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Old 08-29-2016, 01:18 PM   #31
dhays
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City: Gig Harbor
Vessel Name: Kinship
Vessel Model: North Pacific 43
Join Date: May 2015
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Quote:
Originally Posted by psneeld View Post
Without questioning your professionalism doc, what do you consider seriously degraded vision past 50?

If the eye test for DOT physicals says 20/20...they don't seem too concerned abut my age. I can read charts fine. But some of that as you explained before is the difference between sight snd vision. Much of the time people hand me stuff to read the fine print, whether they are old, young, glasses or not.

What specifics should I be looking for to signal it's time for optical assistance?

Might have to get closer on a few items during daylight....it's night vision that I saw evaporate quickly when flying.
You certainly may be able to see great in the distance without correction. However, you can not see as clearly at a reading distance. The lens of the age continues to grow and becomes less flexible. This process starts when we are little kids and finally catches up to us in our 40's. This same process eventually results in the lens becoming less clear (cataracts). No way, short of dying young, to avoid it.

So, physics dictates that a 50 year old eye cannot focus both at infinity and at a reading distance (typically 40cm). Now, some can "get by". In bright light our pupils constrict increasing the depth of field. Some patients can get by pretty well in daylight if they have a bit of myopia that gives them a help at near and small pupils that help with the distance. But "getting by" is not the same as seeing clearly. Nothing wrong with it, we just shouldn't fool ourselves.

We might get by with a dirty bottom and running gear, but we shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking our boat is performing up to its potential.
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Dave
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