A recent question was posted on the pacific puddle jump group. I wanted to post the picture I specified in my answer for S/V Imagine:
Hi
Looking to get recommendations from family boats in particular, whether it’s worth keeping the bikes we have on board for the Pacific portion of our trip. We have a nifty configuration where we have passenger seats on the back of regular bicycles for the kids to ride on. So 4 rides for the price of 2 bikes.
Not worried about potential rust issues, but just wondering how useful and necessary the bikes will be when visiting the islands, especially considering we’ll probably have to shuttle them on the dingy at most locations.
Looking forward to hearing a few comments.
Shelley
S/V Imagine
We had two, beautiful, full size fold up bikes with the extra attachment seats for our kids for the first part of our trip(kids age 9 months and 2 years when we began). The Bahamas were fine, the Caribbean was nuts and we never used them. By the time we reached Trinidad, the kids were bigger and became heavy on the bikes so we opted to sell them. We found that we could get anywhere by foot or by cheap taxi’s from there on. We didn’t miss them in the South Pacific or had any moments in which we wished we kept them until we reached New Zealand. The extra space we created from removing the bikes was perfect for all the goodies I collected along the way
. I had to laugh with your comment about having to shuttle them to shore since that was the biggest issue we faced. We have a picture of all four of us with the bikes on the dingy and the smiles are fake…. A lot would depend on how old your children are. Along the way, I didn’t see many family boats with bikes. Maybe just a few with one for the husband to run out and get parts. The choice is yours, but mine would be to opt out. My husband would be floored if he read this because I was the one who fought to keep the bikes for a year longer than he wanted to.
Michele
Advertisement
