{"id":48361,"date":"2022-03-29T16:21:34","date_gmt":"2022-03-29T20:21:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/?p=48361"},"modified":"2023-05-06T18:18:37","modified_gmt":"2023-05-06T22:18:37","slug":"schools-in-capn-fattys-take-on-seamanship-for-the-kiddos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/people\/schools-in-capn-fattys-take-on-seamanship-for-the-kiddos\/","title":{"rendered":"School’s In: Cap’n Fatty’s Take on Seamanship for the Kiddos"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Goodlander <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n There are three generations of Goodlanders frequently aboard Ganesh these days: Carolyn and Fatty, their daughter, Roma Orion, and her daughters, Soku Orion and Tessa Maria.<\/span>\n Courtesy Gary M. Goodlander<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

We Goodlanders love boats and kids in equal measure. My two sisters and their husbands had little ones underfoot when each family built a boat to go live on. And my Left Coast brother, Morgoo the Magnificent (best brother ever!), raised oceangoing daughter Marelle upon, natch, Ocean Daughter<\/em> in San Francisco Bay before eventually teaching her to sail aboard his 35-foot Swedish-built sloop, Maxi<\/em>. Morgan always thinks slightly out-of-the-box. After naming one his boats after his daughter, he named his next daughter Carlotta, after one of my family\u2019s most beloved vessels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four of us siblings were raised aboard the 52-foot, 1924 wooden schooner Elizabeth<\/em>, and to this day, we sail together whenever possible. And my wife, Carolyn, and I raised our daughter, Roma Orion, aboard our home-built Endurance 35 ketch, the aforementioned Carlotta<\/em>, and the Sparkman & Stephens-designed Hughes 38 Wild Card<\/em>. Carolyn and I now sail weekly around Singapore with Roma Orion and her two daughters, Soku Orion and Tessa Maria, aboard our beamy 43-foot French Wauquiez Amphitrite ketch, Ganesh<\/em>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While none of us pretend to be particularly moral or even nice, we have all managed to stay out of jail, rehab and the poor house\u2014no mean feat in the circles of waterfront reprobates we often hang with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bottom line is this: In my 62 years of living aboard and offshore sailing, I\u2019ve either been a kid or had a kid aboard the vast majority of the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Dunkin\u2019 <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Aboard Ganesh<\/i>, Fatty is always eager to set up the \u201cDunkin\u2019 Chair\u201d so Soku Orion can go for a dip.<\/span>\n Courtesy Gary M. Goodlander<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

Here\u2019s the first key to children and boats: Always remember that kids don\u2019t give a poop what adults are interested in, nor should they! Kids have their own fluid reality, and if their marine environment reinforces that fluidity, they\u2019ll instinctively love it. If it doesn\u2019t, or worse yet, if some adult is attempting to teach them something, they will not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s key No. 2: As with everything, arranging for kids to love boats and cherish their marine environment takes sustained, focused work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, as we sail the world, we collect art at the $5 and $10 level. Since a lot of small islands have little but driftwood tossed upon their penniless shores, we have ended up as connoisseurs of carved tikis. Our favorite is Freaky Tiki. He\u2019s big enough to wear a hat, and also big enough to intimidate a small child. So, when 2-year-old Soku Orion came to sail offshore with us for three weeks (in the Med? Caribbean? South Pacific? Who can remember?), she was a tad taken aback by Freaky, who was, admittedly, larger and more imposing. To remedy this, Carolyn tossed a modesty skirt on him and some friendly love beads, while I flipped a cool-looking hat on his mahogany head. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freaky suddenly looked a bit less freaky, and Soku began to play with him. All was well until she inadvertently knocked off his hat, and I rushed to put it back on. \u201cFreaky Tiki is a wonderfully warm and friendly Polynesian fellow but he gets really, really angry if a wave or anything knocks off his hat,\u201d I told her.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"dinghy <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n While waiting out the pandemic in Singapore, family dinghy sailing has been a hit.<\/span>\n Courtesy Gary M. Goodlander<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d she asked, and I proceeded to explain about his difficult childhood in the Marquesas. I told her that his father, a fisherman, was lost at sea; about his poor mother being forced to move to Tahiti to work as a maid; his running with a bad crowd on the mean streets of Papeete; and his eventual redemption in Cook\u2019s Bay, Moorea, where he joined our crew and became a Goodlander forever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a 2-year-old, Soku didn\u2019t realize that I was giving her a history lesson on the Society Islands and a literary lesson on three-act story structure. She knew only that an adult was catering to her, which is all a kid needs to know at that age to feel warm and fuzzy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everywhere we sail, we shop at resale shops (as our cruising budget demands), and I make a point of buying heaps of costume jewelry. When we would play dress-up in the aft cabin, Soku would occasionally glance up and shout, \u201cGrandpa!