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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Aug 03 2006 at 3:25pm | IP Logged
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Ok, I sort of need to throw my plans overboard because ds is on a roll here. He has for awhile been interested in ships and sailing but this has now taken a serious turn into a real fascination.
He claims that his goal is to one day become captain of his own ship and sail around the world! He has asked that once we move to Alaska if he can get a job as a dock hand and then a deck hand on a fishing vessel and work his way up to eventually being a captain. He even looked up jobs on the internet himself and found a few ads!
I fully support his dream and want to encourage his interests (strike while the iron is hot, so to speak) but am at a loss as to what we can do at this point being landlocked in the mountains and all.  We don't head for Alaska for 2 more years!
So, long story to say that I need to quickly plan some sort of hands-on unit study on sailing, ships, oceans, fishing, etc. Everything we can learn about it here as landlubbers. I hope to schedule a visit to my brother who is studying oceanography at UNC grad school and lives on the coast, but that will be a while off, perhaps septemberish.
Any suggestions for an oceans unit for an 11yo (tomorrow) boy who would like to sail away into the sunset?
He already knows the basics of fishing and knot-tying from scouts and we lived in florida long enough that he is up on ocean basics.
Books, websites, projects, etc greatly appreciated.
BTW, I've shown him Jennifer's sailblog and he thinks it is the coolest thing EVER to homeschool on a boat!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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marihalojen
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| Posted: Aug 03 2006 at 9:23pm | IP Logged
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Ack! Hardly any time to answer tonight but my (and dh's) first thoughts are:
1. Boaters' Safety Course North Carolina boating safety courses
2. Followed by USCG U.S. Coast Guard License
3. Small Engine Repair - Husband's favorite site is Boatdiesel.com (which might be a subscribe-to page), or a 4-H styled course.
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~Jennifer
Mother to Mariannna, age 13
The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
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Mary K
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Hi,
Try looking for book titles on Amazon. You can look for books in your son's age range.
The book "Dove" is about a young man who sailed around the world alone. You might want to read it first, I can't remember if there was anything objectional in it.
Contact your local Boy Scout council and ask if there is a Sea Explorer Ship in your area (they may just have one and no actual boat). Look for unit studies on-line. Hope this helps. Happy "sailing".
Mary
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marihalojen
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| Posted: Aug 04 2006 at 1:27pm | IP Logged
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Here is a start, deep breath before diving in!
Books
Dove by Robin Lee Graham
Boy sails around world
Scene of young love between future spouses
Maiden Voyage by Tania Aebi
Girl sails around world
Currently writes for Lats&Atts
Swallows and Amazons
The Wanderer by Sharon Creech
Dawn Watch by Pendziwol, look at the excerpt. It looks just like our boat in the early morning!
The Little Sailboat by Lois Lenski, a classic.
First Sail: An Adventure Story Designed to Help New Sailors Learn the Ropes by Richard Henderson
Sailing Home: A Story of a Childhood at Sea by T. Rand, turn of the century on a Hen Frigate.
Nice website on the John Ena, featured in above story.
Sarah's Boat: A Young Girl Learns the Art of Sailing by Douglas Alvord
Treasure Island
Kidnapped: Being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751
Catriona, A Sequel to Kidnapped, with the first female adventurer by Robert Louis Stevenson
Shipshape: Art of Sailboat Maintenance by Ferenc Mate, How-to bible
The Annapolis Book of Seamanship
Chapman Piloting & Seamanship
Magazines with stuff online
Cruising World Magazine
Lattitudes & Attitudes - magazine, forums, tv shows, etc…
Lloyd’s List – founded in 1734, nice history section.
Practical Sailor – love the trials of products here.
Sail Magazine
Living Aboard Magazine - Sample issue online, neighbor writes for them.
NetFlix/Movies
Boating and Sailing Section in NetFlix, Annapolis Sailing Movies are sleepers, imho.
Captain Ron – Cruisers are obsessed with this movie, there is a Shower scene though.
Around Cape Horn – Documentary filmed in 1929 aboard the massive bark Peking.
The Black Pirate 1926 - Douglas Fairbanks.
1937 version of Kipling's classic Captains Courageous
Crimson Pirate, Burt Lancaster
Master and Commander
Moby Dick
Reap the Wild Wind, John Wayne, Cecil B DeMille
Seahawk, Errol Flynn
Logs Online
Ithaka - 1st in Islands Magazine, inspired me while landlocked.
Tom Neale wrote my favorite family book,- All in the Same Boat.
Other stuff
Voyage of the Amanzi bills themselves as a Floating Classroom
Enchanted Learning Label Sailboats in various languages
Amanda Bennet’s Unit Studies Sailing Ships
Become a Weather Spotter
Get your HAM radio license
What do HAMs do?
Also Fox Hunting in North Carolina
Depending on how you feel about lung development in kids, become PADI Junior Scuba Diver, or PADI Junior Open Water certified.
Phew! Those are a few things I had hanging about in my favorites list and onboard the S/V Mari Hal-O-Jen!
Enjoy!
__________________
~Jennifer
Mother to Mariannna, age 13
The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
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lapazfarm
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Thanks, Jennifer. I am so glad to hear back from you! I knew you would have some gems!
I just posted our plans (in progress) on my blog, but now it looks as if I can go back and add some more!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
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cathhomeschool
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| Posted: Aug 08 2006 at 7:55am | IP Logged
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Theresa,
Are you close to a lake? Last summer we met with our local sailing club. The members took us on their boats and taught us the basics of sailing. Two months later we had our own boat. The lake we sail on is largish, but many here sail sunfish and lasers on the much smaller utility lake in town.
