Cruising and the aging sailor

[jdaltonpe]

I just turned 62 and am in the midst of fitting out for a 10 yr circumnavigation. Went around the world at 38 yrs old and was never so healthy and happy in my life. I am planning on the second time around to help keep me young. I think a little further ahead these days, especially when it comes to physically demanding tasks.

[boatman61]

Me 70 in September.. just done 8000nm in deliveries over the last two months.. grab yer ass and get it in gear kid..

[sand6000]

I am 72 and recently sold my 28 ft yacht due to arthritus in one of my thumb joints which made using a winch very painful. I now have a 26 ft power cruiser and very happy.

[Akapeterc]

I am 60 and moved aboard full time 12 months ago loving it. Just need to find a partner to make more enjoyable have no plans to live ashore again

[Trailer Sailor]

Some very encouraging comments in this thread. Come this January, I turn 70. I still love sailing my trailer sailor and am currently contemplating getting a bigger boat. Life is great when you sail.... at any age.

[doublewide]

age is not relevant except as it may be a proxy for health status. If you are healthy, go cruising. Organize yourself to learn from expert sailors so you will have the skills and knowledge that you need to be safe.
I am fortunate to be in good health, in my 70th year. My wife is also healthy and she is an expert mariner. We have cruised the Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean 4 months of the year for the last 12 years. We spend hurricane season at 41 North latitude. I studied and got OUPV and 100 ton licenses when I was 65. If your health is good, you can, too, if you want to. Age has nothing to do with it.

[kryg]

Originally Posted by s/v Moondancer

As an older cruiser, almost 70, and about to sail Japan to Alaska and a retired doctor I do not feel that age is limiting but that disease is very limiting. You need to get a complete medical work-up before you leave the American Medical system including colonoscopy and a cardiac stress test.

While many cruisers praise medical care in other countries I do not share their view when it comes to serious medical problems. Yes, care is often cheap but when it comes to serious problems you need to be in a ‘first world country!’

I have organized three medical evacuations from Panama, Mexico and the Caribbean and in two of the cases, a cardiac problem and a serious infection the local care was very poor.

If you are of Medicare age there is a Medicare supplement policy that provides $50,000 of care outside the US...From memory it is supplement F.

You should also carry medical repatriation insurance, we get our’s from DAN the scuba insurance company, they now have a sailor’s policy.

A friend who burst his appendix in Panama was handed a $43,000 bill.

Enjoy your retirement.

Hello Moon Dancer,

I have a Sailors medical question, Back ground: I'm 73 sailing an own an ex single Handed open 50, 8.5 tons displacement, I will re-rig my boat with Dyneema Dux. and make a number of other up grades, end of year, I own this boat Now for 30 years I just love exploring. I am in good health, but for my left knee it needs a partial or full knee replacement. My question, can one carry on Deep sea sailing with an artificial knee replacement, providing there are no complications from surgery?.

Will the knee replacement in a 1st world country (Australia) stand up to the stress of voyaging. as some times one is on the foredeck on ones knees clearing gear of sails?

I would be interested in your input, as you may have meet sailors with knees that have been replaced like I'm considering?

Kryg, PS Also I find your advise in this blog sobering. Many Thanks.

[s/v Moondancer]

Kryg...I have two friends who went back to cruising after a knee replacement. Australia counts as first world.

I do not like unecessary surgery but if lack of mobility affects your lifestyle get it fixed.

You might want to get a young female companion to do the deck work.

[kryg]

Originally Posted by s/v Moondancer

Kryg...I have two friends who went back to cruising after a knee replacement. Australia counts as first world.

I do not like unecessary surgery but if lack of mobility affects your lifestyle get it fixed.

You might want to get a young female companion to do the deck work.

Hi Phil,


Most helpful, thanks for your reply.



Have a Safe and enjoyably navigational experience to Alaska, I have been to Japan 35 times for business and about the same for China always dreamed to go to Alaska. Kryg

[oceanshoretiga]

Nice question and nice thread of answers. I started my boating 'career' as a kid with rafts on a pond that filled up as the snow melted in the mountains; then it was family outboards on Canadian lakes as a teenager. I learned to sail at age 36 and got lucky with some long passages south through the Pacific. I expect to move back to a power boat one of these days, but not yet.

I 'need' to get into the open ocean and last year lack of crew meant solo for a 1000nm or so over 4 months in short hops. I've gradually adapted my 36 year old Herreshoff for short-handed sailing and to keep me off the foredeck in 'weather'. I've owned this yacht for 34 years.

The next adaptation probably needs to be an electric system for hoisting the main (see the thread that came with this Daily Cruiser newsletter).

At 73 I try to let my imagination run to the good experiences, not the possibly bad ones - but with the boat strong and prepared. Off to the Southern Ocean this coming summer.

[JPA Cate]

Hi, Kryg,

I have had bilateral total knee replacement surgery, and then, a few years later, a bilateral total knee revision surgery, both done in the US, and am still sailing, at 78.

One friend of ours, a youngie of 68 or so, had one knee done, in Sydney, and he has made a complete recovery, and (of course) is still sailing.

Ann

[KiwiKen]

Most of us don't have the money or the available leisure time to do our own thing during our working lives.


When you retire it is YOUR time, to use as you wish, you have 2 options:
You can decide you are too old for adventure and sit back and wait to die (possibly of boredom),
or

You can decide to live your later years to the full and do your own thing.


I recommend the latter option, you are a long time dead, make the most of your later years do your own thing and have a ball.


I started sailing at the age of 10 in P Class dinghies in Auckland NZ, I am now 78 and still sail, inspite of arthritis in both knees (legacy of being a Rugby player), I just have to be a bit careful moving round on deck in rough weather. One just has to make the odd allowance for the physical limitations that come with age

[El Pinguino]

I must admit , I'm starting to slow down.... but I still do the foredeck work...

I get my 66 year old bosun to run the shore lines these days.......

OK... ... she was only 62 when the first pic was taken... but she is still doing the dinghy work and running lines at 66 ( 2nd pic ) ....

[Ardbeg]

My two cents worth. Last year I set out from Lake Ontario to Gaspe and back. One crew member. The idea was either to return to Lake Ontario or loop around to New York and back thru Erie Canal in year two. I could not line up suitable crew for all legs so I returned. I am sure the return fighting 6 knot currents (100 year flood) and strong head winds was harder than doing the loop. At the end of the trip I had lost 20 lbs and felt great. Ate and drank well the whole trip.
I was considering the Ranger 29-31 route, especially as I am close to 1000 Islands. In the end I felt my current boat offered what a Ranger offers (except for current 7 ft keel) and also the chance to sail for as long as I can. Nothing beats getting away from the islands and being in open Lake Ontario on a breezy, sunny day. I often single hand with my friend Auto Pilot.
I have also crewed in the Caribbean, The Med, Africa and Scotland.
I have the same feeling about work. I usually work in mining in Africa ,usually not desirable locations. I tried giving it up but it did not work. I get the same excitement from the remote locations and people as I do from sailing. I will be 66 in less than a month.
Obviously to each his own but after much contemplation, I am not ready for a Ranger, as nice as they are. Just my humble opinion.

[philiosophy]

I think the very fact you are asking means you should get the Ranger tug. I am 65 and admittedly only half way around the worldbut still figure I have another maybe twenty years or so of world cruising. Stop asking and start doing......