\u201d Glancing up, the minute I noticed Freaky Tiki was sans hat, I\u2019d scream. Carolyn would rush into the cabin, also screaming. Roma Orion as well would drop whatever she was doing, totally losing all motherly composure. The whole freakin\u2019 crew would be there freakin\u2019 out at Freaky Tiki, until Soku would manage to find his hat and make our watery world right again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was an incredible gift of power to give Soku, and, of course, it intoxicated her. And we adults got creative. Carolyn would pretend to knock herself out in the walk-through to Tiki\u2019s cabin, I\u2019d spill my coffee all over my T-shirt, and Roma would arrive with grape jelly all over her face. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gradually, after I told Soku all I could tell her about ocean currents in the Pacific and how island migrations are often revealed by the evolution of local musical instruments, I had to branch out into other, stranger stories\u2014for example, Charlie the Cowboy, who ate motorcycle parts. Why did he eat motorcycle parts? I have no idea, except that Soku and I had a sort of mind meld, and I realized that a cowboy munching on Harley pistons would appeal to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One fun game that lasted almost an entire passage was called Playing Guard. While sailing, Soku and I would make sure that Freaky had his hat on, and then protect him by closing the door to the aft cabin walk-through. Soku would stand (sit, actually) guard in the semidarkness. I\u2019d be navigating topsides and occasionally ask her through an open porthole in the side of the cockpit, \u201cIs Freaky Tiki OK?\u201d She\u2019d carefully crack the door, glance in, and tell me, \u201cHe\u2019s fine, Grandpa.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After an hour or so, I\u2019d grab a little stick I kept in the cockpit, poke it through the hatch, and knock off Freaky Tiki\u2019s hat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow \u2019bout now?\u201d I\u2019d ask. She would check again and dutifully report a hatless Tiki, then all the adults aboard would totally freak out screaming and bumping into each other Keystone Kops-style in a mad dash to help Soku get Freaky\u2019s hat back on!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crazy? Sure. But has any other kid ever loved being aboard a boat more than Soku Orion? I doubt it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even better, around the age of 4, Soku came to me and asked matter-of-factly, \u201cFreaky Tiki isn\u2019t alive, is he?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I assured her he wasn\u2019t. I said that he was just part of a make-believe game we played aboard. She didn\u2019t bat an eye, and, for our part, we didn\u2019t stop freakin\u2019 out as, with maturity, she gradually lost interest in the game. Then when her sister Tessa Maria came aboard at approximately the same age, Soku made a special effort to teach Tessa about Freaky Tiki\u2019s care and feeding, and, of course, about the \u00adimportance of his hat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s the truth of it from an adult \u00adperspective: Our most cherished memories of cruising offshore revolve around raising our daughter and granddaughters aboard. Silliness isn\u2019t something we frown upon; it is something we aspire to daily. The miracle isn\u2019t how much we\u2019ve helped them mature, but rather how much they\u2019ve taught us about staying young. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wild Card<\/em>, the 38-footer that Soku\u2019s mother grew up aboard, was basically a narrow, one-cabin vessel with a tiny V-berth. My wife and I are avid readers, and Roma would often be bored. \u201cWe feed you and we clothe you, but we don\u2019t entertain you,\u201d Carolyn would tell her. (Thank God we didn\u2019t have screens back then\u2014and had a reasonable chance of raising a reasonable adult.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d be reading on the port settee, and Roma would come over for a snuggle and ask, \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m wrestling a lion,\u201d I\u2019d say. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, you\u2019re not, Cap\u2019n Daddy-O!\u201d she\u2019d laugh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, I am,\u201d I\u2019d say and show her the cover of my Wilbur Smith novel. Then I\u2019d tell her a long story about Africa, not because I wanted to or because it was a good time, but because it was the best time for her. You feed a kid when they\u2019re hungry if you want them to gain nourishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no better place to teach a child about responsibility than a boat. At about age 7, Roma wanted a cat. I refused. But Carolyn guided Roma through the process of making a pitch, and eventually I succumbed to her logic and myriad promises. But before we brought a kitten home from the local animal shelter on St. John in the US Virgin Islands, Roma had to earn and save the money for the kitty-litter box and