When I'am 64

[Guest]

When I\'am 64

"If you can afford to buy a decent cruiser you're probably too old to stay up all night " ........... I remember reading in one of the mags.

But is this true ?

Have we been conned into electric winch this, in-mast that , central locking roller reefing ad naus

My question is this ' Does the team think that all this stuff will actually 'prolong active life on the water or lessen it ?' or in the long run, make us feeble and dependant (which brings much stress if it won't work on demand). Who is really benefiting from all this, us or the manufacturers ?

p.s. Some time ago I put a thread on the board about being over fifty and starting to lose balance on the boat. Some said eyesight etc etc which I agreed with. Wrong ! I Have lost over a stone in the last three months and the balance is coming back!. I would mention that a 73 year old friend of mine often sails his 46 foot ketch single handed without self steering and without furling sails.

 

[johnsomerhausen]

Re: When I\'am 64

I don't see what "being able to stay up all night" has got to do with it. Even when I ws 45 (quite a while ago...), I used to snatch some sleep crossing the Channel from the Lizaard to l'Aberwrach (ships tend to go from cape to cape so that there's precious little shipping in the middle...). As to genoa furling gear, Phil Weld who took part in an OSTAR when he was over 60, called it "the perfect geriatric rig" and I find mine very useful within its limitations. The rest of the stuff is pure marketing hype... As far as you 73 years old friend,
I assume he goes in for coastal cruising with jib and staysail on his ketch
when such equipment is not as necessary, but if he were to cross the Bay of Biscay, I'm pretty sure he'd opt for an autopilot or windvane and maybe for a furling headsail (it's not all thar easy at our age to change headsails at 2 am....)
john

 

[BrianJ]

Re: When I\'am 64

When circumnavigating Tasmania a couple of months ago we came across two brand new , sparkling 48' "I have everything" gear....nice. In the same anchorage there was this elderly English couple who had spent manty years sailing the world, he had the basics,now "Luxury 1" winched up his anchor by power, the English gentleman merely lifted his by hand. Hewas fitter, older and said the "Luxury" geaar wa just another thing to go wrong.
I dont know who is right, but I wwould rather sail with the experienced elderly Englishman.
brianj

 

[Mirelle]

Re: When I\'am 64

Mirelle was sold to us by a couple who had owned her for over 30 years and were in their early 80's, because the gear was getting a bit much for them. She is a 12 ton gaff cutter; 450 sq. ft mainsail, no winches apart from hand windlass. They then bought a 10 ton Falmouth Pilot (bmu ketch) and carried on sailing....

David Scott-Cowper sailed singlehanded round the world in both directions without headsail reefing gear on Ocean Bound and says he can't see the point of it....

I am just coming up to 50 so I cannot say too much that's useful (but I note that I should lose a stone - thanks for that useful information!) but I certainly don't want to add gadgets. Singlehanding round the coast is 80% planning and thinking things out ahead, and 20% knowing your boat, i.e. practice, I think.

 

[johnsomerhausen]

Re: When I\'am 64

With all the respect I ahve for the purists who shun headsail furling geer, I must point out that it allows one to put exactly the right amount of foresail
for the existing conditions above Force 3. I have been through two gales in the last two years (with winds com9ing from the right direction to run before it).
On both occasions I was able to roll the genoa in so that my boat's speed was between 4 1/2 and 5 knots and was running quite comfortably under windvane. If I had had separate headsails, I would have been either over- or undercanvssed. In less windy circumstances, it allows me to arrive near a destination harbour just before sunrise, so that I can enter it in daylight after having seen its lights in the darkness.
john

 

[chrisc]

Re: When I\'am 64

With all respect ,may I point out that the same is true of roller mains as well,
with in mast reefing and roller genoa ,me and my wife have good fun balancing the
rig and keeping boat speed at a steady 7.5 without leaning too much.

 

[Guest]

I am 65

I am 65 and my wife is a little older. We enjoy handling our 40 footer and we crossed the Atlantic in her last year (with the ARC) with two friends to help. The boat is not without extras (quite a lot of them) but most are to give us a better quality of life whilst cruising. The ESSENTIAL extras are 1) a powered winch by the companionway to haul up the fully battened sail (or me to the mast head), 2) a powered anchor windlass and 3) various forms of self steering (Aries, B&G and Raytheon 1000+ which powers the Aries in no wind situations). #1 & #2 make up for our lack of strength and #3 is the equivalent of two extra crew. Combine those items with years of experience so that you know how best to do things as they arise - and cruising over the age of 64 is no problem. It does help to be fit of course. It also helps to be good at DIY so that you can have a good stab at fixing the gizmos that go wrong...!
No more of this ageism please.

 

[Guest]

Re: When I\'am 64

Enjoyed all of the responses to this one !

It comes down, as always, to individual needs and tastes.

I think one of the unique things with sailing is how past thinking is still relevant today.

For instance, motorbike technology of thirty years ago has little relevance to today's. The old ones are ridden for 'fun only' nostalga or whatever but an Essex Smack can still give a 'modern' cruising boat a good run for it's money. The Thames Barge's furling main on a sprit still works well too !

Sailors are always willing to accept the compromises but what about politicians ?