Aging Cruisers Choose Battles

[gjordan]

Remember that the Hiscocks went from 24 foot to 30 foot to 45 foot, and then back down to 39 foot as they began to feel their age. I have gone from 17 to 26 to 37 and on to 44 foot, but now at 66 I am looking at a 30 footer, partly because of age and partly because of a smaller retirement than I planned on. Foredeck combat on a large boat no longer holds any interest for me. I want all chain rode with an electric windlass controlled from the cockpit to make life easier. Unless the boat I end up with is suited for an inner forestay, I may stay with hanked on jibs, but I would prefer a cutter rig with the head sail on a furling system. Since I am still in pretty good physical condition, much of my decision making will be from limited finances, but I will be damned if I will go back to dealing with a 17 foot whisker pole. Smaller can be better. ____Grant.

[lorenzo b]

It's hard for older folks, myself included, to be objective and rational about aging and death. A really good read on the topic is How We Die, it explains how the entire body breaks down until one ailment or another causes death. In planning your own life, it is also very informative to look up the complete statistical analysis on life expectancy.
I am endlessly amused by older cruisers who are fearful of traveling when the chances of dying in the next 12 months of natural causes are thousands of times more likely than anything else. One of the real pleasures of aging is the freedom of knowing that you can do whatever you want and it won't matter, you have already lived a complete happy life.

[Seaworthy Lass]

As seen below, the mid 80's is no barrier to cutting a fine figure .

Regular boat maintenance seems to keep most us cruisers fit and well. The key is starting early .

[zeehag]

hard to be ....
ok here i go--i have had something different about me since i was 7 yrs old.
i noticed things and asked my mom about them as i found stuff to wonder about. like arthritis at age 7. like white--yes, WHITE legs when air dried after swimming at age 7, 8, 9, and upwards. pains when i shouldnt have had them all thru my growing and then middle age then older years. could never run as my ankles separated and twisted and such wonderfulness. ok so i was finally diagnosed with reynauds disease(not phenomenon or syndrome, thankyou, DISEASE) when i was 48. yes is a long time. but no one knew. i learned from where the disease cam w when i was 60. seems like a long time between each step, doesnt it!!! funny how the dermatologist in our family missed this ....he said i dont have it..lol..but the genes on my mommas poppas side of family were tested and guess what they found''a gene hooked with reynauds disease. ok so i know now what an dhow and when...and i have been living with it since age 7, almost 60 yrs, now---i have had neuropathy in my feet and lower legs for almost 60 yrs... i donot climb trees since age 7, and i donot climb my mast. that is for young monkeys. there are plenty of those in this world and most of em are hongree. that is good.
as i have known i am different and need to do things in ways that differ from norm, i am used to having to modify my world. heck i figgered the ischemia problems from this disease would kill me by age 55.. ok so i was wrong. i was merely disabled by 55...lol
what is it folks need to know when they sail--is it how long is remaining on their lives?? doesnt come into play.
is it what to do after death?? you wont be here--does it really matter what happens to you after your body is a moldering mass of putridity???
if you cannot handle that which you have been handling for xx number of years, you have a problem,no one else has that problem. you learn to modify as you go. as for me--i am keeping my boat original as possible--i might add self tailing winches if i can afford them,otherwise i will make do with my current stuff.
there is no WHAT IF there is only right now.
seems that for many of us that right now is becoming yesterday and gone.
one day i will be gone..i was thinking that woulda happened by now, but i am not lying down to give it up until i am dead.
keep sailing. damn i must be irish or scots or something....oh yeah..the genes my reynauds hook is living on is a celt gene of over 9000yrs longevity. wow...so i cannot give up....lol
now , what were you healthy souls saying about doing WHAT in your old age????
just sail and shut it up on decrepitization. that will happen soon enough. do that which your mind wants you to do now.
if i can handle a formosa 41 decently with no thumb function, which is, btw, more than half ones hand, then you guys can just sail and enjoy it.
or not. i will outsail you. ok , jedi--i cannot outsail you. or jim cate, or a few others. but i will try.
most people seek a way out, even from that which they enjoy doing.
my way out --i am fish food. if my healthy uncle could sail until 95, even with blood dyscrasia from lead arsenate (apple farmer) then i can sail until i drop. he fell out at breakfast--i will fall out an be breakfast.

oh, yeah..mynew to me walkerbay 10 ROWING BOAT dinghy was owned before me by an over 83 yr old curmudgeon. yes he used it....

keep your mind active and your body will go with it. just ask boatman....lol <3

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by CaptForce

'no lack of positive expectation here, but all my life choices are planned, so all the questions stand for me and others.

What have we had for income? We were public school teachers from 1969 to 2002. These are not high pay positions, but the annual contract is usually for about 190 days and this leaves some time for cruising. It also gave us the same time "off" as our children, so, we were sailing away!

Teachers are one of many that do a job that deserves a big fat thank you... So thanks for your "service"...( I should have given more attention to them when I was younger,maybe I could spell a little better)...

