Slow Hand – End of the line

[O C Diver]

In 2014 I bought Slow Hand, a 2002 Cherubini Independence 45 coastal cruiser. She was refitted, repowered, and painted in 2014 & 2015. I made her the boat I wanted to cruise on. From 2016 to 2023 I cruised her on the East coast from Florida to New York, the Great Loop, the Great Lakes and into Canada. It has been a wonderful 8 years and 39,000 miles.

So what’s happened? I’ve gotten old, less steady, making mistakes, and forgetting things. My cruising (over 98%) has been solo. While it would have been nice for my wife to have joined me, she’s not a boater, and I wouldn’t force her. She was kind enough to tell me, “Follow your dream and have a good time”. While 2023 was probably my best cruising year, I found myself making small mistakes and forgetting stuff. This isn’t good when you travel solo (nobody else to blame) and maybe worse if a guest can’t run your boat.

Imagine the quarterback who wins the super bowl or maybe two in a row at the end of his career. Instead of retiring on top, he stays for another season or two for that one last glory. It almost never happens. Instead, he was the washed up quarterback that stayed too long. I’ve decided to retire and sell the boat after a great season instead of being the lead story on the evening news or the old guy with the dock queen that hasn’t moved in 10 years. I’m really hoping that a person or a couple with a passion for cruising will buy Slow Hand and continue the adventure.

The wife will be retiring in August, so another adventure begins. I have some friends that are foolish enough to invite me along on their cruises. I will still have my Trinka dinghy to go exploring with. There might even be another boat to weekend play with. And make no mistake, I’ll be hanging around the forum to tell you all, “This was how it was done in my day”.

If you want to discuss the above or comment on anything relative to Slow Hand, this is the thread to do it on.

Here is the boat listing thread:

2002 Cherubini Independence 45, Fort Myers, FL $350K

Ted

 

[Insequent]

May the sale go smoothly and wishing you all the best for the next chapter in your life.

Last year I was wondering how much longer I could cruise for. Then I had a total knee replacement and regained a lot of mobility, so hopefully now I've got quite a few more years to go.

 

[boomerang]

Whoever ends up with Slow Hand will no doubt have as near a perfect boat as can be purchased. A minimum of a bachelors in engineering would probably help the new buyer to start cruising her ...I can't imagine the hours you've put into upgrades and systems improvements!

Best wishes with your future plans. We're all headed towards the same sunset. Some will have fond memories with which we can enhance it.

 

[Iggy]

I love the fact that you followed your dream and is my dream too. But I have not done it yet, I hate to say. I married a younger wife, and waiting for her to retire. Oh well....

I would love to buy your! It sound like a great boat. My Club his has only one slip that could fit a 50 footer and the other Clubs around me are limited too.

In any case, I wish you well!!

 

[FWT]

Wow

Reading this felt like the conclusion of a series where you can't believe the hero is hanging up his spurs.

I admire your self-awareness.

As the song goes, "I knew all of my life, that someday it would end." Be careful to "don't let the old man in."

Your travels have been an inspiration. The knowledge and judgement shared with great patience have been appreciated, so I am grateful at least that will continue.

As others have said, Slow Hand will be the best buy on the planet for the serious cruiser who can appreciate what it is.

Be well.

 

[Bacchus]

Ted
You continue to be an inspiration to many of us.
We certainly have thought and talked about "how much longer we can do this"? Our conclusion has always been we will know in our hearts and just hope we can make the decision gracefully.
Once again you have set a great example that will (for us at least) be a wonderful reminder and example!

Looking forward to the next chapter. Enjoy the journey.

 

[Choices]

We too have decided to sell and try other things.

I will restore several cars that I have bought for just this occasion.

Good luck Ted. As many mistakes as your making there are not near as many as the other guys.

Mike

 

[slowgoesit]

Ted, your posts were always ones worth reading. If we hadn't already found a boat, yours would have been up there at the top of the list for us!

The folks who we purchase our boat from purchased a Cherubini Independence, and love it.

Best of luck in whatever you do, and YES, please do hang around on the forum!

