Wild Camping on the beach with my 4 year old son

[lonefish]

Well, might as well start them young.

He's been on plenty of Scout and family camping trips but this was his first wild camp and on the beach too. PM me for details of location if you're interested. Not much bushcraft going on this time but I have some ideas for the next trip. I wanted to ease him in and provide a sense of safety for myself more than anything so we're out of sight of the car park and hardly saw a soul all weekend but can walk back in 20 minutes so limited amount of danger.

I over prepared on cold kit, water and food, leaving lots of spares including sleeping bags in the car. Hypothermia was my main concern even in the good temps we've been having recently. On the beach you already have two of the risk factors, wet and wind so it doesn't take much to add cold and get into difficulties. I also carried a lot, hats and gloves were a must, as were spare changes of clothes, waterproofs, emergency rations etc. Also checked the tide times and heights.

Anyway, got to site 1930 friday night, walked along the beach for perhaps 3/4 mile - 1 mile and found a good location. Nothing to peg into so had to gather rocks.

View up beach

Trailstar pitched

Good view!

Smiles all round

Decided to make a small wind break on the upwind side of the shelter, good building materials all around.

Anchor points for fairly windy conditions

Stayed up waiting for the stars but that pesky full moon wasn't having any of it, it was like someone had a flood lamp on us all night

Moon was scarily big, really odd, this picture doesn't do it justice

Jack slept right through, he's somewhere in that first bivvy bag

Morning Jack!

Warm milk and granola for breakfast

Plenty of time to paddle and explore

Colder Saturday night

Still good view though!

Still smiling Sunday morning

Lessons learned include

• Cold weather kit is a must whatever the weather
• I should have brought the pot cosy
• We consumed a lot of water and fuel, needed to go back to car to re-stock
• The tide gets really high up the beach, I spent an anxious 1.5 hours moving kit off the beach in the middle of the night whilst the tide was coming in on Saturday, I set a safety marker on the beach and vowed if the sea reached it we were moving, it came within a few feet. I had sleeping bags etc all safely in place and an escape route but still worried me. This beach has amazing tides.

But it was great, to be repeated with a few bushy crafts thrown in, some traditional fishing and cooking techniques planned for next time.

Jack is always a happy boy but this weekend he didn't stop smiling, no moans or complaints, wanted to stay and never leave! Proud and looking forward to more.

 

[fluffkitten]

That is awesome, your lad looks utterly delighted.

 

[GGTBod]

Quality stuff, won't be long before he is carrying more kit than his ol'man and his enthusiasm for it keeps you going out again and again, thanks for posting.

 

[dwardo]

Excellent, great pictures. Did you not do a little fishing?
My little lad will be 4 next year and out with me, despite his mothers worrying

 

[Clouston98]

Good stuff mate! Bet you both had a smashing trip!

 

[Firelite]

That's a great post. Thanks for sharing, I'm glad you both had a great time.

 

[ammo]

Brilliant. I love getting my lads out with me.Thanks for posting this.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Great report, looks like you both really enjoyed it.

 

[silentbob]

Brilliant post!

 

[Ciaopaddy]

Fantastic stuff, great to see the smiles on the little man's face.

 

[jacko1066]

That's just awesome mate!! Great stuff!! I wish I could get some of my girls out like that!! They can't quite get past the whole 'what do you mean there won't be a flushing toilet?" Lol I hope it's the first of many many father son trips pal!!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[redneck]

Haven't slept on the beach in years, used to do it a lot when I was supposed to be night fishing!! Must do it again sometime.. great pics!

 

[Ruud]

Good observation on the size of the moon, 12th of July there was a supermoon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermoon

There are two more supermoons coming our way:
August 10, 2014
September 9, 2014

 

[Toddy]

That was excellent to see Happy kid and a Dad well up for the effort
Great memories, and a brilliant way to get out and about.
Tidy campsite too; your stone work looks very sound
Thank you for sharing Jack's trip and I hope you have many more of them.

Camping with my Dad, we once had to lift the side walls of a tent and rolled the groundsheet back until the tide had come in fully. The stuff it left behind levelled off the floor nicely We just rolled the groundsheet back down and went back to sleep. It was a dead flat calm of a spring tide though; just one of the joys of camping on the foreshore.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[zaktarin]

Brilliant post. Loved the pics. Looking to take my 8yr old out soon in the warm weather, were getting bored of camping in the garden! Thanks again.

 

[weekender]

Fantastic trip report and location looking forward to getting my little boy whose 4 soon out for a wild camp.


Sent from somewhere?

 

[GordonM]

Very nice outing with the young one!

 

[lonefish]

Thanks for all the great responses.

Hope to do so fixed line fishing with him next time, the tide suits and we'll be in place to check and keep an eye on it, the beach is pretty quite so little chance of snagging dogs or people. I'm just working on the 12 meters or so of nettle cordage we'll need. I hope to be able to do the whole thing using natural materials and no modern tools, including the hooks.

I also thought a pit cooking session might be cool or cooking the catch over a fire at the very least, we'll see.

I hope to take him out more but also my two girls who are a bit older but a bit less enthusiastic. They both love it once out but its just getting them that far that sometimes the hassle.

Cheers

Rich

 

[Big Stu 12]

Great report, nice to see the young ones having a good time

 

[stu1979uk]

Nice post and looks like a nice spot as well. I'm on the look out for a beach campsite up my way to get away from the midges, they drive me nuts!
Look forward to reading your return trip, all the best