All Aboard

I thought we were crazy. And the skipper looked slightly alarmed. Four parents, four over-excited children aged 2-5, four tiny life-vests, a six pack of beer and a bottle of wine were loaded onto a yacht for a four hour tour of Sydney harbour.

But it worked better than I could have hoped. No one ended up overboard. The kids were thrilled to play house down below deck while we parents (almost) relaxed. Two year old Sam squealed with delight at the bow of the boat while we took on the swell at the heads. Five year old Dylan took control of the helm for a short while and steered us to safety. And our relaxed English friends played the traditional Sydney game of "which harbour-front real estate would we buy if money were no object" while their kids ate marmite and cheese rolls.

We did the yacht charter thing once before, when Dylan was just 6 months old. Of course we were first-time parents, terrified he would drop into the water as we loaded him on in his baby-seat, worried the boat would sink, worried a shark would leap across the deck etc etc. And naturally it was all fine and he slept most of the 4 hours in his baby-seat, lulled by the rocking of the waves. But this time it was even more fun, to share the experience with our lucky children.

So don't wait for overseas guests to turn up - take your kids on this quintessential Sydney experience today! We can highly recommend East Sail at Rushcutters Bay, and Brian the unflappable skipper.