Age Of Cruisers

[seafox]

After a bad night on the booze I feel 105.

The age of the cruiser , is like age of the boat . It doesnt matter how old we are

[Alan Wheeler]

So booze brings the way you feel more in line with the way you look huh?? ;-) :-)

[seafox]

Did you watch the elf link I sent you? I thought I looked pretty good

[Alan Wheeler]

Yeah it was a crackup. But how did you coax Jonny Depp into posing for you? You must have filled him up with plenty of Mrs P's christmas eggnog huh.

[seafox]

I told him.....

[schoonerdog]

Check out the December issue of SAIL magazine... a short article about younger cruisers....

[kath&john]

And if I can chuck in my two cents worth, people 40 & under with children have to wait for said children to leave the nest...if they want to liveaboard. Most teens don't want to give up their land lovin life styles.

[schoonerdog]

Au contraire... there is no reason why you can't live aboard or cruise with kids. Granted it would be difficult to START the life style with a 13+ year old. But if your kids are 0-12 there's really no problem. People use kids as an excuse not to because there are usually other reasons why they can't or won't (not financially ready, don't want to give up comforts, unwilling partner, etc)
We are living aboard and planning to cruise again soon BECAUSE of our son, not despite him.

[rebel heart]

Initially I was pretty resistant to the idea of having a kid, because it really seemed to jeapordize the sailing plans. But now that we've talked the idea over a lot, both the kid and the sailing seem empty without the other.

[kath&john]

Yep, would be great, but the kids(14 & 12) don't want to come-not for good. So maybe some family's make the decision to wait for the older ones sake? They would find it hard going from school & many friends comming and going to just our family of four for the most part. Not sure our dream is their dream...and thats O.K. We(john&I) will be ready when our time comes. We'll only be 46 when our last child finish school, get's their licence.

[pogo]

WoW. Reading all this, makes me look inward so much. I asked myself (and got an answer) what really got me into the idea I wanted to sail anything or anywhere?
Let's see...the first time I was on a boat..it was as a liveaboard on a dismasted sailboat 53 yrs ago, Tamiami Canal, Fla. BUT I really only wanted to sail when I realized the ancients (as in phoenicians etc.) could do something I didn't know how to do. Actually there is a lot of things they could do I can't, but it didn't make sense to me I had to spend gas money to enjoy the sea. My reasons? 1. Lived on boat at early age. 2. Wanted to learn 3. I am cheap. 4. I like competition.
someone said "all sailors are racers, when they are going the same direction as another sailboat."

[otgadventures]

Well, we launched after 6 months on the "hard" in Moore Haven FL. at Glades Boatyard. 13 days in the work yard, installed watermaker RO desalinator. Got a Spectra 150D model, will give reports when we get into clean saltwater to start it up.

We will probably not be going back to Morre Haven until the state of Florida makes some changes in the agricultural laws that at present allow burning of all the sugar cane waste. (Besides, we still need to get the boat to NH for a visit too!) The boat was filthy with soot, burned bits of charcoaled grass, and debris. Luckily it has NOT rained much, for there was so much gunk in the cockpit that a hard rain might have flooded the 8" depth of the cockpit overflowing it into the cabin. The yard itself is pleasant, nice folks, but very few creature comforts. The showers and rest rooms never seemed to have benefit of cleaning, and there is no ice machine or laundry for 13 miles until you get to LaBelle FL. WiFi would be nice too, but not available. Fees are reasonable, and would pay an additional $1 a day for workyard if they'd clean up the act a little.

Now in Ft. Myers, taking a day to have the OTTO checked (autopilot Raymarine getting a STLK FAIL message) and since OTTO drives far better than I ever did, it would be nice to have him back.

[Slocums Ghost 11]

My first 'cruise was in 1956 to the Suez Canal. Anthony Eden sent me.
I'm still cruising. When I grow up I'll be childish!! Rod S.

[Québec 1]

Had a series of heart attacks 4 years ago..helped me decide what to do.
2008:
Turning 55
Bought a fully loaded trailor sailor 26M
Decided to retire this year..a few years before planned
Plan on trailering to florida and sailing to Cuba for the winter
Want to open a college in Senegal

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Québec 1

... Plan on trailering to florida and sailing to Cuba for the winter. Want to open a college in Senegal

Now that's a sail (Cuba - Senegal) even for a MacGregor!