7 Oct: Boat Kids at their Peak
The just arrived boat "Koshlong" with new boat kids onbard. From left: Chloe (7), Rachael (9), Sue, Emma (11) and Dan. (Photo by Jessica)
The News was spreading like a wildfire. New boat-kids had been seen coming in! And a whole lot of them! Three girls were said to have landed in Porto Santo. What a thrilling News!

All the boat-kids were eagerly running to each other’s boats spreading the information and soon thereafter an armada of children marched up to the reception pontoon, where the new boat kids had been observed.

The new boat’s name triggered their expectation. What could “Koshlong” mean? And the exciting flag at the stern looked unfamiliar. It was red and white with a leaf in the middle. Had they really come all the way from Canada?! Which way might they have taken? Anyway, the three new girls looked like great pals and would certainly be fun to have among us. The parents looked OK, too, one of them reflected.

Sondre, aged 10 from the Norwegian boat Galadriel stood a bit in the background with his smaller sister Synne, 7 years, close by. Otti from yacht Sarah Grace, soon becoming 11 on her planned beach party later that week, bursted out a “Hi, where do you come from?”, while she was thinking that it would be great to have three further friends on her birthday party the following Thursday. Emma, the oldest among the new girls on Koshlong was the first to answer: “We just arrived from the Azores. I’m Emma and these are my younger sisters Rachael and Chloe.” Otti burst out her characteristic “Cool!” while Jonathan was investigating the three girls carefully. Jessica was staying in the background together with the Norwegian kids. It was a shame that Anna and Eddie from the English boat Tamarisk already had left earlier that morning. Jonathan decided to immediately send an e-mail to Eddie on Tamarisk telling about the newly arrived friends.

There are not too many boat kids around, so every new boat with kids onboard is welcomed with great eagerness by the others. We had heard rumors of more kids on their way in two different Norwegian boats, as well as kids on a Danish boat to arrive in due course, but Koshlong from Canada was a surprise to us all! We soon discovered that they, too, planned to sail a similar route as all we others were, so we would be able to stay in touch for a long time, we reckoned.


Boat kids are wonderful children. They live with their parents in immediate vicinity in close quarters, seeing their parents not only as their family educator, but also as their teacher and schoolmaster (sometimes, at least…). Boat kids are used to take responsibility, at times having the destiny of the entire boat and their families in their hands when they, for instance, are on watch on longer passages. They soon develop skills to drive the dinghy, knowing exactly how to handle the engine, dock or anchor, so they can visit each other. The dinghy is our car, however luckily without the need for neither a driver’s license nor any minimum age, so the kids can use the dinghy after some “driving lessons” by their parents.

Boat kids develop certain skills without them really knowing about it. Sondre, for example, from the Norwegian boat Galadriel, could line up all ports they had visited between the Kiel Canal and Portugal, exactly knowing his Geography by heart. Mimi at an age of 8, could climb up the mast along the cutterstay like a monkey.
Jessica and Jonathan with Portuguese friends. Calotta from Funchal is proudly driving the dinghy of their boat.
When Jessica’s and Jonathan’s friends are onboard our boat playing in the afternoons after school, they know exactly how to move and behave on a boat, be it anything from how to climb onboard to how to handle the manual toilet pump. They move around interested, comparing the friend’s boat with their own home, commenting on various items asking intelligent questions about the technical systems onboard.
“Sleep-Overs” are especially popular, which is equivalent to us parents swapping children with each other for a night. It is great fun to welcome new children onboard having them from dinner one evening to breakfast the following morning. Having a new brother or sister for a change onboard can be a new experience for our children. No, we parents do not have “Sleep-Overs”, by the way.

Soon, Otti’s 11th birthday was to take place on the beach. What an easy task to have a party in this climate, compared to our previous experiences with childrens’ parents back home on a chilly Saturday afternoon in March. But as any other party, it was preceded by an invitation, beautifully decorated by the birthday child and carefully put in an envelope. It was addressed as follows:

Jessica and Jonathan
Porto Santo Marina
At Anchor
Regina
Stern Cabin
Is there a better place to have a birthday party than on a deserted beach?
As lively boat kids can play around in the afternoons on the beach, just as quiet these same boats get in the morning hours. Home schooling is taking over and you better do not disturb any boat with kids onboard on a week-day before lunch-time! Their parents will politely explain that they unfortunately do not have time for a chat, since they are having school.

Being a schoolteacher is fun, yet time consuming and sometimes frustrating as a parent. Encouraged by the outlook to meet friends after school and the knowledge that they, also, are having school in the mornings, is often helping to motivate. At other times, however, it is not quite as easy to have them concentrated over their books.
I can confess that the intensive time together with our children, how pleasant and rewarding it is, does sometimes get a welcoming break thanks to other boat kids. When Jessica and Jonathan play with other children, either ashore, on another boat or onboard Regina, it means a short pause for us as parents and adults. Suddenly, we get an hour or two to maintain the boat, to walk ashore, to undertake a jogging tour or, believe it or not, just by enjoying the calm and peaceful quietness in the cockpit at anchor.
Investigating a vulcanic magma-stone at the foot of a real vulcano on Porto Sano (Photo by Jessica)
Meeting other boating parents is more than pleasant. Us adults have namely a lot in common, to talk about and to compare. Sharing useful knowledge is rewarding, not only for the kids, like when Sophy from Sarah Grace had red an interesting book about volcanoes and could explain to all children (and their parents) how come we could find sea shells high up on the volcanic mountains of Porto Santo.