cat food by doing her boat chores. And, of course, she and her mother had to laboriously make a \u00admacram\u00e9 ladder for the transom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roma picked out the cat herself. It was a black one she dubbed Joker, in a nod to Wild Card<\/em>. Even before we allowed the cat below, we gave it a tour of the cockpit litter box. And then we had Roma gently lower the worried cat in her open palm into the harbor water, right next to the rope ladder she and Carolyn had made. Tiny Joker immediately freaked out and climbed out of the water. Roma gradually moved the cat farther and farther away from the ladder each day, until whenever the cat ended up in the water (from, for instance, trying to catch a passing seagull), it would calmly swim to the transom and climb up\u2014not happy, perhaps, but totally safe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cat learned.\u00a0
Roma learned.\u00a0
And I learned.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On ocean passages, Carolyn and I would be clipped onto a tether in the cockpit. Roma also had a harness, but most of the time that she sat in the cockpit, she was clipped in with a sort of marine seatbelt device I\u2019d created for her. It was super easy to get in and out of, and totally safe while she was snapped into it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"boom\" <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Sometimes, Tessa and her pal Shameen are happy to just kick back on the boom.<\/span>\n Courtesy Gary M. Goodlander<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

The important point is that Precious Cargo, one of our many affectionate names for Roma, was always clipped on while on deck. Joker, however, was a wild animal. One evening, while steering in boisterous trade winds, I heard Roma wake up a confused Carolyn. \u201cMom, Mom!\u201d she said frantically. \u201cJoker spit out his tongue in my hand!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carolyn said groggily: \u201cDon\u2019t be silly, Roma. Joker didn\u2019t spit out his tongue.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, he did,\u201d Roma said as she handed it to Carolyn, who immediately let out a blood-curling scream in the darkness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I dashed below and flipped on the light. Both girls were sitting up in bed wide-eyed, with a large flying fish wiggling in Carolyn\u2019s hand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joker the Hunter, of course, had proudly brought his catch down belowdecks to give to Roma, his Lord and Master.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once, when Joker dashed out of the companionway to fish in a full gale, Roma put a foot outside into the cockpit in a desperate effort to grab him. I grabbed her, set her down, and said simply, \u201cIf you ever go on deck without a harness or expose yourself to danger in any way because of that cat, I will get rid of Joker.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We stared at each other.\u00a0
She knew I meant it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years afterward, we observed her internal struggle as she watched Joker leaping around the wave-swept foredeck after flopping fish. I believe this was the beginning of Roma\u2019s iron discipline that allowed her to graduate with honors with a double major from Brandeis and now work successfully at Singapore Management University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, I might add, she (and her daughters) all love the Dunkin\u2019 Chair, which is a castoff bosun\u2019s chair suspended from an aluminum pole over the water. Though you didn\u2019t ask, I built her a single-sheet-of-plywood dory for her 4th birthday, and she quickly learned to captain it herself. And, naturally, we took her swimming with sharks as a toddler, which is probably why she is a \u00adPADI-certified rescue diver to this day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take it from me: The only thing that improves cruising is cruising with kids. And Freaky Tiki, of course!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to the pandemic, Carolyn and Fatty are enjoying an extended visit with their daughter, Roma Orion, and her two children in Singapore.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cap’n Fatty Goodlander’s 62 years of living aboard has helped him develop some less-than-traditional home schooling methods for the kids.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":48362,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Cap'n Fatty Goodlander","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"165","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Reading, writing and arithmetic can take on a different flavor in the Freaky Tiki School of Seamanship. A look at homeschooli cruising kids on sailboats.","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"","arc_website_url":"","custom_permalink":"","arc_subtype":"","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":false,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","ad_settings_ads_on_this_page":true,"ad_settings_automatic_ad_injection_into_the_content":true,"ad_targeting":"","sponsored_url":"","social_share":true},"categories":[165],"tags":[199,197,1903,667],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48361"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}