Hi Sailors!
The Sailing Weekly Roundup brings you the latest in sailing news, trends, gear, events, and training. Every week we’ll send a curated list and analysis by Teresa and Ben Carey. Instead of sifting through a ton of articles and videos each day – let us do the work for you.
Cruising kids enjoying the playground in Rockland, ME
Editorial:
Sailing with kids is a great way to explore the world and spend family time together. That is a luxury not many parents get to experience. But it means providing school, camp, after-school activities, sports, band, dance, etc., is a task solely on the parent's shoulders. And that requires resourceful and energetic parents!
Haven and I met up with two families cruising with their 3 and 4 kids, respectively. They sailed to Maine for a few weeks and made a stop in Rockland – a convenient stop for fuel, water, marine store, grocery, etc. -- all the cruising necessities.
While the kids ran around at Buoy Park in Rockland, the parents got into an exciting discussion about finding things for the kids to do in town. Cruising guides are excellent references for finding essentials like fuel and water. But as we discussed, they lacked information relevant to having kids aboard, like where to find the playgrounds and the library – the essentials for cruising families!
As all 13 of us walked through town to the library, grabbing a coffee en route, we discussed our vision of the ideal cruising guide for families. We came up with a shortlist of kid cruising essentials:
Museums & Aquariums
Restaurants that are kid-friendly, with outside dining or "mosh-pits," as Behan Gifford of Sailing Totem calls them, where the kids can run around and play while parents enjoy a drink.
Playgrounds. Get that energy out!
Libraries. Even though transients can't borrow books, they are a great place to visit and read magazines, books aloud and generally feel enlightened.
Accessible beaches and lighthouses etc. that don't require long walks for short toddler legs.
What other ideas do you have for this Parent's Cruising Guide?
~ Ben
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Now for the best of the web...
News
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The BBC reports that a group of scientists say they have discovered by luck what they believe is the world’s northernmost island off Greenland’s coast.
Skills & Seamanship
How to optimize route based on weather predictions
One recurring question among the novice offshore sailor is how to optimize your route when sailing. The practice is known among sailors with the French name of Routage or the English name of Weather routing.
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