The Journey is the Destination
Steady breezes, clear blue water and plentiful bays where you can grab both a mooring and a good rum punch—the U.S. Virgin Islands are heaven on Earth for sailors of all stripes. They’re also the perfect place to get kids hooked on cruising, as our family recently discovered on a circumnavigation of St. John.
Cruising in the USVI has been a kind of nautical comfort food for my husband, Josh, and me, ever since the first time we sailed there in 2001. So three years ago, when our boys were 7 and 9, it was only natural that we head there again for their first charter. The week was fun, but also a lesson in the challenges of cruising with little ones. The first night, Luke, 7, nearly sleepwalked out on deck, thwarted only by the companionway panels we had installed as an afterthought before going to bed. The day after that we were treated to a stiff breeze that delighted Josh and me, but not 9-year-old Malin, who, despite already being a competent helmsman, was rattled when a puff hit and our 45ft monohull began heeling over more than he liked. Luke, on the other hand, saw the steeply angled deck as a kind of American Ninja Warrior course and promptly darted to the bow and back, hands-free, up and down the leeward side deck, no less. (He was confined to the cockpit afterward.)
Still, cruising—aka, a 35ft 1988 Beneteau Oceanis 350, which we put on a mooring in Newport, Rhode Island, and started sailing together regularly as a family. For the most part, the kids were onboard with the program. However, there were also some complaints about boredom and seasickness, not to mention a reluctance to leave friends and other activities behind whenever cruising weekends rolled around. The solution? Sea Bands for the queasy stomachs and the trip to St. John. Our hope was that a circuit of this idyllic island with its abundance of snorkeling, hiking and short, comfortable sails would hook our kids on cruising for good.