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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lapazfarm
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There are actually no natural lakes in WNC. The only ones we have are TVA dam reservoirs and tend to be smallish. We like to paddle our kayaks around on them and there is some motor boat traffic, but I've never seen a sailboat, even a small one, on those lakes. There is one lake a couple of hours away, Lake Fontana, that I would consider large (though perhaps not by Texas standards!LOL!)so we may look into that. I am hoping to include some sailing when we go to visit my brother on the NC coast, but we will see if that pans out.
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Theresa
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marihalojen
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Have you thought about adapting your Kayak to Sail? Kits are pretty expensive, but we have even just stretched jackets on the paddles and cruised downwind, lots of fun!
Other Kayak sailing rigs pictured here, including a kayakamaran!
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~Jennifer
Mother to Mariannna, age 13
The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
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lapazfarm
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Neat idea, Jennifer, but WOW the price! Looks like fun, though!
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Theresa
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Alcat
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Hey Theresa,
I don't have much in the way of resources, just encouragement. My brother was about your son's age (maybe younger) when the movie Jaws inspired a deep love of the sea and boats. He always made pictures of boats in art class  .
He now lives in Wilmington, NC. He works at a marina, has his captains licence, pilots water taxies, and owns his own boat which he LOVES to take fishing three miles off the coast when the moon is full 
We grew up in the Sandhills region of NC- landlocked. We were about 2.5hrs from the beach and would go every year for a week. My brother never learned to sail a sailboat, he was always seasick  even when deep sea fishing. He eventually out grew his sickness and loves what he does today.
Keep encouraging your son! Even without the water he can pursue his dream.
If you do make it to the NC coast check out Ft Fisher-beautiful public beach, wonderful NC aquraium, and a ferry that runs from there to South Port (beautiful little town). Wilmington NC has the NC battleship and there are plenty of places to eat on the river.
NC is also going to open an international sea port in Beaufort (sp?).
God Bless,
Alison
PS we used to live in Asheville, and Hendersonville; I miss those mountains. We have been wanting to visit for years! Enjoy them while you can 
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mom to ds15, dd13 ,ds11, dd8, dd6, ds4, & dd18mos
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theNetSmith
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| Posted: Aug 08 2006 at 11:28am | IP Logged
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lapazfarm wrote:
| Neat idea, Jennifer, but WOW the price! Looks like fun, though! |
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looks like those are probably either Australian bucks or New Zealand bucks...so the kit would either be
305.00 NZD = 190.53 USD
or
305.00 AUD = 231.96 USD
not a WHOLE lot of difference, but some...then again, i bet the shipping from New Zealand on something that size/weight could be a bit pricey, too...
-T
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lapazfarm
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Alcat wrote:
Keep encouraging your son! Even without the water he can pursue his dream.
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Thank you so much, Alison, for your encouragement! That story about your brother is so good to hear! Though it is still a bit early to tell, I can just see my ds living that life and loving it, too!
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Theresa
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marihalojen
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Regarding the kits, use the pictures as inspiration, two dowel rods or bamboo poles plus some fabric and two lengths of rope would give you some fun runs downwind when made like a Vee Sail . Three poles would give you an awesome Butterfly Rig.
A kayak we used to have had a drink holder right between your legs in front of the seat, I would brace the uprights in there with two lines running to the top of the poles. You could either hold the two lines or tie onto your paddle.
Just found some helpful build your own sites.
Rebecca 'Heaps of Fun' Sails
"Sprit Rig"
Paddle rig
Aerodynamics Of Sails on Kayaks
Have fun with it, experiment, change it up, modify, innovate...
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~Jennifer
Mother to Mariannna, age 13
The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
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lapazfarm
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marihalojen wrote:
Have fun with it, experiment, change it up, modify, innovate... |
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OK, now you're talking my language! Sounds like a job for...Superboy! LOL!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
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Mary K
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Try this search: picton castle. it's a sail training ship that travels around the world. my dad went to the polynesian islands on it. lots of interesting stuff.
mary
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Katie
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What timimg! Homeschool EStore has a FREE download of Amanda Bennetts' Sailing Ships Notebooking Pages this week.
Might be of use!
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lapazfarm
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Sweet! I got it! Thanks for the tip!
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Theresa
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marihalojen
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Wind Machines sounds like a fun land based science lesson that will allow students to:
investigate the effect of wind direction on sail angle; and
compare the tailwind speeds for two sail orientations.
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~Jennifer
Mother to Mariannna, age 13
The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
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lapazfarm
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Jennifer,
That is a great one! I think we have a few scout slot-car racer kits we could use for this!
Adding it to the growing list!
He also is so excited about doing the kayak-to-sail conversion, so that will be an awesome project, too. And my brother has invited us to stay for awhile with him on the coast, so we will get some ocean time after all!
This is turning into a great unit! We can't wait to get started!
Thanks so much everyone!
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Theresa
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sailormom
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Tim Severin is an explorer and historian who's written some really neat books about his sailing adventures and attempts to recreate historic voyages. The Brendan Voyage is a particular favorite of ours! Actually, almost ALL of his books are very popular in our house!
Let's see... Lots of great things have already been mentioned. My first thought was Robin Lee Graham's Dove, but I agree with the other posters' comments. There's a younger version of Graham's story called The Boy Who Sailed Around the World Alone.
Let's see... there's also Joshua Slocum's Sailing Around the World Alone. It's a classic, can be found online as I recall, and is frequently alluded to in other modern nautical stuff.
Some sailing specific books for younger kids -
Sailing For Kids by Kibble
Young Sailor: An Introduction to Sailing
Winterpromise has a themed study that includes sailing, and you could use their catalog as a book list also.
Fiction -
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
Danger to Windward by Sperry Armstrong
A couple of sources for sailing schools that haven't yet been mentioned -
American Sailing Association
US Sailing
There's also Sea Scouts
Sharon
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: taking a different "Tack"-sailing unit
