Age Before Swallowing the Anchor

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interesting thread...I am 60 now and in not bad shape...some ostio and lower back issues. For a day on the boat I first remind myself to SLOW DOWN! usually this occurs right after I bark a shin or bruise a hip...although there are few steps to climb i find each job it is necessary to remove all 7 hatches and after climbing in and up and out all day I am toast...its a good kind of tired and I am not beat yet...lots of work to do but the end is in sight and I find I am always ready to cruise and all that effort is soon forgotten on the BC coast.
 
Don... PLEASE!!!!! NOOOOOOOO.....

:banghead: :hide: :nonono: :whistling: :eek: :facepalm:
 
Tangler said:
interesting thread...I am 60 now and in not bad shape...some ostio and lower back issues. For a day on the boat I first remind myself to SLOW DOWN! usually this occurs right after I bark a shin or bruise a hip...although there are few steps to climb i find each job it is necessary to remove all 7 hatches and after climbing in and up and out all day I am toast...its a good kind of tired and I am not beat yet...lots of work to do but the end is in sight and I find I am always ready to cruise and all that effort is soon forgotten on the BC coast.
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I know how you feel.
When not cruising I fish my boat commercially on the weekends during the season.
I fish for shrimp hauling and setting 50 shrimp pots three times a day. Pulling up those Alaska spot shrimp.
I will turn 60 this June.
Work keeps you young. I am afraid if I stop moving I will rust.

Sometimes I think I am not as old as I think I can.
Sometimes I think what the heck am I doing out here.:socool:

SD
 
My Dad quit last year at the age of 85. Sold his Marshall Boat Co. 38 Californian with twin 3208's.

I knew it was coming since three years ago. In 2009 he told me that he had spent more money on his new hobby - photography - than on the boat.

I’m glad he keeps active.

Mike
 
There is an evolution - as comforts displace adventure. My solution is an extremely comfortable houseboat in the back yard on a trailer. When I get to the point that I can't launch and retrieve her or drag her down the road as a camper, I will still be able to sit at the helm with a beer and re-live memories on the water.
 
It isn't your age so much as your attitude.
Lots of us are old, heck, I'll be eligible to collect OAP this year, so I don't qualify as a spring chicken. Yet, I don't think I take things any slower now than I did 25 years ago. In fact, since I retired, I am healthier and more fit than I have been in at least 25 years. Since I have the time to get regular exercise, something I never did while I was working, I have been able to get back into reasonable shape and to feel like I want to continue getting regular exercise. I think that has been the key to an outlook that sees many more years of active cruising. I can still get twisted into the tight spots, spend the time to keep the shiny stuff shiny, pull the prawn traps regularly (without a powered puller), etc.
I sure don't want to start looking for the end of a passtime that has given me pleasure, in one form or another, for the last 50 years or so. That would be like planning the date of my demise, something I won't be doing.
 
Big reason I spent a long time to evaluating, and giving a lot of weight to, ergonomics when we bought the big boat. A crawl in engine room, for instance, wasn't going to get it, and I was in my mid-50's and fairly fit then.

This all reminds me of the George Burns line, which can easily be paraphrased to boating:

"You know you're getting old when you bend down to tie your shoe and wonder what else you can get done while you're down there"
 
skipperdude said:
When I get that Viking funeral.
Burn me and my boat.SD
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Skip: Can I have your Paravane set-up?

I'm 62 and lucky to be able to still do what I can do. I hurt everywhere, but I hurt everywhere when I was 18. For sure, being in my genie space for hours at a time is something I'd rather not do. The last set of 8D's I changed out was actually easier than the set before, so I guess I'm still doing OK. Weird postures and lack of flexibility inspires me to take the first Trawler Yoga course that comes along. The oldest guy I know still trawlering is 86, and he can bend in half a lot better than I can.

With all the baby-boomers retiring, I think we'll see lots of 60 plus entries into the recreational trawler club. Tomorrow is the Trawler Fest Ft. Lauderdale event. Like last time, I'd bet the majority are retirees.
 
Bendit said:
We have just sanded and antifouled Pioneer's 50 ft hull. I'm 62 and found it to be very hard work - a smaller boat would be nice at these times.
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Bendit: I couldn't help be intrigued by your vessel being hid in such darkness, so I Photoshopped it to get a better look. That's a very nice vessel you have. Your welcome to use the lighter version for your avatar is you wish.
 

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caltexflanc said:
"You know you're getting old when you bend down to tie your shoe and wonder what else you can get done while you're down there"
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Or when you can`t remember why you bent down.
 
psneeld said:
I'll disagree as most writings of the cruising lifestyle point towards just the opposite...it's a healthy, not sedentary lifestyle...I have to agree as many days I'm pretty tired at the end of the day from pushing carts up/down ramps full of groceries, etc....scrambling around decks to tie up, anchor, launch the dingy, haul the gas cans...ok so it's not bricklaying but then maybe it's how you cruise.

Most older sailors sail in a style which is rarely more energetic than raising and lowering the sail more than once a day...I have two good sailor friends that are all over trawlers now that I have one...not because of the work but because of inside steering and they run their engine darn near as much as I do.:D

Most chores are similar and the list is ling unless you have a large crew and the tasks are split.

