old skipper

I would like to know if there are any active trawler owners that are in their 70ties. Having difficulty with family in buying another trawler- Thanks in advance - captain ry

captain ray said:

I would like to know if there are any active trawler owners that are in their 70ties. Having difficulty with family in buying another trawler- Thanks in advance - captain ry

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Capt. Ray, Beautiful area Franklin. I am in my 70s along with many here. Many trawler owners in their 70s and even 80s are plying the waterways everyday. Many winter in the Bahamas. I won't tell the ages of the others here, but I think they will chime in. Go for it. It's too late to buy green bananas. Whatever we are going to do, we need to get it done.

As a new boat owner who is 75 get on with it. My family are in favour and have encouraged the move. If in the market try to buy at a capital outlay that you can walk away from with no regrets just memories. Bill

Thank you/ thank you for your kind encouragement -- Captain Ray

I've got a few years to go but i know many who are in their 70's. Some in their 80's. Up to last year several in their 90's.
It all depends upon what you are comfortable with.

Cap't. Ray-I am on the downslope towards 70, but am lucky in that family mostly likes the boat. Is it kids, wife or other family members? If kids, just tell them that if the boat sinks and you drown, they get their inheritance quicker, just don't tell them you spent it on the boat! I know many in our age group happily out there cruising, both local and long-term extended cruising. My attitude has become that at this age, we have earned the right to do pretty much as we wish and those who don't accept it are the ones with the problem.

That said, if it is the wife, that is a much more difficult problem to overcome. Some cajoling and compromise probably is in order. But, as many here have said, when looking at boats, if the wife says she likes one-buy it now!

Good luck.

Eric Henning of this forum is in his very early seventies and he and his wife just brought their Willard down the Inside Passage from Alaska when they moved from there back to Washington. This was in early spring or late winter when conditions were less than ideal. And they were very active boaters the whole time they lived up there.

Age in years is totally irrelevant to anything as far as I'm concerned. The only thing that's relevant is what you feel like doing and your ability to do it.

Outside of little kid birthdays which are important social activities at that age my family did not celebrate or even acknowledge birthdays and I still don't. If it wasn't for my licenses and things like insurance forms and visa applications and such I wouldn't have a clue how old I am.

70 is the NEW 40,

Where is the problem?

Turned 70 last year. I still get around the boat OK, but it'll probably be up to the Admiral, (and her aches/pains/other infirmities that might come along) to decide when we aren't up to using it any more.

Pushing 70 myself and after half a century on the water I still get a kid's joy out of boating. I remember when I was first looking over my boat as a prospective buyer. An old gentleman paused as he hobbled down the pier to ask if I was the owner. I explained I was a possible buyer. He told me he'd owned many boats in his lifetime and was thinking of buying again. But, he said, he couldn't decide if he would buy a condo and wait to die in his rocking chair, or buy a boat and work himself to death. I bought my boat the next day.

Thank you Marin but I don't think "age in years is totally irrelevant".

If it was we'd know some skippers 140 or perhaps 440 years old.

I'm 73 and have few problems cruising but some of the maintenance is difficult to do or/and causes too much pain. Little things like being able to turn and look behind me are in small degrees limiting my abilities. When I was 47 I realized I wasn't 27 any more and since then I've been more and more aware of it.

But if I quit boating w bigger boats in the near future it will probably be lifestyle changes rather than limited physical abilities that bring it about.

Will be 71 in August. Have been boating my entire life. My father sold the last boat when he was 87. He died when he was 93. Not as nimble as before, but then again I am wiser now.

John

I'm staring down the barrel of being 73 and don't give it much thought. I don't cruise open water like I did when I was 50-60 but I still wander off shore once in awhile. I will tell you that I'm much smarter than I was just 10 years ago and really know my limitations. My family really supports my boat hobby but then my estate planning CD which everyone has a copy of is quite generous to those I leave behind.( Hmmm, maybe I ought to review that.)

Photo by Flywright

I'm 77 and still do all my own work on my 36' Nova sundeck. The day I can't pull a wrench is the day I pack it in.

manyboats said:

Thank you Marin but I don't think "age in years is totally irrelevant".

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What I meant by that, Eric, is that I don't think age in years is relevant to one's attitude or approach to life. Sure, age takes its physical toll but I don't believe in saying, "Oh, I'm x-years old now so I shouldn't or can't do such and such anymore."

The number of years alone should not dictate what a person believes they can or cannot do. If a person feels they should get out of boating it should be because they have lost interest or have physical issues, not simply because they are x-years old. Age alone should never dictate what we do or how we think about ourselves.

That's my take on it, anyway.

FF said:

70 is the NEW 40,

Where is the problem?

