I am similar age 76 with a Hunter Passage 42 "Red Pepper". Age is not the factor it is attitude and ability. I used to do the jogging but gave that up due to knee problem. I don't intend to give up sailing until I cannot get on the boat and get the sails up... My standard reply is that I do not know what I want to be when I grow up. I am widowed but have a wonderful fiance that loves the water and is making a wonderful sailor and first mate. I have two grown kids and five grand kids they all agree with my attitude and activities. Keep going as long as you enjoy it. When I give it all up they know I want to have my ashes buried at sea!
Times Up?
- Thread starter Terry Cox
- Start date
I just turned 85 and am still sailing my Hunter 260 on home lake and annually to the Gulf Coast. Wife would like me to quit but I'll probably keep going as long health holds up, hopefully another 10 years! Thanks Sailm8 for your article re 93 and still going. Got to show wife that one!
When either they pry my cold dead hands off the tiller or I lose interest, which ever comes first...
I'd like to thank each and every person that has contributed to this thread. What you have shared is wonderful. I have just reached the age where I am considering my own mortality, thankfully due mostly to events around me, rather than experiences of my own. You have all given me a lot to think about, and I am grateful. Terry, thanks for posing the question.
Funny this should popup on the forum. My wife has lost interest in sailing, which is very s a d for me as I have not. Been sailing for better part of 40 years
And she wants me to sell the boat. I can't see myself puttering around flower beds or working in my shop fixing things and not designing and building neat boat stuff. Like the other seniors I will know when to stop but it is not now.
Best to all respondents, fair winds, & 10-12 kts on a reach.
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And she wants me to sell the boat. I can't see myself puttering around flower beds or working in my shop fixing things and not designing and building neat boat stuff. Like the other seniors I will know when to stop but it is not now.
Best to all respondents, fair winds, & 10-12 kts on a reach.
.
Sounds like you can get around fine, but you are doing exactly what others are doing. Do you really(?) need such a heavy cruiser for what you are doing. Cruising the coast an a couple of trips a year doesn't require a heavy displacement boat...
A couple of people at my marina are the proud owners of the "tanks" of the sea. They bought them in the hopes that 10 - 15 years from now, they will be sailing around the world with it... Well, for the day or overnight sail, they complain about how much work it is.
A 42 footer is a handful when single handing when younger, but at 74? It sounds good to keep saying positive reinforcement phrases, but let's be real. Could your wife handle it completely, and I mean completely, alone if you get hurt? YOU might be able to handle it alone, but could she if needed? If you fall and are out of it, could she bring it to the dock completely without the help of another? And I mean all on her own... No daring rescue at the last moment. No knight in shining armour riding his dingy in a hurricane to rescue the 2 of you. Just her bringing it to the dock, that will answer your question if you need a smaller boat or not. Accidents rarely happen in blue skies and fair winds with mild seas...
You're sailing for 2, it's not just you... I'm assuming she is in the same age group... A 42 footer may be quite the handful for a 70 something year old lady...
The real question is "do you need a heavy displacement boat for the occasional outing?"
No one likes the idea of starting over with a new boat, but a heavy cruiser that's sorted out shouldn't be hard to get rid of. A nice sorted out coastal cruiser are out there.
A couple of people at my marina are the proud owners of the "tanks" of the sea. They bought them in the hopes that 10 - 15 years from now, they will be sailing around the world with it... Well, for the day or overnight sail, they complain about how much work it is.
A 42 footer is a handful when single handing when younger, but at 74? It sounds good to keep saying positive reinforcement phrases, but let's be real. Could your wife handle it completely, and I mean completely, alone if you get hurt? YOU might be able to handle it alone, but could she if needed? If you fall and are out of it, could she bring it to the dock completely without the help of another? And I mean all on her own... No daring rescue at the last moment. No knight in shining armour riding his dingy in a hurricane to rescue the 2 of you. Just her bringing it to the dock, that will answer your question if you need a smaller boat or not. Accidents rarely happen in blue skies and fair winds with mild seas...
You're sailing for 2, it's not just you... I'm assuming she is in the same age group... A 42 footer may be quite the handful for a 70 something year old lady...
The real question is "do you need a heavy displacement boat for the occasional outing?"
No one likes the idea of starting over with a new boat, but a heavy cruiser that's sorted out shouldn't be hard to get rid of. A nice sorted out coastal cruiser are out there.
Ooooh! The chickens just came home to roost. You have to be the Don that I know that has a crew named Nancy? Who else would know about that buoy, but a lost dingy?
If so, talked with John this morning and he sounds pretty good. He has tentative plans to attend skippers night tomorrow. You?
Ditto here. Wifey still supports the boat, but seldom ventures out on it, so solo most of the time. Never was much for weeding and planting stuff. A different story though puttering around the boat.
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 22,220
Hey Terry,
Missed you last Wednesday. I'll be back up there the 3rd, hope to head to Roche on the morning of the 4th. Weather looking iffy for a 4 day sail. If weather forecast is right, the recently installed Wallas will get a workout.
Keep sailing and driving that bus. Your a young man.
Missed you last Wednesday. I'll be back up there the 3rd, hope to head to Roche on the morning of the 4th. Weather looking iffy for a 4 day sail. If weather forecast is right, the recently installed Wallas will get a workout.
Keep sailing and driving that bus. Your a young man.
You'll know. I'm 82. Sailed my Hunter 34 single-handed until about a year ago. Then my 81 year old back deserted me. Boat is now up for sale.
Weasel,
Just saw your post. You're welcome to crew with me if your wife won't sail with you. You will have to meet me here on the Left Coast. I sail out of Richmond, CA. I add crew from my mailing list on most trips. I prefer at least three people when I sail the "slot" under Golden Gate. Things can happen quickly in the summer winds and I'm not that nimble anymore.
For the rest of you, consider this, I don't own a boat. I sail with a club. I have thirty boats to choose from. I'm restricted to a maximum of 48 hours in a block reservation but I can extend it in 12 hour increments if no one else reserves the boat. When I get done I write up any problems and turn in a report. When I come back, the boat is fixed. I pay a monthly fee equal to the price of a 45 foot slip fee. There is no daily charge except $5/hour for fuel and they fill it up.
Other restrictions are no racing, no night sailing but I can anchor out, and my ocean travel limits are Drakes Bay to Half Moon Bay.
It's too good of a deal to own a boat.
Just saw your post. You're welcome to crew with me if your wife won't sail with you. You will have to meet me here on the Left Coast. I sail out of Richmond, CA. I add crew from my mailing list on most trips. I prefer at least three people when I sail the "slot" under Golden Gate. Things can happen quickly in the summer winds and I'm not that nimble anymore.
For the rest of you, consider this, I don't own a boat. I sail with a club. I have thirty boats to choose from. I'm restricted to a maximum of 48 hours in a block reservation but I can extend it in 12 hour increments if no one else reserves the boat. When I get done I write up any problems and turn in a report. When I come back, the boat is fixed. I pay a monthly fee equal to the price of a 45 foot slip fee. There is no daily charge except $5/hour for fuel and they fill it up.
Other restrictions are no racing, no night sailing but I can anchor out, and my ocean travel limits are Drakes Bay to Half Moon Bay.
It's too good of a deal to own a boat.