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by CaptForce

- What are the adjustments, the battles, the adaptations?

1. Stay fit,
2. Stay fit,
3. Stay fit,
4. Reduce your kit, materially, mentally, financially, socially,
5. Go for the right boat - easy in, easy out, handholds, stable before fast, conservative SA,
6. Get into the right weather zone before your window shuts down,
7. If you can walk, you can sail,
8. Enjoy the ride,
9. Enjoy the ride,
10. Enjoy the ride.

b.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

As seen below, the mid 80's is no barrier to cutting a fine figure .

Regular boat maintenance seems to keep most us cruisers fit and well. The key is starting early .

Missed that key, I did.

[Teknav]

...and one more thing...don't get obsessed with death and after life...The Pharaohs, for thousands of years, were obsessed with preserving their dead royalty as if they will be back one day...No one has ever returned from being dead...their dead wound up in museums for visitors to gawk at.

Live your life to the max and, best of all, don't get too excited about anything. You've earned your retirement, so don't let anyone ask you to do a damn thing!

Mauritz
Your opinion of me has no cash value!

[Hudson Force]

Have I been lucky or have I been wise? Teaching was a rewarding career for me and it also offered the time to enjoy a cruising life, off to the Bahamas, in the summer. My marriage has been a great reward. I could not have known in 1970 that this lady would be a great sailing partner too! Have I been lucky or have I been wise? That's my motivation again with the subject of this post. Good or bad fortune will play a role, but there's no wisdom in just saying "go for it"..... "don't worry about it".... "just keep sailing". There is wisdom in selecting diet, type of exercise, physical risk, health care, medications and supplements. Now and then I find something that has a direct benefit on the quality of my life. As an example, after visiting an allergist last year and finding that I have a high allergic response to dust mites, I covered my mattress, pillows & interior boat cushions with dust mite covers. Having entombed those little pernicious devils I am without the sinus congestion and what I thought was "hay fever". I can be lucky and I can be wise, but I'll continue questioning, planning and striving for both.

[deckofficer]

Zeehag, well put!!! You got me thinking girl.

Besides, I'm waiting for Bob&Connie's review of whatever catamaran they purchase.

[zeehag]

we are each only as fit as our brain ..... and ourbrains decide what to make our bodies do.
is simple. enjoy what you do and live long time doing it.
simple.

[Jim Cate]

I think that generalization is hard here, for there is too much variation in the equipment (bodies) that we are issued at conception. One thing that we have found is that spare parts for bodies can help extend one's cruising life. However, Ann can tell you that the installation and maintenance of said parts is a bitch!

The adage that old age ain't for sissies is even more true for cruisers, but the rewards for carrying on are great. One end game that we have considered is a canal boat... but European winters are beyond this tropically inclined chap's comfort zone. So, maybe a canal boat for April through October, and a smaller yacht in the tropics for the rest of the year?? There must be a way...

Cheers,

Jim

[JPA Cate]

HOORAY FOR ZEEHAG'S POST #34.

She said it all. Life's a process, and we do the best we can at any of the inevitable hiccups.

We select our goals, then do all we can to attain them. If forced to, we may have to make changes, but the timing of that moment is entirely individual; cruisers are already an atypical group, and life-long ones even rarer. I don't think anybody's statistics will help you with your life decisions. It's only you and whether you wish to persevere and enjoy, or let it go. In my case, any decision I make affects Jim's life as well, so many of them are joint decisions.

We have some young friends in their 60's who made the transition pre-emptively from mono to trawler. They are happily circumnavigating again in their "new" boat. That's an option.

The canal boat retirement is an option: some friends have a liveaboard in San Diego, and a canal boat in France.

It is up to us to let our fantasies roam, and make choices...or not.

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

HOORAY FOR ZEEHAG'S POST #34.

She said it all. Life's a process, and we do the best we can at any of the inevitable hiccups.

We select our goals, then do all we can to attain them. If forced to, we may have to make changes, but the timing of that moment is entirely individual; cruisers are already an atypical group, and life-long ones even rarer. I don't think anybody's statistics will help you with your life decisions. It's only you and whether you wish to persevere and enjoy, or let it go. In my case, any decision I make affects Jim's life as well, so many of them are joint decisions.

We have some young friends in their 60's who made the transition pre-emptively from mono to trawler. They are happily circumnavigating again in their "new" boat. That's an option.

The canal boat retirement is an option: some friends have a liveaboard in San Diego, and a canal boat in France.

It is up to us to let our fantasies roam, and make choices...or not.

Love that reference. Makes me feel younger.

[rognvald]

Captforce,
Your question is a thoughtful one and certainly needs to be considered as we approach old age. However, there is another unseen and unpredicatable factor that negates all seemingly practical considerations and that is a catastrophic or life ending medical diagnosis. We, as human beings, are not prescient nor can we control our destinies. And, we can make all the best plans, prepare for every contingency only to be fooled by the cruel hand of Fate. The mindset of life can only be to live each day to its fullest as if it were your last. Good luck, good health and good sailing.