Heart Results Are In - Boat Options?

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

Strange how Charlie Morgan and I believe Butler from Catalina area all now in their 90s. I believe Everett Pearson lived into his 80s atleast.

All the Gougeons have now died in the 60s/ 70s or one is still alive?

Not sure what your point is here, but sadly Frank Butler perished sometime in the last year IIRC.

For Chotu, seems that the trawler cat is a reasonable route for you at this time. If in the future your health and overall situation improves, you could always continue with installing the rig, but meanwhile you could enjoy the fruits of your long labors.

Good luck!

Jim

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by C420sailor

Healthy cardiac muscle can step up to the plate. The human body is an incredible piece of machinery, and can overcome many things. Will you ever be 100% again? No.

What often happens is guys suffer an infarct like this, suffer some damage, and write off the rest of their lives. “I have a bad heart” becomes an excuse to sit around all day and do nothing. The weight begins to accumulate, remaining good cardiac muscle atrophies, cardiovascular fitness drops off, and they die. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Take a proactive approach with your cardiologist. Get on a rehab program, and keep gently pushing your fitness. This isn’t an ‘I did rehab, I’m good’ type thing—this is now a lifelong commitment.

Thank you!!

I’m not the sit around type. It’s driving me nuts doing so. Ha ha.

I was looking at those 5 year survival rates of 90% for some people which just have a bit of heart failure like I do. I had to wonder if these ones that don’t make it just kept chugging beers, downing steaks, smoking and sitting around.

Oh great. Another lifelong commitment. Ha ha. I already have my extreme diet. It’s all consuming. Now add the cardio exercise to the mix. And there’s the boat. That’s been a lifelong commitment. Ha ha.

Quick question:

Does building more heart muscle to make up for the dead stuff run the risk of hypertrophy, shrinking the size of the chamber?

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Not sure what your point is here, but sadly Frank Butler perished sometime in the last year IIRC.

For Chotu, seems that the trawler cat is a reasonable route for you at this time. If in the future your health and overall situation improves, you could always continue with installing the rig, but meanwhile you could enjoy the fruits of your long labors.

Good luck!

Jim

That’s what I was thinking too. Can always add the rig later if my stamina for physical activity improves enough.

Thanks!

[44'cruisingcat]

You could just fit a very simple, cheap headsail only rig for downwind work.

I think it would be bloody frustrating motoring downwind in perfect sailing weather! A headsail on a furler is about as effortless as it gets. Pull a string to unfurl, pull another to furl.

[gonesail]

keep moving. go slow. be reasonable. stay happy. the trawler cat sounds like a good solution. i like the small diesel idea too.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Chotu

.....all the fiberglass work that has to be done in epoxy..

Have you tried vinylester? Pretty close to epoxy properties, bonds to epoxy, might not cause your epoxy problems. Has advantages in the control of curing times too.

[malbert73]

Definitely go trawler cat. Use outboards as you said- modular and easy. Punt diesels down the road. Sailing rigs really don’t save any money compared to fuel and other running costs (per dashew and others) and it’s really just the joy aspect. Leave off the rig and some inland waterways and low bridges are fun. I’d look into a kite for downwind. I saw somewhere that was tried on a rig-less cat.
I’m only a primary care doc so I’m sure cardiologists are smarter than me but I’d expect to regain a lot of stamina and function. The body will compensate in a bunch of ways (including getting more blood flow to the remaining viable cardiac muscle) to help you regain much of what you lost...
so go now, and enjoy, and then revisit the rig later down the road...

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Have you tried vinylester? Pretty close to epoxy properties, bonds to epoxy, might not cause your epoxy problems. Has advantages in the control of curing times too.

Yes. I’ve been using it on a daily basis.

[rslifkin]

I'd definitely give some serious thought to going the trawler direction. Converting your existing cat seems reasonable to me. Start with the outboards you've already got, then at some point when you have some miles under the hulls, assess whether different (and possibly more) power is desired. If you ultimately go diesel, the fuel economy penalty (when going slow) for adding extra power is a lot smaller than with gas engines, so it would be more reasonable to power for an occasional fast cruise (provided the hulls will run well at higher speeds). Plus, you'll have less shade on the solar panels without a sailing rig up there!

As far as love for sailing, that's what friends are for. You sail on other people's boats (probably just day sails) and only do as much work as you can handle.

As far as the heart health, to some degree, you'll have to see how things go with a bit more time and what the doctors indicate the future holds. I'm guessing the damage isn't bad enough to be transplant worthy?

[AiniA]

What about going to diesel outboards? Much better range and more reliable.

[bill352]

Everyone is different, so my experience may have no relation to yours, but:


Some years ago, I had a little cardiac unpleasantness and had a couple of stents put in. A few years later, the cardio doc told me those vessels were all clogged up again, and of course I said, "WTF? The last time this happened I was clutching my chest and rushing to the emergency room, and now I feel just fine. What's going on?"


His answer probably had a bunch of technical detail that I forgot even as he was speaking, but the takeaway was that "sometimes the heart just compensates for things."



So here's hoping your heart will do the same. Good luck.

[Franziska]

Chotu, man that s. cks! Really sorry for you.

Can't say anything regarding medical advise.

The trawler idea sounds good, especially when done in a way that you or whoever can convert back to sail at a later point in time.
Think bodily recovery and boatly resale value too.

Maybe you could add a moderate not too physically demanding sailing dinghy for those not too windy days, to reduce sadness that the big boat can't sail?

Regarding eventual outboard replacement in a few years.
You may be able to go fully electric then. Easier to install and probably cheaper too.
Technology evolves very very rapidly regarding batteries.
Heck, even electric outboards (even converted ones) might be an option than.

Good luck and a good recovery!

Franziska

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

You could just fit a very simple, cheap headsail only rig for downwind work.

I think it would be bloody frustrating motoring downwind in perfect sailing weather! A headsail on a furler is about as effortless as it gets. Pull a string to unfurl, pull another to furl.

This is a great idea for the OP.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I’ll go in August or whenever the best timing is.

I don’t think I’ll up and die in a little timeframe like crossing that area. What are the odds?

But I’ll make sure my girlfriend is trained up to get anywhere she needs to. She’s a smart one and a quick learner. She’s done great already.m

I know a guy from Denmark who did this route in a big old powerboat he bought in the states. He carried some extra cubes of diesel on deck. The pictures were stunning. They approached an iceberg. I’ll have to dig up the picture

I wasn't suggesting crew for the case where you die en route. If that happens, it's already not your problem. Just tell your GF to dump the body and pop the EPIRB.

No, I mean in case of extreme weather and in general to deal with the various challenges of sailing in very remote places, many of which require strength and endurance.

[Franziska]

Maybe even a Chris White Mastfoil rig?

Originally Posted by Dockhead

This is a great idea for the OP.