Average Age of all you cruisers out there living on the seas?

[TrentePieds]

Prairie Chicken: It just struck me - are you THE prairie chicken of Prairie Chicken goes to Sea?If so we had a luvverly chat at the Vancouver Boat Shop maybe three years ago :-)!

TrentePieds

[krafthaus]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Damn... thirty years...

Congratulations Jim & Anne! Very inspiring & always enjoy your genuine & insightful posts.

We are 55 & 53, Eastern Caribbean, 4 months this winter & 6 months each year after that (summers back home in Canada), sailing cat.

[krafthaus]

Originally Posted by cgrabens

We are full time cruising and taking it nice and slow the first year as we figure things out.

Well congrats to you guys too! Before you know it you might be out there for 30 years like Jim & Anne! Fair winds to both of you & hope to see you out there. Enjoy.

[sandysailed]

hello to everyone,, and huge thanks for all of your posts.

for some back ground: raised on a farm in Oklahoma..got to Houston when I was 37 (i needed bigger horizons so i left a good job in Oklahoma with no regrets).

In Oklahoma,, we had our fair share of bass boats etc,, and 'fishing boats trips' in the Gulf .........but thats it.

I am female,, and my husband has maybe 5 years left- i cannot change that,,, so i enjoy our time together now.

I have 1 more adventure i want to complete.......living on a boat,, and hopefully sailing that boat at least around the USA.

i have aligned my finances to get a boat... a cheap boat hahah,, there is 1 huge issue in my life.. (ok 2,, i need to stay warm,, and i have extremely difficult sleeping in regards to noise/movement) any advise??? type of boat?? or 'tricks of the trade'??

if i find i really like the boat i will likely stay on it for many years... sailing/motoring by myself will have to be the key issue to keep in mind.

thank all of you so much,, your notes do resonate with me

[Sea Dreaming]

Hi Sandy,

I am touched by your determination to see you and your husband through the last few years together doing something that will be fun. Your ideas are certainly doable.
Regarding boats see the thread on boats under 30,000. Sorry I don't have a link. I think it's posted under monohulls.
Any way, if you need to stick close to the states a small trawler might be the way to go. A trawler would cut the learning curve for you but enable you and your husband to get out there asap.
As far as noise goes, Boat noises can seem hard to take at first but you get used to them until they become ordinary environmental noises. Also, you come to learn your boats sounds just like she is talking to you. It's a conversation you quickly learn to interpret and look forward to.
You will find yourself drifting to sleep but will waken easily when the boats sounds suddenly change. Almost like hearing your kid quietly say "mama" in the middle of the night.
Personally I love boat noises! I find it difficult to sleep in a land bed after sleeping on the boat. Please take this as encouragement. You might find that noises and movement are soothing as I do.

[BayouGrande]

We are 32 and 31. I'm a recovering lawyer and she's a nurse. Lived aboard all summer. Starting cruising full time in a few weeks. 50' single diesel trawler. We plan to try it for a year. We'll head to the Caribbean for the winter then up the east coast to be out of FL by hurricane season.

It's been a huge learning experience and a steep curve for me as I attempt diesel maintenance. I've found the key is to just dive in and try. If you think about anything too much you can talk yourself out of it.

Hope to see you all out there!

[JPA Cate]

Welcome aboard, Bayou Grande, nice first post.

Ann

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by sandysailed

hello to everyone,, and huge thanks for all of your posts.

for some back ground: raised on a farm in Oklahoma..got to Houston when I was 37 (i needed bigger horizons so i left a good job in Oklahoma with no regrets).

In Oklahoma,, we had our fair share of bass boats etc,, and 'fishing boats trips' in the Gulf .........but thats it.

I am female,, and my husband has maybe 5 years left- i cannot change that,,, so i enjoy our time together now.

I have 1 more adventure i want to complete.......living on a boat,, and hopefully sailing that boat at least around the USA.

i have aligned my finances to get a boat... a cheap boat hahah,, there is 1 huge issue in my life.. (ok 2,, i need to stay warm,, and i have extremely difficult sleeping in regards to noise/movement) any advise??? type of boat?? or 'tricks of the trade'??

if i find i really like the boat i will likely stay on it for many years... sailing/motoring by myself will have to be the key issue to keep in mind.

thank all of you so much,, your notes do resonate with me

Here you go:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ds-147098.html
Best of luck to you in your dreams!
oh, this might be helpful too:
Atom Voyages - Good Old Boats List

[Jim Cate]

So, OP, have you gone through the responses to your question and figured out what that average age is? Not that it would mean much, for the sampling isn't very representative, but it would be interesting (or you wouldn't have asked the question!).