The average suburbanite plops on the couch with a beer till dinner...just kidding but cruising take just as much effort...maybe more than home ownership.
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First, some background.................
I'll be 70 three weeks from today. That will mark 63 years of sailing. Got my first sailboat on my 7th birthday. I am the son of a ship captain and San Francisco Bar Pilot. I retired 10 years ago, my wife 5 years ago.
Last fall we returned to Bayfield, WI after 4 years of full time cruising and living aboard our 1999 Catalina 36. During those 4 years we covered 13,000 miles from Bayfield to the East Coast, Bahamas, etc. Wouldn't have missed it for the world. We want to go back to cruising, and this time it will be in a trawler. Not because we don't love sailing. We just want to have a few more creature comforts. My wife is tired of dumpster diving in the reefer, doing the sit and spin when you get up in the middle of the night. Well, you get the idea. Both being in excellent health, I think we have at least another 10 plus good years to cruise. From our 4 year experience, we might use a little more diesel but I doubt that we will motor many more hours than we did on our previous cruise. The truth is, cruising on a sailboat is a lot of motoring.
From our perspective, we would rather wear out than rust out. The cruising lifestyle isn't for everyone, but, I would much rather be cruising and dealing with the physical environment and the trials and tribulations of boating than sitting on the couch surfing through 200 channels trying to find something to watch on tv.
 
I must say that I am absolutely amazed at how many youngsters there are with trawlers!! People in their sixties! Whoa! I always thought that trawlers were the final step for us old guys before turning off the battery switch for the last time. :)

John
 
jwnall said:
I must say that I am absolutely amazed at how many youngsters there are with trawlers!! People in their sixties! Whoa! I always thought that trawlers were the final step for us old guys before turning off the battery switch for the last time. :)

John
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Some of us wise up long before we are in our sixties....:D
 
That's one of the reasons I hang out here....to be called a youngster while still in my 60s. Nice to be young!
 
60 is as 60 does! I be liken 60!! Decades left ta GO!! ;)

:whistling: :D
 
jwnall said:
I must say that I am absolutely amazed at how many youngsters there are with trawlers!! People in their sixties! Whoa! I always thought that trawlers were the final step for us old guys before turning off the battery switch for the last time. :)

John
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The last time I was over at Longboat Key (Sarasota, FL), I took up too much space while passing an old lady in the aisle in the hardware store, and I heard her whisper "Whippersnapper". It felt great. Also would be a great boat name.
 
jwnall said:
I must say that I am absolutely amazed at how many youngsters there are with trawlers!! People in their sixties! Whoa! I always thought that trawlers were the final step for us old guys before turning off the battery switch for the last time. :)

John
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Nope! There's a step that succeeds the trawler, but I'm still not sure it's the last step. For me, pushing 70, it's a trailerable houseboat.
IMAG1760.jpg
 
jwnall said:
I must say that I am absolutely amazed at how many youngsters there are with trawlers!! People in their sixties! Whoa! I always thought that trawlers were the final step for us old guys before turning off the battery switch for the last time. :)

John
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I'm 34 :-D
 
Whippersnapper! (Young, that is)
 
BruceK said:
Or when you can`t remember why you bent down.
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I try to not wear anything but slip-ons. All that bending and tying is wasting to much time I could be boating....or power napping...
 
Bendit said:
We have just sanded and antifouled Pioneer's 50 ft hull. I'm 62 and found it to be very hard work - a smaller boat would be nice at these times. My wife worries about me getting stuck down the side of the engine or somewhere similar and it is getting more difficult to twist and turn into these places. Getting out again is doubly difficult.
The actual boating is easy, it's the maintenance that takes its toll.
We will probably downsize in about 5 years time.
"Ghost Ship" avatar is a night-time shot, with flash, from a friend's boat - while partying!
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Or you could possibly get the yard to do that hard yakka Ben. I would never have the clean down and anti foul on myself.
Good to see you are keeping in Touch from the land of the long white cloud. Getting a wee bit excited re the up-coming Americas Cup yet?
 
Perspective is everything! I'm 54 and can climb up and down the tug pretty well. We have to climb the tires (fenders) occasionally, and the younger crew members always tell me "be careful cap, your not as young as you used to be!".

People I know occaisionally ask me if I can get them a job as a deckhand on a tug. They are aghast when I tell them they are too damn old (usually in their 30's or 40's). 7" lines are heavy to throw! Up and down on barges and tugs takes its toll on the body year after year. I want deckhands in their twenties!
We have plenty of deckhands in their 50' and a few in their 60's, but they have been doing it for many years and know how to minimize the impact on their bodies through experience. "Aleve and Advil are a deckhands best friend, Tums is a Captains best friend.
 
"The hardest thing about growing old is that other men no longer see you as dangerous…" Act of Valor

At 65+ that one ^^ hit home to me.

Keeping in shape gets more difficult every year. I have a number of 'hobby jobs' where I work alongside 'kids' 20 years my junior doing some physically demanding work. I can still keep up with most but tend to suffer more when I get home. Boating is still a piece of cake but I will say reading those tiny little serial numbers in the low light engine compartment gets tougher everyday.
"Stay healthy my friends"
 
I think it all boils down to a desire to stay in boating, attitude, being in relatively good health, and reasonable physical shape. Wife and I will hit 70 this year. We try to stay in shape with proper diet and exercise, but we've both overcome some health issues. She, cancer (lymphoma), and I, open heart surgery for a mitral valve repair in 2011. We're both doing fine now, and I like to claim we owe it all to single malt scotch.

Been boating for 45 years, first sail, and the last 8, small trawler. While still coastal cruising, we spend a lot of time fishing. As long as I can maintain the boat (cleaning, waxing, bottom painting, engine and gear maintenance) I'll stick with it. When it becomes a chore, or I need to hire someone to maintain the boat, then it's time to move on. You know the saying... first a sailboat, then trawler, then motor home, then rest home. I think we're 10 years away from the motor home, although the wife says it's closer than that.
 
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