0º 26.650s 125º 43.010w
Tue Apr 30 2019
Isabel
and I didn’t have children, but I did scratch that itch a bit by helping to
raise a kid. Valley Big Brothers and Big Sisters in Phoenix introduced me to
Joe Verason when he was 8 years old, and we did our best to spend a good part
of one day a week until he graduated high school at 18. Joe has had a lot of
challenges in his lifetime, but now in his 30’s he is a loving dad and provides
for his family. He frustrated the hell out of me over the early years, but I’m
darned proud of him now.
It
turns out a lot of young couples are out here sailing around Mexico, around the
South Pacific, around the world. Many of them are raising small children,
toddlers in some cases, all the way to young adults about ready for college. We
call them “kid boats”. They use home schooling materials to meet public
education policy standards, then supplement the material with the natural world
around them. It’s amazing how much more excited a kid can get about biology or
physics if they get to go snorkeling every day, or if they learn to surf. The
influence of local, regional and global weather patterns are abundantly apparent
and more easily understood. The mechanics of mast and rigging, winches or
diesel engines becomes second nature. The hydrodynamics of a hull or propeller
moving through the water, or the aerodynamics of sail shapes become obvious.
These
children learn to accept great resposibility at a young age. They stand
watches, prepare meals, assist in boat repairs and maintenance. And all the
while, they’re aware of the natural world around them. They swim with dolphins
and sea lions and whale sharks, they witness first hand humpback whales
teaching their babies to play. They catch, clean, and prepare fish for meals.
They see plastic trash floating in the sea and on some of the remotest beaches
in the world, and they understand how mankind is trashing mother Earth.
They
sense and respect how dangerous this maritime environment can be, and they
learn to be careful. They learn a strong sense of family, and to play well with
kids of all ages from other boats. They look after one another.
Our
friends Jack and Nicole Midence on SV Let It Be have two small children.
They’re a blast to be around, and it’s amazing to watch them play in the
rigging, swinging about in a bosun’s chair suspended from a spare halyard.
There’s no parent shrieking at them to “get down from there”. They’re given
just about enough rope to hang themselves, and they’ve learned what lines not
to cross.
Behan
and Jamie Gifford on SV Totem just sent their oldest off the college last Fall.
They’ve got two more getting ready for college. All were raised on a sailboat,
and they made their way slowly around the world over a 10 year period. Imagine
the cultures they’ve experienced, the diffences in beliefs and attitudes. Jamie
recently told me that the kids have experieced 100 churches, mosques, temples
and sacred animistic grounds. They’re open minded, critical thinkers.
An
encounter with one of these boat kids is initially a confusing and bizarre
experience. It’s like having an intelligent conversation with a very small
adult. They’re wise and mature way beyond their years, and yet they still know
how to play and socialize with individuals of all ages.
Behan
and Jamie keep a blog, something like www.sailingtotem.com,
and absolutely worth a look. They’re an interesting couple, and remind me of
husband and wife teams who run a restaurant, but who take turns running the
front of the house or cooking. Jamie is a former America’s Cup sail maker and
rigger who has extremely depth in all things sailboats. Behan is a great writer
and skilled photographer; she documents their adventures on the blog. Together
they mentor people who want to transition to this lifestyle.
Behan
recently told us that she occasionally gets hate mail from folks who think they
are horrible parents for raising their kids this way. Ignorance is bliss.
Stupid is as stupid does, Forrest Gump. . .
The
litmus test is when these kids go to public high school so they can participate
in competitive organized sports like football, or when they go off to college.
They find themselves bored because they are so far ahead in their studies, and
they’re amazed at how much time is wasted in traditional classroom education.
They’re surpised at how their chronological peers are years behind in maturity
and social skills.
There’s
more than one way to skin a cat.
No comments:
Post a Comment