age and giving up the boat

[Graham376]

Reckon too that if I ever find Im going down the Dementia route, I would go sailing - as long as I can remember why I went out. I might be enjoying myself too much!

Short term memory goes first so don't change berth or you may not find the boat

 

[JumbleDuck]

Some years ago we were sitting in a club abroad, probably Flushing, and got chatting to a fellow Sadler29-owner at the next table. He was in his 80s and in his crew he had his daughter who was a doctor and another family member who was an undertaker, so he felt well-covered for all eventualities.

Bob Shepton is well into his eighties and still seems to think nothing of popping up to Greenland for a cup of tea.

 

[sailorman]

Chickened out! Hardly any wind.

No excuse,

 

[sailorman]

Bob Shepton is well into his eighties and still seems to think nothing of popping up to Greenland for a cup of tea.

Ah but isnt "his" God with him

 

[NormanS]

Our boat is a deck saloon ketch, so quite a degree of comfort, and crucially, fairly small sails to handle. The main has in-mast furling, so like the Genoa, has only to be raised once a year. I reckon that attention to details like that will hopefully extend our sailing. Unlike some, I actually enjoy the processes of laying up, overhauling stuff, and putting it all back together in the Spring, ready for another season.

I even find pleasure in antifouling, mainly because our previous boat, a 60ft converted fishing boat was normally antifouled between tides, whereas now with a 36 footer and wintering ashore, we can do it at leisure, without the thought of the tide coming in before it's finished.

 

[oldharry]

Short term memory goes first so don't change berth or you may not find the boat

Knowing my luck, I would forget to turn the cooling seacock on, blow the engine up, and get towed back in by RNLI!

 

[maggie2]

hi harry yes its hard to give it up I am 81 and after 2 heart attacks had to give up sailing single hand on a rivel 32 been sailing since I was 14 with RN, cadets happy days keep doing it if you are able.

 

[Babylon]

Compared to some I'm still quite the youngster (mid-50s) and don't know when I'll ever give up the only yacht I've ever owned - and which I'm unlikely to ever sell for something bigger. But the advantage of it being a diminutive 27ft, of having done a complete rolling refit over ten years, and having sailed her mostly single-handed for about 5000NM, is that as I get older and progressively more forgetful (the two certainties that will precede the third one!), I should hopefully be able to rely on long familiarity and the relatively low-loads to keep on bobbing about.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Compared to some I'm still quite the youngster (mid-50s) and don't know when I'll ever give up the only yacht I've ever owned - and which I'm unlikely to ever sell for something bigger. But the advantage of it being a diminutive 27ft, of having done a complete rolling refit over ten years, and having sailed her mostly single-handed for about 5000NM, is that as I get older and progressively more forgetful (the two certainties that will precede the third one!), I should hopefully be able to rely on long familiarity and the relatively low-loads to keep on bobbing about.

Same age, same length, same hope. I've recently decided to postpone retirement from 55 (this year) to 60, but hope that will give me ten years of sprightly sailing at least.