How Old to Sail Single Handed

[druid]

I'm 59 and plan on single-handing for a LONG time yet. I bought my Ontario 32 from a guy who was 85 and planning to take her to Hawaii.. That may be a BIT old (we were all glad his sons convinced him to sell the boat).

I find bigger boats easier to single-hand than smaller ones.

druid
"Wind Drift" Ontario 32

[Freddy_Vagner]

Originally Posted by GrowleyMonster

The punishment of cockpit powernapping is preferable, to me, to mindless prattling by some blithering idiot while I am trying to think about the nature of things or enjoy my nightly glass of port.

Glad I'm not the only one that thinks this way!

Try audiobooks!!!

[Freddy_Vagner]

Thanks to all the senior citizens for sharing their experiences: great motivation!

I'm getting on also, but feel fine until I look in a mirror and wonder "who is that?"

Hoping to retire soon somewhere a long way away from people who say "you should be more careful at your age". We are all gonna kick the bailer sooner or later so may as well enjoy life while we can.

Men don't grow up, their toys just get bigger...

[Andrew Troup]

I sailed on a delivery a couple of years back, because a lifetime sailor was giving up sailing at the age of 87.

Not giving up boats, just moving sideways, to a power launch.

He'd been caught out in an unexpected blow, and found reefing the main was getting to be a bit of a struggle, so he thought he'd pass the boat on to his son before it stopped being fun.

I noticed that his posture and movements (and mental agility) were those you might expect of a well-preserved sixty year old.

His sailboat was a 31 footer, BTW...

[reed1v]

Originally Posted by druid

I'm 59 and plan on single-handing for a LONG time yet. I bought my Ontario 32 from a guy who was 85 and planning to take her to Hawaii.. That may be a BIT old (we were all glad his sons convinced him to sell the boat).

I find bigger boats easier to single-hand than smaller ones.

druid
"Wind Drift" Ontario 32

Bigger is generally more stable and comfy; but requires a lot of manhandling regarding sails, anchors, docking, and sheer moving about in a seaway. Thus either you're built like jack lalanne, have deck apes, or can afford electric everything; or you go smaller and sail more sheltered waters.
Or sail off the wind for the most part. Was not uncommon to see old timers in their under 30' sailboats cruising the Pacific back in the 70s. Most kept to the milk runs.