One afternoon some boat kids came onboard Regina to build the Viking ship model that we had never found any time to finalise without the help from other boat kids. Co-operating above language barrier and culture resulted in a great Nordic Ship, now decorating Regina.
Training to co-operate with other children, here assembling a model of a Viking ship, is imporant, yet tough at times, it seems. Photo by Jessica.
The Viking ship is almost ready with Sondre from Norwegian Galadria helping Jonathan with the Rigging. The sails have previously been assembled by Otti from Sarah Grace. Photo by Jessica.
On another day, all boat kids were more than engaged to draw their individual “boat logos” onto the huge breakwater along Porto Santo’s harbour. This was a several days project from design stage over preparation and shopping of the paint to the final artwork painted on the wall. All children helped each other and if you one day pass Porto Santo in Madeira, you can imagine how much love, effort and joy there is behind each individual painting, especially the ones where children have been involved!
The boat kids helping each other painting their boat's logo on the breakwater. From left: Sondre and Synne from Norwegian Galadriel, Jessica an Jonathan from Regina with Karolina, Eddie and Anna from English Tamarisk with Daddy Tim.
Jessica giving the final touch to our Regina-Logo
Artistic co-operation was also asked in the recent Columbus Festival. All children, locals as well as boat-kids from all nations were invited to decorate a white paper-wall with Columbus and sea-related figures.
The boat kids having decorated "Columbus' Wall". From left: Anna and Eddie from Tamarisk, Mimi an Otti from Sarah Grace, Jonathan and Jessica from Regina. (Photo by Tim on Tamarisk)
“Columbus” himself, having sailed to Porto Santo from Madeira on a replica of Santa Maria came to examine the final art-work. “Columbus” had a busy weekend, since he also was giving out prizes for the sand-castle competition, which was won by Otti from yacht Sarah Grace in the children’s class, closely followed by Jonathan from Regina as the second. The adult class was more tricky, and we wondered if “Columbus” would notice the bold stroke by a Norwegian boat, who had placed a Viking ship arriving to America long before Columbus on the more northern Viking-route. “Columbus” did not notice (or possibly he was already aware of the fact?) so the Norwegian crew won the sand-castle competition, despite the politically questionable position of the Nordic ship.
The winner in the "adult class": Columbus is leaving the old world (made of black sand) sailing into the unknown, where the world ends steeply with awaiting sea monsters. Please note the Nordic Viking Ship in the far north already arrived in America!
Christopher Columbus, who was turned down by the Portuguese and hence tried his luck with the Spanish kings Ferdinand and Isabella instead, is still an important conqueror here in Porto Santo, celebrated almost like a Hero, despite Porto Santo belonging to Portugal. Columbus is closely related to Porto Santo. The reason is love. Or could the marriage with the daughter of Bartoloméo Perestrello have been done with pure calculation? In any case, Bartoloméo Perestrello, a former student at Henry the Seafarer’s school, had been one of the men who once discovered Madeira a couple of years earlier.
"Columbus" and his suit investigating the sand sculptures.
As an acknowledgement, he was given the smaller islands of Madeira, namely Porto Santo, to rule over as a governor. Married into this noble family gave Christopher Columbus not only a short-cut into the aristocratic world. By living on the strategically positioned island of Porto Santo, Columbus gained unique knowledge of the Atlantic Ocean, hearing tales from experienced seaman who passed by Porto Santo on their way out or back from ocean crossings. Could he possibly already in Porto Santo, long before his own adventurous sail to “India”, have heard about land far, far out in the west?