 

[chanprr]

Ted:
You had a great cruising life with the Cherubini 45, a beautiful boat. Thanks for sharing. Your posts have been much appreciated. Good luck with the sale and the next chapter in life.
Robert

 

[Delfin]

Fair winds and smooth seas for your next adventure Ted!

 

[ktdtx]

Inadvertently put this on the "For Sale" listing......reposted here.



Hate to see this but I understand.
You were kind enough to have a long conversation with me when I was looking at a 50' Cherubini in the PNW 8 or 9 years ago...I didn't make an offer fast enough.


I watched your total rebuild of that boat, not a "refit"...someone is certainly going to get their money's worth.


I also followed your travels as my travels had to be cut a little short due to wife desires and health problems.


Enjoy your next adventure!
__________________

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. OC. Best of success in your future endeavors. Life moves on.

 

[Comodave]

Ted,

I know how difficult this must be for you. I really enjoyed when you would stop in Tawas and we would get dinner. I will miss those dinners. Good luck with selling the boat. Please do keep posting on TF.

 

[twistedtree]

If I might ask, what sorts of specific “aging” issues have people encountered that have been hints that it’s time to move to land? Many of us are getting up there to one extent or another. Every year I notice things that are physically harder to do, or that I just don’t want to do. And although forgetfulness has always been a bit of a challenge, I do notice it more.

Would others care the share?

 

[SteveK]

Ted, bon voyage. I foresee this end to boating you are talking about. Following along on your solo journeys has been a great experience and encouragement.
Do keep posting, your knowledge can still be shared from your rocking chair.

 

[AlaskaProf]

Every year I notice things that are physically harder to do, or that I just don’t want to do. And although forgetfulness has always been a bit of a challenge, I do notice it more.

Would others care the share?

I think yours is a good summary of my decision to give it up. I quit flying in 2017 because I became suspicious of my "160-knot-decision-making." Nothing that happened in the airplane per se, but just round-the-house distractions causing errors lead me to think about thinking. Besides, it freed up more time for 8-knot enjoyment!



I'm still confident in my ability to do the thinking at eight knots, but physical tasks seemed to get more demanding. Then one day while docking solo, I made the usual 4-foot jump from the pilothouse door to the dock with the mid-ship dock line and landed with my heel on the bull-rail which propelled me smartly across the dock. Fortunately, there was a boat in the other slip so I got a good thump instead of a dunking. . I kept the boat for one more season, but I think that moment defined the discussion .


I bought Seeadler with the belief that I would have a large pool of family and friends to share her with, and for a couple of years that was how it was ... but those people have other lives and eventually it was mostly solo. And for me solo boating means short passages punctuated by a couple good meals and hours of reading in a favorite chair with a good view.


I can do most of that at home at much less expense and no varnishing!

 

[Bob Cofer]

Hi Ted,

It's been a real pleasure sharing thoughts with you over the years. I wish you the best on your next journey, whatever it may be.

Best regards,
Bob

 

[Portage_Bay]

You hit all the major points. The biggest one slowing me down is working in cramped spaces. I'm just not as flexible anymore nor do I have the stamina I used to have getting projects done. Hiring everything done is too expensive for my wallet. We're thinking we'll hang up boating the year we both turn 75. Plus we have other things on the bucket list. Boats as we all know require a lot of money and time.

On a related note I let my professional credentials go last year. I hadn't worked under them for the last 3 years. That was a realization that my situational awareness was not as sharp as it used to be. With gear in the water, people working on deck and sometimes in challenging conditions I needed to be on my A game or someone was going to get hurt.

If I might ask, what sorts of specific “aging” issues have people encountered that have been hints that it’s time to move to land? Many of us are getting up there to one extent or another. Every year I notice things that are physically harder to do, or that I just don’t want to do. And although forgetfulness has always been a bit of a challenge, I do notice it more.

Would others care the share?

 

[Mambo42]

Very honest and open explanation of what we will all encounter once in our life. You took the very wise decision to stop before it is too late. I can only hope I will be able to take that same decision in time, although I hope it won't be for quite a number of years.

