How old is too old for motorboating?

[Deleted User YDKXO]

My SWMBO has been badgering me to take more time off work to go boating, her argument being that by the time I do feel it's right to take more time off, I might be too old to go boating. That got me thinking. How old is too old to go boating? Is it a physical thing as in handling lines and fenders becomes too much once you pass a certain age or when your eyesight goes, it becomes positively dangerous to be zooming around in 20t of grp? Is it a mental thing in that, once you reach a certain age, you just can't be bothered with all the hassle and the delights of crown green bowling and watching Antiques Roadshow on TV become more alluring? Is it a money thing in that, once you retire and you're on a fixed income, you simply can't afford to go boating anymore?
And what kind of boats are more suitable for older people? Do old people naturally gravitate to displacement boats or are there octagenarian grandads still zooming about in 50knot RIBS?

 

[BartW]

My SWMBO has been badgering me to take more time off work to go boating,

where did you find one like that

I have a friend 75y old (could be my dad), and still makes the french and croatian coasts unsave with his 50kn Rib in summer time

I don't think that someone is too old for boating, as long you can feel the joy of it,
but I do believe the older you get, the more you regret you didn't do more boating when you were younger
at least that's what I think and thats why I am doing as much boating as I can now.

 

[epervier]

Well there was that article in MBY about the two guys who did the Putney - Calais trip in a 17' sunseeker, from memory their were 79 and 80, maybe it' the old gag of, "you are as old as the women you feel"

I'm sixty and still play with an open sports boat, yes there are times when I find it hard work but the good times far outweigh the bad. also you've got an eternity to be dead.

 

[[2068]]

I met a couple recently who had been sailors for many years, then moved to motorboating due to health problems which will cause them to stop boating altogether at some point shortly.

So maybe the answer isn't fixed around any specific age, but more about "when failing health prevents you". I see lots of older boaters in Nimbus / Hardy etc. Not so many in RIB's with Verado 300's on the back.

 

[Pendana]

When the time comes, you can always get a zimmer frame glasssed to the helm position

Eddie

 

[PhilipF]

I can think of a couple who were both over seventy before they bought their first boat, though neither had had any previous experience of this activity. Both have taken to the water like the proverbial ducks!!

 

[omega2]

Never too old

Bradwell report Monday 7th September


At last able to get out and see if there are any fish to be caught, left the Marina at 7-30 am and just about cleared the creek, it was a bit blustery, but the forecast was for the wind to be dropping as the day went on. We pushed out East, with the ebb behind us and the wind nearly on our nose, the chop was not too bad and we had the anchor down in just over the hour. The bait as usual was squid, and Peter was first to strike, with this plump Codling,

great I thought we are “in” here, but it took about thirty minutes for next bite to happen and when it did it was one of these

a bit on the small side so back it went.

Following that we waited about an hour for no fish, so a move was called for and following a twenty minute run further East we set the hook in about 26 feet, immediately we were into fish.

small and returned, then this fellow appeared

and it went very quiet for a while, but not too long as we were soon fishing again

but they were not big enough to keep

so back they went.

The tide died away and we decided to move a bit closer to home so steamed West for about 30 minutes and then dropped the hook in 60 feet, the bites here were very timid affairs but we boated three more of these

Then Dave finished off the day by losing a good fish, I reckon was a bass, it ran at him and he thought he had lost it, I urged him to keep winding hard but he never caught up with it and it spat the hook. It has now become the biggest fish in the sea, but aren’t they all? The ones that get away!!



We go at the drop of a hat, now we are retired, cannot get enough of it, mind you we do not do much "zooming"

 

[PCUK]

I reckon Omega has answered your question perfectly!

 

[oldsaltoz]

Just thinking about giving up boating makes me panic, what on earth would I do?

I have however worked out when I 'plan' to give up boating....

It's just a few days after I shuffle off this mortal coil, when they toss my ashes into the sea over a favourite coral reef.