Would we, onboard Regina, more than 500 years later, also find this terra incognito one day?
Columbus' pretty home on Porto Santo for some years long before his Atlantic adventure, when he still hoped to have his project financed by the Portuguese king.
Columbus house on Porto Santo (or should I say the house of his father in law?) is today a small museum, possibly not the best museum I have visited, I could add. The Columbus Festival, however, was highly appreciated and popular among all boat kids and parents alike. Three full festival days of history lessons in the most natural environment any classroom ever can offer! This is boat-schooling at its best!
Jonathan investigating the movements of the waves in a cave on Porto Santo
Learning from own observations and experience with a direct co-relation between what one sees and learns, I have some understanding for some reluctances to learn certain issues just for the sake of learning them. Writing an e-mail in English to a friend is considered essential and fun, while learning English vocables out of a book can be less popular. To calculate speed, time and distance to find out when we are to arrive in our next port of call has a meaning, while learning division and multiplication out of a book might not have. One can not exist without the other, so we are trying to stress both.
The boat kids having found something? (Photo by Jessica)
Having other boat kids to share the experience and fun with, gives an extra dimension to cruising. This is especially true when it comes to outings and excursions. We have shared some fantastic hikes together, which has the very positive side effect that the normally so frequent grumbling about the hike, its length, the hills or time they take has practically ceased with other kids around. The kids encourage each other to walk, or better: to run. There are hikes we would never have been able to do on our own in that length without the other boat kid involved.
A "school-book vulcano". Could it be more like one taken from a fairy tale? (Porto Santo)
On one of the more spectacular hikes we did together with yacht Sarah Grace and Koshlong, we rented three cars hosting six parents and seven boat kids, three walky-talkies, a huge pick-nick and a map in the foremost car. Hiking on the famous jungle-like Madeiran Levadas in fog as well as climbing along the highest tops of Madeira 1818 m above sea level gave unforgettable memories. Sharing it with great friends and wonderful children made the two excursion days even better.
Boat kids on a (school-) hike. Here along the sea shore. (Photo by Jessica)
Hiking along the mystique Levadas of Madeira.
Thanks to the high mountains on Madeira, the North Coast is blooming as a jungle. The clouds, giving the foggy atmosphere, make it a special experience.
I am, however, glad that you, dear family or friend back home, did not know about this recent hike until after our volcano excursion. Am I correct in my assumption that you are currently sitting comfortably in front of your computer screen with Internet connection, reading this text, looking at these pictures, to become better part of our adventures? Are you more worried about storms, pirates and sharks when you know we are out at sea, than when we are safely moored in a marina? Beware, that’s when the real adventure may take place, sometimes. I can just imagine your anxiety if you knew about our volcano-walks on the edge of the world! Back at sea level, I can now assure you that we all have returned safely to our beloved boats, back home on the Atlantic Ocean.
The high vulcanic mountains of Madeira, reaching up to over 1800 m above sea level.
Partly covered in clouds, we carefully tried to follow the path along the edge of the volcano. Obviously, visibility was minimal while covered in fog, which was practical for one reason: we were spared the view down into infinity, sometimes on both sides of the path at the same time. From time to time, however, we walked out of the clouds or the clouds drifted away slightly. What then became visible exceeded what words can express. Suddenly, we could see that we were hiking on narrow shelves, which sometimes turned into a sort of natural “balconies”, adjacent to precipices with hundreds of meters steep slopes. It felt definitely safer, yet more wet and chilly, when we soon thereafter were enclosed by gray mush of a friendly cloud again. Blocking our visibility, the cloud spared us the view down, avoiding us to become dizzy. Sometimes, the trail led over a ridge which more resembled of a long bridge of stairs leading from one crest to a summit nearby, leading us at great height above any kind of ground, it seemed, heading for a further peak of the ancient volcano. Stairs up to heaven would not feel differently, while we all knew that we were just heading for the ceiling of Madeira.
If you look carefully, you will see us hiking along the edge. For a time ouside the clouds, I used the temporary clear situation to take a picture.
Stairs leading to eternity?
The unconcerned Otti standing on a ridge. To the north (right) the cold, wet foggy northerly wind is blocked by the mountain. To the south (left) dry air is rushing down the hillside. On both sides steep slopes.
The kids did great, as so often, hiked with joy and did their best to follow their parents exhortations not to lean over any edge or run in front of the group into the fog, where we, from time to time, lost the kids out of sight, just hoping that they would manage to turn around the next corner leading round a magma rock, instead of continuing right out into a floorless cloud. To call the wooden fence, that sometimes existed at the most exposed places, for a railing would be to exaggerate the Madeirian sense of safety. At other places, metal posts held up a wire, which did not feel safe enough to hold onto. Better to trust our own sense of balance and feet. Luckily, from a legal standpoint, there was a signpost that in several languages explained that any walking on the trail was done at own risk and that it was not aloud to leave the path. The latter seemed impossible in any case, at least without risking a return to sea level at a faster pace than healthy.
Who dares to walk these steep stairs? Where do they lead to?
On one crest, we found the perfect pick-nick place and gathered around a stone table. Totally surrounded by clouds, we enjoyed blue sky directly above us, letting the sun shine onto us, while surrounded by white walls. With fog as our walls and the sky as our ceiling, we felt cozy, happily leaning back against the back-rests, at that point not yet understanding that we were actually sitting on a top with fatal slopes all around us. Not until the fog temporarily drifted away we saw ourselves pick-nicking on the top of a peak.

Disney World could not have built a more exciting environment in plastic! For once, reality exceeded any fiction.
Unconcerned Chris from Sarah Grace (still) smiling, unknown of the fact that just behind him, in the fog, ground is very far down below.
Disney World could not have built a more spectacular scenery. Please observe the stairs leading up the mountain and further to the top in the far background, where our cars are waiting.
Possibly, this is no surprise to you, since our current reality, cruising with our great and brave children, exceeds any imagination or expectations that we might have had before starting our sail.

Next time you know we are in mid Ocean, feel sure that we can’t fall off an edge of a volcano at least.