I wish you all the best in your next adventures and now that your wife is retiring you will get to spend a lot of time together. Friends of mine, both retired, actually have less time available than when they were still working. They actually have to keep an agenda of where they will be at which date. And they are loving it, they enjoy their time together to the fullest, so am sure you will be able to do the same if you would desire to do so.

Good luck with the sale, she is a true gem, someone is going to be extremely happy taking her out to sea again.

 

[ScottC]

I always enjoyed reading your posts and following your adventures, Ted! Learned a lot from you. I wish you the best of success in your next chapter. I hope you continue to hang around here some to continue sharing your wisdom!

 

[ScottC]

Would others care the share?

I'll bite...but this topic may end up requiring its own thread if it gets much action!

Upon putting our boat up in Greece for the winter, we, as usual, off-loaded small, valuable, theft-worthy things. Portable radio, EPIRB, binocs, Navionics chart cards, etc.

Arrived home in Sweden and put all that stuff in its usual spot for the winter.
Just last week, I thought I'd get out my Med & BlackSea Platinum+ card to download a set of updates and confirm all was well with the card. I dug out my set of Navionics cards and could not, for the life of me, find the Med & Black Sea card. Turned the house upside down looking for it. Finally contacted Navionics support and they said they could shuffle things around on their end so I could download the card data anew on an existing card that I was willing to give up.

I decided it was a no-brainer to give up my 33P+ Central Med card because it was a subset of the Med & Black Sea card.
Performed the download and got error messages galore. Back and forth with Navionics support. I will spare readers more details and fast forward to the end of the story. Turns out I had the "missing" Med & Black Sea micro SD card in my hands all the time. I had made the mistake of storing it in the SD "holder" that said 33P+ on it. (Unfortunately, the micro cards are too small to hold any label of their own). So, with the unending patience of Navionics support, I put the card I nearly destroyed back together again and -- um -- labeled it carefully. A lot of wasted time, but a happy ending.

 

[AlaskaProf]

he biggest one slowing me down is working in cramped spaces.

Yeah! That too. :lol:

 

[ofer]

If I might ask, what sorts of specific “aging” issues have people encountered that have been hints that it’s time to move to land? Many of us are getting up there to one extent or another. Every year I notice things that are physically harder to do, or that I just don’t want to do. And although forgetfulness has always been a bit of a challenge, I do notice it more.

Would others care the share?

No such option for me. I will spend the last of my days on my boat.

 

[Andy G]

And although forgetfulness has always been a bit of a challenge, I do notice it more.


The real problem is when you notice it less.

 

[Crusty Chief]

Ted,

Like many of us, you did it right and enjoyed completing another bucket list item. Best of luck with the sale and onto the next phase.

We sold our boat a bit over two years ago, and thought we were in still in good shape to start a new phase. The wife started having medical issues and it’s been a long slow recovery. So in hind site, maybe it was time to move on. I also have noticed the body is rebelling on me, but I’m still able to find enuff projects to keep me busy and moving. Maybe a bit slower and more Dr visits but still hanging in there.

Cheers my friend and best wishes.

 

[lwarden]

Like many here, I've followed all Ted's posts and admired his journey and appreciated all his knowledge passed on. Someone is going to get a great boat. If it were two years from now, when the wife and I are planning on swapping coasts and doing the loop, this boat would be on the top of the list.

Good luck to you Ted in your next endeavor, good on you to know when it's time to do something else.

 

[bowball]

Ted, I too have enjoyed your posts and journey. Isn’t rude to ask how old you are so I can calibrate my expectations as well?

 

[BruceK]

Best Wishes to Slow Hand and Ted for the future. We were fortunate to have the benefit of your knowledge and your well illustrated voyaging. I hope you have time to stay around and continue to help others with your experience and skills.

 

[ranger58sb]

Ted, you can cadge a ride with us from time to time...

In the meantime, fair winds... and kudos on your decision-making process. I think I can see hazy bits of our eventual off-ramp, too, on some days slightly more clearly than others... and it's helpful to know advance recognition might not be completely impossible...

-Chris

 

[rslifkin]

Hopefully the next adventures are as enjoyable as the boat has been. And definitely stick around here, anyone who put that many miles under the keel will have plenty of useful knowledge to share with us.