Avagoodweekend......

 

[MapisM]

Do old people naturally gravitate to displacement boats or are there octagenarian grandads still zooming about in 50knot RIBS?

Oi, speak for yourself! I was 40 yo when I ...gravitated to displacement boats, for reasons that had nothing to see with age.
Now, after a decade, I just bought a 60kts speedboat for lake runs.
I even made the brand new signature below for the occasion!
Oh, and fwiw, I'm planning to use both for another 50 years or so...

 

[Firefly625]

My parents in their very late 70's still sail their 48 footer on their own. Called them up a few months ago to be told by my Mum they would have to call back as wind had picked up to a steady 40knots and they were in an amazing electrical storm off the Brittany coast.

....I thought my inheritance might come early!

IMO it is what keeps them young.... so surely that means never to old!

 

[oceanfroggie]

Think it's a matter of health and basic fitness rather than age. Vessels with low freeboard for boarding and less changes of interior levels probably requirer less energy (ie less steps up and down). Single helm at same level as boarding at bathing platform, and quick and easy access to deck for cleats and fenders must make it easier to act as helm and crew. Wide walkaround side decks and bow thruster would also reduce work load and climbing around.

 

[Duster]

I think that the general answer is as long as you are enjoying it. It is not a particularly physical pastime provided your passage plans are sencible and you avoid swinging moorings and dingies. Physical and mental attitudes vary tremendousely, between individuals, I know some very "old 60s" and some very spritely "80s". There is a great couple at the mooring I use, both wrong side of 80, who have just had a "new to them motorcruiser" as they found sail handling getting a bit heavy for them.
Despite all of the above do not use that as an excuse for messing about at work when you should be boating, do remember if work was any good we would not be able to afford it as the politicians and rich folks would have had it all!
Most importantly you have a real treasure there so; -
Buy a big bunch of flowers on the way home - NO not from the petrol station.
Give her a hug and
Listen to her!!
Without being morbid, we all think that we have got "forever" I suppose in a way we have but sometimes forever is not as long as we thought, as we found out.
Regards mikej

 

[asteven221]

There is a guy that has just bought a brand new Fairline Phantom 40 at our marina and he is 87! Says he is taking up boating again after twienty years without one. Good luck to him I say! Never too old for anything IMHO barring obvious physical reasons why you can't do something. Like I think you could argue that it's not wise to sail singlehanded if you're blind - especially up a narrow channel! Although maybe there is a case to say it's ok when it's very dark.

 

[jhr]

avoid swinging moorings and dingies

There's an elderly couple, who must be in their eighties, who are on a swinging mooring downriver from me and they seem to do OK - but they keep their tender on a pontoon, so they don't have to launch and recover, and their boat is a fair size (a Powles, by the look of her) so they tie up to the bathing platform and walk upstairs to the main deck . I don't think they go very far nowadays, but if it's a decent day you'll see them sitting on the boat, happy as Larry, reading the paper and drinking a cup of tea. They manage the boat between them (I know this, because they were hauled out for the winter the same day as me last autumn and brought her alongside without any fuss). I hope I'm still boating when I'm their age.

Helen Tew crossed the Atlantic singlehanded under sail in her nineties but eventually gave up sailing a few months before she died. Maybe she should have moved over to a mobo?

 

[Petrolia]

Oi !!
What do you mean older boaters in Nimbus !!
Bleedin cheek.

 

[Petrolia]

Oi !!
What do you mean older boaters in Nimbus !!
Bleedin cheek.

 

[jhr]

Did you forget you'd already posted this?

 

[s/v moondancer]

I have two friend, both 78, one is cruising the Caribbean for 5 yrs on a 34 ft sailboat, he has a younger girl friend and the other lives on a 50 ft trawler, he has just discovered internet dating and is looking for a new girlfriend.

Phil

 

[Nick_H]

Did you forget you'd already posted this?

excellent!