Career Day

[catamount]

Today is "Career Day" at my 7-year-old son's elementary school. The kids were invited to dress up as what they want to be when they grow up. After a bit of brainstorming the other day, my son announced that he wanted to go as a boat inspector (Marine Surveyor)! So I lent him my rigger's bag, a plastic-and-rubber-tipped hammer, an old multimeter, a flashlight, a tape measure, and a clipboard, and fitted him with a hat from Southport Island Marine that says "Life's too short to own an ugly boat!" We're pretty sure that he will be the only Marine Surveyor in the whole school ;-)

Regards,

[Brian C.]

That is the greatest.

I recently had a similar occurrence with my son -- that is, one where he made me feel good that he loved boats as much as I do. We were at my parent's house and my 2.5yo son and I were looking out onto the bay when someone sailed by in a Hinckley B-40 Yawl. I am not joking when I tell you he looked up, saw the boat and turned to me and said "Look at the Hinckley!". I about fell over with both shock and pride that he identified the boat correctly. He truly is my son, no DNA test needed.

[Tim]

Instill that love of boats early! Someone's got to take over the irrational love of old boats when all of us are gone.

Of course, once the kids are 14 they'll probably think boats (and any other thing their parents like) are boring...for a time, anyway! (Till they get over that stage and realize that parents are pretty OK after all...) But I bet most people who grew up with boats probably never really lose the interest, even if circumstances prevent them from being active later in life.

[Summersdawn]

When my son was 2.5 (he's almost 5 now), and looked out the window, he would say - "Let's go sailing daddy, wind looks pretty good, it is coming from the north." Sure enough, the wind would be a 10-15 northwesterly. At that age (from our house) he new which direction north was, but had no idea which direction the other cardinal points were.

Kinda fills you with pride when the little ones take such an interest in sailing.

[Curmudgeon]

(Till they get over that stage and realize that parents are pretty OK after all...)

Hehe, reminds me of the saying "The older I get, the smarter my Dad gets".

[David VanDenburgh]

My son, Jakob, now two, is my almost constant companion when it comes to sailboats. From sailing together to decommissioning at the end of the season, to visiting Ariel when she's on the hard to complete projects - lately, measuring to fabricate our own boat cover - to commissioning in the fall, the boy is there asking questions, climbing around, and lending me a helping hand. I know I'm not nearly as productive as I could be when he's there, but years from now I'm sure I won't regret it.
I gotta share a couple of shots - sorry, can't resist!

[Tim]

Boy, one clear advantage of being 2 years old is that you can stand up on the sidedecks beneath the winter cover, as seen in your center photo! I sure wish I could do that.

[Eric]

Boy, one clear advantage of being 2 years old is that you can stand up on the sidedecks beneath the winter cover, as seen in your center photo! I sure wish I could do that.

You could if you stopped playing with the little toys and moved on to something like Rebecca here...



This reminds me of the old saw that one should never go to sea in a boat shorter in feet than one's age. I guess the little boats will just have to keep us forever young...

[Tim]

Boy, one clear advantage of being 2 years old is that you can stand up on the sidedecks beneath the winter cover, as seen in your center photo! I sure wish I could do that.

You could if you stopped playing with the little toys and moved on to something like Rebecca here...



This reminds me of the old saw that one should never go to sea in a boat shorter in feet than one's age. I guess the little boats will just have to keep us forever young...

Yeah...considering that at best, with Pixie I'm 5' short of that mantra, it doesn't look like I'll ever be able to manage to keep up! And by the time she's is ready to actually sail, I'll be several years older, so the gap will only widen.

I think "young at heart" will help keep me in the appropriate boat/age ratio...I hope.

[Summersdawn]

My son, Jakob, now two, is my almost constant companion when it comes to sailboats. From sailing together to decommissioning at the end of the season, to visiting Ariel when she's on the hard to complete projects - lately, measuring to fabricate our own boat cover - to commissioning in the fall, the boy is there asking questions, climbing around, and lending me a helping hand. I know I'm not nearly as productive as I could be when he's there, but years from now I'm sure I won't regret it.

I know exactly what you mean - my son loves the boat, and hates it if I go to the boat without him. I love having him there, even though I'm not as productive. I started bringing him down to help when he was 5 or 6 months old. I would put his stroller in the cockpit, and he would watch and coo and giggle as I worked. He is almost 5, and still loves to come down - he'll spend the entire day "helping" or playing with the toys on the boat, fishing, talking to other boaters.