Why don't more young people get into cruising?...

[Alaris]

It’s not really possible to train kids

Oh come on

 

[Ajax]

If I sold all of my bikes, climbing gear, kayaks, cataraft, skis, and so on, it'd barely cover the entry cost of a smallish older cruising yacht.

You are a prime example of something I said earlier:

Young people want a large variety of recreational diversions. They will not devote themselves to a single passion. YOU choose to spread your money across multiple recreational outlets and then say that sailing is too expensive because it's not as cheap as kayaking.

I'm not criticizing you for deciding that you want more than one recreational outlet, I'm just saying that it's unfair to paint sailing as an expensive, elitist hobby simply because you can't "have it all."

If you want 5 or 6 outlets, that's fine but you must accept the financial and time related limitations of that without laying the blame at the feet of the sport of sailing.

 

[slug zitski]

Oh come on

You never know what a kids aptitude and interests are

but you can teach any kid how to get to work on time and cooperate with others

 

[Ajax]

There are unenergetic people of all ages.

I totally agree. My point is that it's very sad when those unenergetic people are so young. That's how they turn into old, unenergetic people.

 

[slug zitski]

I totally agree. My point is that it's very sad when those unenergetic people are so young. That's how they turn into old, unenergetic people.

Again ..no kids ..all inside playing with computers

my families house was at the end of the road..dead end

perfect place for a basketball net and the neighborhood kids

no more..the old pole my dad sunk is there but nothing else

 

[accnick]

Ocean Star out of Road Harbor. All kinds of accents onboard- Usanian and Commonwealth. Smartly handled. At least 40% female crew.

It's a school ship:

Ocean Star (schooner) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[accnick]

Might give her a can of Brasso and a rag while you're at it?

One thing at a time, one thing at a time...

 

[accnick]

It’s not really possible to train kids.. only pass on handy life skills like discipline , chain of command ……

im pretty handy with mechanical stuff simply because I was constantly fixing the old lawn mower …nothing wrong with sharp blades

I disagree on that one. Some of my favorite times as a kid were the times spent in my father's workshop, learning from him. He grew up on a farm, so he knew how to do everything, and fix everything. I thought that was how everyone approached life.

I still have pretty much the same attitude towards life, except I usually know the things not to tackle. Knowing what you shouldn't do is as important as knowing what you can do.

 

[slug zitski]

I disagree on that one. Some of my favorite times as a kid were the times spent in my father's workshop, learning from him. He grew up on a farm, so he knew how to do everything, and fix everything. I thought that was how everyone approached life.

I still have pretty much the same attitude towards life, except I usually know the things not to tackle. Knowing what you shouldn't do is as important as knowing what you can do.

Then you had a aptitude for that stuff

no use sending a kid sailing when in reality they love fishing

my sister is useles..send her to do a task and she spaces out , picks up a pencil and paper , then draws the task

she became an artist

 

[Steam Flyer]

.

This is not my experience, and I don't think this is a generational thing. There are unenergetic people of all ages.

Last time I took my daughter (Gen Z) sailing with her friends, we blew a tack badly and had the big 150 to crank in quite a ways. I offered to help and she made it clear it was "hell no, I got this". Her friends were equally engaged.

A lot of us grew up active and remember ourselves being active with our friends. What we forget is that there were plenty of others spending most of their time laying on the couch, watching TV and reading comic books.

Kids these days don't shy away from hard work any more than previous generations. As they mature they figure out that learning a skill takes time and is rewarding. I'm obviously biased, but I find my daughter and her friends brave, ambitious, and hard working.

And they wanted to make a good impression on you. This is key.
And a sign that you've really done the right things along the way.

It's not uncommon, in interaction with younger people (not necessarily kids) that they honestly don't give a shit about earning approval. That's difficult to overcome, and has to be the first step.

 

[Israel Hands]

Then you had a aptitude for that stuff

no use sending a kid sailing when in reality they love fishing

my sister is useles..send her to do a task and she spaces out , picks up a pencil and paper , then draws the task

she became an artist

I kind of agree with this. I loved nothing better than spending time with my dad. Those best times were hours and days spent sailing, and also spent in a duck blind. But he was not mechanical. He taught me the theory of combustion engines, but wasn't really adept with tools himself.

