Sailing later in life

[Gary]

So, after the thread about "Sailing with Kids" I am wondering, as we age and continue to sail our C34's what are the early signs of concern, stories of older sailors, and strategies for controlling our boats in later years that can be shared?  How old are folks getting and still out there enjoying the sailing experience?  This may be a bit more delicate a question to ponder so thanks in advance for the willingness to respond.

[Mark G]

I bought my C34 from my retired slip neighbor who wanted something a little smaller and easier to handle. He bought a new Catalina 310. Except for the furling main, I'm not sure he gained anything except a few new-boat niceties. The 310 is lighter and bouncier in the short, steep chop of Lake Michigan. It doesn't sail better.

I plan to move to a fast trawler in the years ahead. (I know trawler purists think there is no such thing.) With 90 miles from here to the other side, I want to have the option to cruise at 12-14 vs. half that. We will want more room and less work.

For now, we love sailing and will continue.

[Gary]

I am really interested in this topic that I posted so I will try to get it going again.  As a life long sailor I hope to be doing this for a long while yet.  At 60, slight arthritis in my hands has created some discomfort in the hands using winches but not yet limiting.  I figure some of the following may be used as strategies and tactics as I reach 70 and beyond:

1. motoring is better than not going at all.
2. motor sailing even with just a jib makes everything pretty easy in fog or rough conditions.
3. a heavy and larger boat (C34) moves less in uneven seas and is more stable than a lighter boat (25 and below) thus it is a more stable platform for an older sailor ie. bigger really is better!
4.  It is really no more difficult to single hand a 34 than a smaller boat thus ease in handling can translate to ease in general when when one is older.
5.  ease of start with an inboard diesel compared to lowering an outboard keeps one from hanging off the stern rail and keeps us inside the vessel...much safer.
6.  ease of motion in a larger boat is less and therefore creates less day long fatigue.
7.  Sailing, using winches, raising sails, moving up and down the companionway, and the general isometric use of muscles is good exercise; and exercise is the only fountain of youth.
8.  Flexibility is improved by bending, leaning, climbing and all the odd positions we use as sailors.
9.  Peace of mind on a boat moving well under sail, accompanied by those we care for, is one of life's great treasures!


So, I hope others can add to this list or offer stories and observations and other points of view to mine.  I am especially interested in those events that prevent this experience from being what we want it to be.  That is, why do people actually think they need to leave sailing?  Essentially I love sailing and think it good for the mind and body long into later years.  Here's to many more days as sailors!

[Stu Jackson]

The only "work" left on our boat is taking off and replacing the mainsail cover!  Raising the main can be done either of two ways: direct from the cockpit, by pulling the halyard 90% of the way and some "completion" work on the winch; or from on-deck, where we'd installed a mast-mounted cleat -- raise sail easily, wrap end of halyard around the cleat, return to cockpit to tail the halyard, go back forward to remove from the cleat, finish up with the winch.  Oh, that's for when I'm alone, with crew it's much easier.

The rest is sailing, which should involve no effort at all, if it does, something's amiss.

We went through the "next boat" thought process, too, but figure since we spent so much time getting this one right, why start over?  We have an electrical system that's bulletproof, and there are few new boats that can make that claim.  Everything else we know works because we either installed it ourselves, or have worked on it enough to know it in detail.  Engine hours: 1880 (heck, it's almost brand new!)

[Ron Hill]

Guys : Guess that Dave Davis and I haven't reached that stage in life yet, so we'll just have to defer all of the speculative commenting to the "younger" crowd !!     

[kdexter]

My husband will be 60 this year, I will be 55.  Yikes!!! We hope to have many more years of sailing.  My father sailed until he was 84 and Parkinson's just made it impossible.  We have a dear friend who is 86 this year - first year he has not single-handed to Block Island from Stonington.  He will, however, sail out accompanied by a land lubber with sharp eyes and strong arms!  We think the trick is to have a relatively stable boat, with all lines running to the cockpit. Lazy jacks are a must - I am not fond of clambering around on the deck, dousing the main when it is blowing stink.  However, I am shorter (lower center of gravity) and more nimble than my husband - plus I have more faith in him retrieving me than the other way round!  With the lazy jacks, just drop it down until we get into calmer waters.  As you say, sailing with only the genoa is better than no sailing at all!  I plan to ride horses and sail well into my 80's.  A gentleman who trained saddlebreds for eons, rode a mule to the center of town on his 95th birthday!!!!  He would have sailed too!  Ibuprofen for the arthritis and you have years to sail!  K

[Gary]

K,

Thanks for the terrific ideas.  Lazy jacks do work very well at taming the main.  As well, a stack pack also collects the sail and serves as a great way to ease reefing in a blow.  All the loose sail stays in the stack pack and truly allows for reefing without leaving the cockpit.

Thanks again for the great stories...much appreciated!

[Ron Hill]

Guys : The single best bit of advice I can suggest is keep doing your DAILY setups and pushups!! 
You don't need a machine so there's NO excuse!!   