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That makes 60 the new 30!

I'm really enjoying reading the replies to Ray's question! And Franklin is indeed a beautiful place.

I'm a long way from 70 but I sure hope there is no "magic number" where suddenly I am too old to boat. The previous owner of our boat must have been in his 70s, if not 80s, and he was moving onto land and giving up boating as he no longer felt comfortable taking his grandkids out. He did a great job driving the boat on the sea trial (though he commented we were going 16 knots, because the VHF was tuned to channel 16!) but I guess when he had his family aboard he did not feel comfortable with the responsibility. Let something like that guide your decision, not a number.

I'd have to ask, as others have, who is objecting and why? We might be able to give you some advice on countering their arguements. we would all love to see you buy a boat.

Oh this reminds me, I know a guy who is a Vietnam vet, no idea his age but to be a Vietnam vet he has to be at least in his 60s right? Anyway, he bought his first boat two years ago, a Bayliner 36 I believe? He JUST got it running right and is learning how to drive it. Absolutely LOVING LIFE.

Pineapple Girl said:

I'm really enjoying reading the replies to Ray's question! And Franklin is indeed a beautiful place.
He did a great job driving the boat on the sea trial (though he commented we were going 16 knots, because the VHF was tuned to channel 16!) .

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Very funny! Sounds like something Don would do, doesn't it?

I'm beginning to lose count of the years I've been "fifty-nine and holding."

Depends on your health. Some people in their fifties probably should not be captaining a boat, and others in their late eighties do just fine. I'm almost 78, and do not see any problems. I can contort myself in the bilge, run up the ladder to the bridge, and dive my bottom to scrub it just fine. Knock on wood of course, but right now all is well.

John

alormaria said:

That makes 60 the new 30!

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So that makes me a teenager again!

My father will turn 91 this June. He owns a 1967 Grand Banks 32, and lives aboard in Hessel, Michigan from May through September. Of course, he doesn't cruise like he and my mother used to do before she passed, but he still runs the boat from Mackinaw City to Hessel every spring (where he's sort of honorary Captain of the Docks) and then back to Mackinaw in the fall every year. And he takes her out for the occasional ride.

I've got a GB32 too, and I'd be happy if I could handle my boat half as well as he does in close quarters!

If you ask me, he's 90 BECAUSE he owns a trawler!

Ted

jwnall said:

I'm almost 78, and do not see any problems. I can contort myself in the bilge, run up the ladder to the bridge, and dive my bottom to scrub it just fine.

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But John, isn't your boat still on the hard? :lol: (Sorry, but sometimes I just can't help myself. )

Captain Ray,
If it's your youth and inexperience that they're worried about the so be it, tell em to stick it!

I lived in Franklin back in '83 for a summer switching the phone system over to digital, great place but not very navigable. Getting the boat up the Cullusaja Gorge would be hell!

Daddyo said:

Captain Ray,
If it's your youth and inexperience that they're worried about the so be it, tell em to stick it!

I lived in Franklin back in '83 for a summer switching the phone system over to digital, great place but not very navigable. Getting the boat up the Cullusaja Gorge would be hell!

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======It would be a very interesting trip! Yes, Franklin is a beautiful area and would like to spend only 6 months of the year here. I have been in the marine industry as a surveyor and yacht captain (in the VI) for the last 30+ years and really want to get back to the water. I am burdened by the usual aches and pains of age, but I think that I could handle the general maintalnance of a small trawler. Looking at a 32' IG that would be the perfect size. Family is a problem that I hope to resolve in the coming months. Wish me luck = Capt Ray

Well, youth and inexperience certainly is not an issue! If you have done it for 30 years, seems to me a few more can't hurt!

Good luck!

captain ray said:

Looking at a 32' IG that would be the perfect size.

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Great choice!

I'm 70 and been boating for 50+ years - ready to go for another 50 ;-)
Ran offshore from Portland, Or up to the Canadian cruising grounds last year and plan to go again this year. Life on the water is great, go for it!

Orig owner of our Tolly was early 90's when he had to leave boating. Fellow I met last year when surveying his boat for purchase was mid 90's and needed help on, off, and to get around his boat... so... it was time for him to retire from boating.

Admiral and I are in early 60's... can easily see still boating for 30 years or more! At least we sure hope so!!

Boating is not ruled by any particular age bracket... but rather by health, enjoyment, excitement, and sheer addiction we boaters have to fun on the water in our own boats!

While in the Albin group there was a couple I believe in their mid 80s that did the loop starting at the headwaters of the Mississippi, down the river all around and through the Great Lakes almost to the point of origin.

They did it on an Albin 25 and trailered from lower BC Canada.