Mechanical skills were learned from my commercial fisherman neighbor, and later from my sister's boyfriend who rebuilt cars. Because what they were doing was interesting to me.

But then @Steam Flyer just made an important point. Kids in our generation (at least, many of them) wanted to earn the respect of our parents and older people who we looked up to. I think that's less of a thing anymore.

 

[Alaris]

But then @Steam Flyer just made an important point. Kids in our generation (at least, many of them) wanted to earn the respect of our parents and older people who we looked up to. I think that's less of a thing anymore.

Let’s be clear. Every generation of young people is accused of being lazy, unmotivated, lacking respect for elders, and so on. You can find articles online going back to the early 20th century or earlier complaining about the “youts.” And once those generations get older, they complain about the new generations!

This conversation is not new.

 

[fufkin]

Kids these days...if they’d just listen...

 

[slug zitski]

Let’s be clear. Every generation of young people is accused of being lazy, unmotivated, lacking respect for elders, and so on. You can find articles online going back to the early 20th century or earlier complaining about the “youts.” And once those generations get older, they complain about the new generations!

This conversation is not new.

View attachment 558576

Careful

simply look at the modern teen self harm , suicide rate and you will understand that something is wrong

 

[Steam Flyer]

They're kids. They're the ones on the downhill side of the equation; if they have lost the desire for our approval then it's because we've never given them enough to show it's worth, or in all too many cases abdicated completely.

I live in a relatively small, relatively rural town, and volunteer with a high school program (junior ROTC) as well as helping the local sailing club. Both programs have a lot in common, but the degree to which modern family life has fallen apart... even for relatively conventional, relatively prosperous families... is shocking if you are still operating under the assumptions that we grew up with. It is almost universal for parents to not provide meals for their kids any more. It is almost universal for kids to have much much more social contact via their phone than with their neighbors (in fact, from what I see, this is not just universal but kids can't imagine anything different). It's almost universal for parents to not really know where their kids are, what they're doing, and who their in-person friends/peers are, most of the time.

This tide was turning, to the extent economically feasible, over the past decade. It's very difficult to devote a lot of time to parenting when you're working two jobs and a side hustle. Obviously a lot of parents still get the message across to their kids, and work to include their kids in activities. That leaves a lot who are too poor (despite work) and too tired.

Not trying to convey despair, just showing the hurdles that so many are up against.

I believe that all of them are worth investing some time in.

 

[Crash]

Social media and the modern digital age certainly has an impact. Growing up we had a black and white TV with 3 channels...assuming the antenna on the roof was properly aligned. So entertainment was more "self generated" outside with friends.

I still struggle with my youngest boy. He's 15, plays 2 sports in High School, has mostly straight A's, is a Boy Scout. Loves fishing, camping, mountain bike riding. Put every minute he is not doing something, he's either watching videos on his phone, or playing on his PlayStation with his friends...

And as any gander at PA will show, even us old timers will call each other names and accuse each other of high crimes and misdemeanors when hidden behind being anonymous on the internet. We would never act that way to each other in person. And kids can and are brutal to each other on Social Media...

 

[Israel Hands]

Yep. Things have changed and it’s not just a case of “same knock on the youngest generation.” I’ve been working with young people for almost 40 years. Most (not all) of the crew now have a lack of interest in acquiring job skills/knowledge that is sad to see in people launching their careers.

 

[Ajax]

if they have lost the desire for our approval then it's because we've never given them enough to show it's worth, or in all too many cases abdicated completely.

I will state unequivocally that my generation has utterly ruined its kids. It's our fault and we should own it.

 

[Alaris]

I will state unequivocally that my generation has utterly ruined its kids. It's our fault and we should own it.

I was gonna say, who raised these kids you all are trashing?

 

[slug zitski]

It has become impossible to find young kids for the big yachts

I have a good black book full of pro contacts but the ameteurs have vanished

now you are forced to hire ametuer 40 year olds with all thier issues