[Terry Forshier]

I am soon to be 63 and have owned 3 (big) sailboats in my sailing life. The first, a 25 trailer sailer, that was by far the hardest to sail. It was tippy, had a centerboard hank on sails, the winches were to self tailers, the anchor did not have a locker, a hang on over the end outboard, I had to crouch in it unless the pop top was up. It was harder to sail as it had to be watched in gusty weather. The second an ODay 30. It was easier to sail. Had better equipment, roller furling, lazy jacks, inboard motor would turn on its own length, had a centerboard (that always had something wrong with it) it did have room to walk around on deck and a roomey cabin with good facilities in the cabin, stove, head etc. Easier to sail as it would track when in the groove. It had autopilot. I felt when I bought this boat that it had it all. this year I bought this Catalina 34. A pleasure to sail on all points of sail. Stay in the cockpit and raise the main, pull a roller furler and out comes the jib. The autopilot sails it on track even in gusty wind. Besides lazy jacks I have a Doyle stack pack, I do not even have to lug out a mainsail cover, let it fall, zip it up. adjustable topping lift, an easy to use traveler, The motor is easy to use. the installed equipment is easy to find, get to and simple to maintain.(except for these new electrical gadgets one can fix a lot of the systems using the notes supplied here) I could go on but I am preaching to the choir. This boat is by far easier to sail than any of the previous boats I have owned.
The only thing I can think I may need in the next 15 years is a windless but so far my wife has been handling this with me. This is like sailing a condo, with the separate cabins, airconditioning, a generator for AC, microwave or AC current when you want it.
Yes I exercise, eat healthy and am pretty fit but the best thing I ever did was to sell my old business and all the problems that kept me awake at night. I moved to SW Florida and now work with my wife as a  REALTOR "team" and answer to ourselves. Mentally and physically I am way way ahead of 5 years ago.
For those of you who are in the middle of your life think about this.. I doubt is you will ever find anyone who laid on his death bed and wished he had worked a littlle more or a little harder.
Terry

[Phil Yates]

GARY,

WELL, I JUST TURNED 70 THIS PAST JAN. AND HAVE SAILED THE ECLIPSE FOR 12 YRS.  1986 #22, SOOOO YOU CAN SEE THERE MAYBE NO END TO HOW LONG YOU CAN  SAIL HA...BY THE WAY I  TURNED 70 IN JAN. WHILE CREWING WITH MY FRIEND ON HIS 47 CATALINA THAT HE HAD JUST BOUGHT...WE RAN THE FT. LAUDERDALE /KEY WEST RACE IN JAN 06..WE RAN 11TH OUT OF 38  BOATS NOT TO BAD , MY FRIEND IS 72 BUT WE DID HAVE A COUPLE OF YOUNG BUCKS WITH US ,IN THE 50'S. THAT WAS A PRETTY GOOD TRIP FROM PENSACOLA,FL TO FT. LAUDERDALE AND BACK, ALMOST NONE STOP, I TURNED 70 ON THE WAY BACK IN THE  GULF, IT WAS COLD IN JAN.
THE ONLY  THING I CAN SEE DIFFERENT IS  THAT I'M A BIT SLOWER  HA....
PHIL YATES
BAGDAD,FL.
ECLIPSE.

[sail4dale]

O.F.T.S.G.

If you happen to be at the Cabrillo Landing in San Pedro at noon on any Tuesday, you might observe a group of "ancient mariners" making their way to a boat in the marina.  Each carries a lunch and other necessary gear for an afternoon sail: jacket, beer, hat, sunscreen, handheld GPS, etc

For the past three plus years these grizzled veterans, whose average age is 75, gather on the designated boat and for the next hour they leisurely consume a variety of prepared or purchased luncheon treats.  At two bells, the boat leaves the slip and motors out of Cabrillo Landing.  Quickly the sails are raised and the quiet of sailing replaces the noise of the engine.  The conversations start during lunch and continues with the subject matters covering World War II, the setting of the sails, computers, the proper course to sail, health, weather, cameras, other boats on the water and whether we can be faster than they are.  Sometimes they avoid politics.  (But not always!)

On most days there is from 200 to 400 years of sailing experience aboard.  All this experience often leads to occasional  "slight" disagreements regarding the above subjects plus a few more.   This free advice to the day's skipper gets even more persistent when the wind gets up over 25 knots. 

After a few hours on the bounding main, the boat(s) return to the slip and the host boat skipper conducts the serious part of the day's ritual.  It's time for "happy hour"hosted by the skipper of the day.  A thorough review of the day's sail and the recent Internet jokes are usually analyzed along with the next week's plans and boat selection.

Oh yes, OFTSG for those of you that haven't figured out the meaning of this an acronym is "Old F***'s Tuesday Sailing Group".  This group was the brain child of CBYC member Len Deutch when he and a few of the other OF's and decided they needed a day dedicated to the finer things of life.  SAILING.  It also gives each boat owner a regular opportunity to get his boat out of the slip and exercise the sails.

[captran]

While in Comox this summer we watched a couple leave their sloop but didn't get a chance to meet them...but I swear, they must have been in their 80's.  There were no sails hanked on, and looked like the had hit the sides of a dock more than a time or two.  They headed off to town hand in hand.  It was a joyous sight to behold.  And a few years ago we ran into a couple at Double Breasted Cays in the Bahamas.  He was 87 and she a spritely 79!  She had just gotten back from diving for conch and was cleaning her catch, nibbling some of it while she cleaned it!  So I guess at 54, I must be a youngster.  But there are days that I feel it and think about the trawler idea, but then along comes an opportunity for a wonderful sail, and I put the idea on the backburner.