Jim

[jkindredpdx]

1. Age of boat occupants? 62

2. Location currently cruising or prefer to cruise? Currently in PNW

3. How many days you cruise per year on average? 90-120 days/yr

4. Power boat or sail? 35 foot center cockpit sailboat

I am a CIT, Cruiser in Training, or RIT, Retiree in Training. Started full time live aboard at age 55, when I left my corporate job and became an IT consultant. Since 2010 I've worked 6-8 months/year and skied, hiked, paddled, and sailed when not working. In a couple months I'll be full time retired.

IMO, if one plans to cruise, avoid stereotypes, move aboard, live the life even if one has a full time job. I come home from work and cast off in 5 minutes, nano-cruises. When a gig ends, I can be on a mini cruise within a couple days. Essentially my life is much like it was when I was in my 20s, work to save enough for a trip... I want to grow up to be like Yvon Chouinard.

Best of Luck, start early and adventure often...

[Cool Hand Luke]

1. Age of boat occupants? 35 +/- 5

2. Location currently cruising or prefer to cruise? NY/NJ in USA and BVI in Caribbean

3. How many days you cruise per year on average? 20-30 days a year, but hope to increase by a lot.

4. Power boat or sail? ONLY SAIL

[Kjbraman]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

So, OP, have you gone through the responses to your question and figured out what that average age is? Not that it would mean much, for the sampling isn't very representative, but it would be interesting (or you wouldn't have asked the question!).

Jim

Jim,
I'll work the averages out and post them soon. Amazing stories have come from this that I did not anticipate. I'm new to the forum and didn't realize the caliber of folks that are out sailing the world and living their dreams! Although the posts about age are interesting I've definitely noticed that everyone posting is the equivalent age of 21 or so as they seem to be having the time of their lives! I'll see what I can do to break away and do the math tonight after work.

[Prairie Chicken]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

Prairie Chicken: It just struck me - are you THE prairie chicken of Prairie Chicken goes to Sea?If so we had a luvverly chat at the Vancouver Boat Shop maybe three years ago :-)!

TrentePieds

No, sorry, not me. But I wouldn't have thought there were that many of us around ...

[lorrie]

Originally Posted by jkindredpdx

1. Age of boat occupants? 62



2. Location currently cruising or prefer to cruise? Currently in PNW



3. How many days you cruise per year on average? 90-120 days/yr



4. Power boat or sail? 35 foot center cockpit sailboat



I am a CIT, Cruiser in Training, or RIT, Retiree in Training. Started full time live aboard at age 55, when I left my corporate job and became an IT consultant. Since 2010 I've worked 6-8 months/year and skied, hiked, paddled, and sailed when not working. In a couple months I'll be full time retired.



IMO, if one plans to cruise, avoid stereotypes, move aboard, live the life even if one has a full time job. I come home from work and cast off in 5 minutes, nano-cruises. When a gig ends, I can be on a mini cruise within a couple days. Essentially my life is much like it was when I was in my 20s, work to save enough for a trip... I want to grow up to be like Yvon Chouinard.



Best of Luck, start early and adventure often...

Very True!
I had a serious job and only a small Catalina 250. I stayed on the boat 4 nights a week and took Southwest Airlines to get there. I sailed a race boat on Saturday, my boat Sunday or just relaxed and cleaned the boat.
One of the best times in my life.
I kept everything off boat in locker, sailing at any time, boat ready.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Kjbraman]

And the average age is????? 56

I did not average in kids and used 76 responses to get the average. I also did not factor in when folks started cruising but used their reported age at this point in time. I was impressed at how many over 70 are out there living the dream! This is great news and I cannot wait to get out there and meet some of the many great people cruising the waters of the world.

Most replies were from sail vessels and as you can tell you are all cruising all over the world. I didn't notice any one particular area seeing more traffic than another necessarily. I'm pretty impressed at how helpful and welcoming everyone on here has been since I've started. That isn't always the case on forums and the cruising community obviously brings about a kinder gentler crowd that I am happy to have found. Thank you all for your responses. Not only have I learned a bunch from this but your stories are truly inspiring and uplifting to those who continue to work on land each day in hopes of pulling anchor as soon as they are able! [emoji907]