids to swim as soon as possible.

If you’re booking through a charter company then remember to ask them for vests and they will make sure they are waiting for you on the boat. You’ll need to know roughly what your child weighs so that they can make sure that the life jacket fits and has enough buoyancy.

A three year old boy is wearing a yello lifejacket with small pirates printed on it. He his baseball cap on backwards and the helm wheel in his hand as he looks sideways. He is on a sail yacht and his parents have gone sailing with their kids.

2. Rules aren’t made to be broken

Much like when you’re at home, you’ll need to have some rules onboard the yacht. If you set the rules in advance, your kids will then know what they are can and can’t do. To help prepare for your trip, we’d suggest discussing between yourselves what basic rules you’ll have and then sitting your kids down and going with them. For example, your basic rules might include no hanging overboard. Or, that they must sit down when sailing unless you tell them differently. We’re what you might consider to be very relaxed parents, however, Carl has a saying that “safety is no accident”. We like to follow this motto by being very clear with Cameron on what he may and may not do.

The basic rules you set very much depend on your childs character therefore you’ll know best which ground rules need to set before you go sailing.

3. Safety nets for curious little sailors

One of the biggest fears parents have when taking their young kids out for their first time sailing is that their kids will fall overboard.

This is the exact reason why it is a good thing to have a safety net up to ensure that your young kids don’t fall overboard. Safety nets are great around the front of the boat around the bow and anchor. However, it’s also important to have them on each side too. Having nets on will help you to feel a lot safer because the safety net sits tall enough to prevent small children from falling overboard and into the sea.

If you’re using a sailing charter company then they should be able to provide and fit them for you. If you’re using your own boat then you’ll need to buy and fit them yourself.

A baby in a blue and white stripy top is looking at the camera and smiling. He's sat in the cockpit of a yacht and in the background is the sea and the shore of an island. He is in Antigua.

4. Sunscreen saves a day

Kids’ skin is a lot softer than adult skin, so they’ll tend sunburn quicker. On most sail yachts there isn’t always a huge amount of places for them to be in the shade depending on the size of the yacht and the bimini. Therefore it’s super important to have lots of high SPF factor sunscreen with you. You should also make sure you apply and then re-apply it to your kids frequently. We always put high SPF factor suncream on our kids’ skin at the beginning of the day at breakfast. Even if it’s is not sunny, just so that we know that they have some on.

We also choose ones that are reef-friendly so that we’re not damaging the marine environment if we decide to jump in for a swim. You’ll find that lots of sunscreens are reef-friendly now at clearly advertise it on their packaging.

5. Medicine plays its part

Whenever we travel we always take with us some medicine basics, such as kids paracetamol and ibuprofen. We also have bug creams and repellents as mosquitos tend to find both our boys very tasty! You may also want to bring along seasickness remedies – we’re fortunate that both boys aren’t seasick. However, it might amuse you to know that Carl does get seasick and manages it without the need for medication. If you have specific prescription medicines then you’ll need to remember them as well.

How do you keep kids busy when sailing with them

Sailing is an amazing thing to show your kids, and you’ll want them to enjoy it as much as you do. This is why it’s a good idea to think ahead about the ways that you’ll keep them busy and entertained on your sailing trip. Every activity needs to be safe. An you might want to combine this with teaching more about the beauty of sailing.

A three year old boy has his hand on the helm of a yacht. He is looking to the side of the shot and not at the camera. By the helm wheel is the navigation computers. His parents are sailing with their kids.

1. Ease into sailing on the first day and take short legs

“Are we nearly there yet?” – every parent casually rolls their eye when they hear these dreaded words!

Young kids are unlikely to be ready for long passages, and whilst they’ll have fun sailing they’ll also want to know when they’ll be getting to a beach or harbour to have a run around and explore. So we’d recommend that in your sailing plans, you include a shorter first day of sailing. And, if you do have some long passages to cover whilst you’re away, then perhaps look at ways that you can cover them in several shorter legs spread out throughout the day, rather than one long leg.

2. Engage them in sailing with games

Depending on the age of your children there are lots of fun games that you can play to keep them amused. Cam is a big fan of pirates so we usually read pirate books and then pretend that we’re sailing our pirate ship. We also like to take time to explain to him what each part of the boat is and what it does and turn it into a game. That way, he’ll learn something and have fun playing at the same time. We also love a good game of eye spy, because he’s only 3 years old, we do it using colours.

For older children, you can get them more involved by teaching them the basics of sailing. You could cover things such as points of sail.

You could also try things such as fishing from the boat. We’ve been trying the last few fishing trips, however, we’ve not had any luck. When we do catch a fish we’re really keen to make fresh sushi for the boys to try.

A three year old boy wearing a yellow lifejacket with pirates on it has his back to the viewer and is looking to see from the back of a sailing yacht. Next to him is woman who is his friend and she is pointing something out to him at sea. In the background is the se and an island in Antigua. She is sailing with kids.

3. Make a safe play area

Sometime during your trip your kids might want to take themselves off to play or draw inside so it’s helpful that have a specific area that they can head to that is safe. The saloon table or their bedroom are the easiest play areas to set up for a child. That will give them plenty of space for watching cartoons, playing, colouring, and anything else they enjoy and would like to do.

4. Expect and prepare for some screen time

We know that sometimes kids will need some screentime to get them from through the day when out on the open water. And it’s not a bad thing at all to give them one to help starve away the boredom. Our top tip would be to make sure that you have enough downloaded for them to enjoy, because depending on your boat set-up and route, you may or may not have wifi for them.

We live to counterbalance our screen time with some board games or card games after we finish sailing that we can all have fun with as a family.

A man is stood at the bow of a yacht with a blue t-shirt on and a baseball cap and sunglasses. Stood next to him in a grey t-shirt is his two year old son who has the electronic keypad for the anchor in his hand. The man is sailing with his kids.

Can you take toddlers or newborns sailing?

In our opinion, there is no “best age” or “perfect time” for your first sailing trip with kids. What we believe, is that when you’re ready to head out onto the open water then doing it with kids is so much fun. Both of our boys have been sailing since they were babies. Yes, there is an added complexity when small kids are involved. However, for us it’s always off-set by the fun that we have together.

Final thoughts on sailing with kids

We are extremely lucky to be able to take our baby and toddler sailing. It’s definitely a lot more complex than just heading out on our own which we used to do. However, we’ve had such positive experiences from sailing with our kids. There’s so much fun to be had when you’re chasing imaginary pirates. Or, when you’re trying your best to catch fish as you sail. To time where we’re been lucky enough to sail next to dolphins.

We really hope that we’re encouraged you to explore the world of sailing with your kids!