Where to start...?

[Kukri]

I've sailed since I was three and owned boats since I was sixteen. I can hand, reef, and steer and wave a sextant about. I'm now 66 and its time to get on with the "dream" before I get crumbly. I've read Geoff Pack's book and Bill and Laurel Cooper's book and of course Hiscock and Worth and loads more...

Experience tells me that plastic is less work than wood or metal if I want to go somewhere warm, which I probably do, and that one should never own a boat that one cannot singlehand.

The budget is limited but I am planning on singlehanding with family members and friends welcome if they choose to drop in.

Not really interested in the Med but quite taken with high latitudes and also with "palm trees and hula girls"

Mistrust gadgetry.

After forty years of wooden gaff cutters I now have a Manky Auld Boat which can go to windward.

There's probably a sweet point between "Willing Griffin" and "Vendredi Treize" in terms of gear and complication needed to singlehand... and probably in terms of port dues and paint...

Where do I go from here.

 

[Tranona]

Follow your heart. No need to ask anyone's advice. Your own experience tells you what you can manage so just go.

Having said that PLEASE if you are planning to anchor fit an electric windlass. You will bless it every time you use it.

 

[LittleSister]

I now have a Manky Auld Boat which can go to windward.

Well, you're already halfway there, then, aren't you?

By which I mean, how unsuitable is your current boat; and how much dosh, time and work will it take to get a different boat that is however many increments more ideal-ish.

Send us some pics when you get there!

 

[GHA]

After forty years of wooden gaff cutters I now have a Manky Auld Boat which can go to windward.

There's probably a sweet point between "Willing Griffin" and "Vendredi Treize" in terms of gear and complication needed to singlehand... and probably in terms of port dues and paint...

Where do I go from here.

You go downwind like everybody else cruising

WIndvane, cheap laptop/tablet with opencpn, few hundred watts solar and head south. Then tweak the boat over the years to suit what's needed rather than what you think might work or what some forum says you need

You;ll never be ready, just go soon!

 

[richardh10]

Having said that PLEASE if you are planning to anchor fit an electric windlass. You will bless it every time you use it.

Couldn’t agree more! Best money I ever spent.

 

[TQA]

Having said that PLEASE if you are planning to anchor fit an electric windlass. You will bless it every time you use it.

+ 1 and all chain rode

 

[OldBawley]

I was a lot younger when I decided to go for a sail south, and I have been sailing the Med for 19 years now, summer and winter.
I had the same dilemma, owned a very old wooden boat that I had restored myself en loved.
Could have bought a much bigger plastic boat but decided to give the old yacht a chance, after all, I could always buy plastic underway.
Wherever we came in France and Italy we ware always very welcome, even in small fishing harbours where plastic yachts ware not welcome. In a lot of places ( even Monte Carlo ) we ware given a free mooring, people love old boats.

Greece and Turkey ware different, in those days a wooden boat was seen as “ Cup” or garbage.
New shiny white plastic was what they liked. Even painted their old gullets white to make them look plastic (and hide a lot of rot )
Now that many Italians with new classic boats are seen over there things have changed, now classic means classy.

The boat proved to be an excellent sailor, I changed a lot to cope with light Med winds. It also is an excellent liveaboard. In winter the 8 tons of old oak and teak are a better choice than plastic, together with the wood burning stove we have no condensation at all. Condensation is enemy nr one for liveaboards. So much that I don't know any full time liveaboards any more. They all gave up, use the yacht as a summer sailor.

As for the electric anchor winch, I ( 65 now ) still use our old manual winch. Would have gone trough at least 3 electric ones with all the anchoring we do. And the winching keeps some of my muscles intact. For safety, electric is a lot better, I have been in a few situations that I wished to have electric.

I would choose to install a small water maker. Getting water keeps getting more and more difficult.

BTW, I still have the money for the bigger plastic boat, but don't even think about it. I see lots of old men get into trouble as soon as Murphy gets his say. Big is easy and safe as long as everything goes well. If the shit hits the fan, small is better.

 

[vyv_cox]

If the palm trees and hula girls win out over high latitudes, invest in a good bimini. For French MABs these are often available off the shelf. Ensure it shades the helm, not just the cockpit.

Solar panels are a good investment but no.need to be lured into the high tech solutions that you can read on PBO forum. My simple arrangement has served us well for over 10 years in the med, running our fridge 24/7.

 

[Kukri]

I was a lot younger when I decided to go for a sail south, and I have been sailing the Med for 19 years now, summer and winter.
I had the same dilemma, owned a very old wooden boat that I had restored myself en loved.
Could have bought a much bigger plastic boat but decided to give the old yacht a chance, after all, I could always buy plastic underway.
Wherever we came in France and Italy we ware always very welcome, even in small fishing harbours where plastic yachts ware not welcome. In a lot of places ( even Monte Carlo ) we ware given a free mooring, people love old boats.

Greece and Turkey ware different, in those days a wooden boat was seen as “ Cup” or garbage.
New shiny white plastic was what they liked. Even painted their old gullets white to make them look plastic (and hide a lot of rot )
Now that many Italians with new classic boats are seen over there things have changed, now classic means classy.

The boat proved to be an excellent sailor, I changed a lot to cope with light Med winds. It also is an excellent liveaboard. In winter the 8 tons of old oak and teak are a better choice than plastic, together with the wood burning stove we have no condensation at all. Condensation is enemy nr one for liveaboards. So much that I don't know any full time liveaboards any more. They all gave up, use the yacht as a summer sailor.

As for the electric anchor winch, I ( 65 now ) still use our old manual winch. Would have gone trough at least 3 electric ones with all the anchoring we do. And the winching keeps some of my muscles intact. For safety, electric is a lot better, I have been in a few situations that I wished to have electric.

I would choose to install a small water maker. Getting water keeps getting more and more difficult.

BTW, I still have the money for the bigger plastic boat, but don't even think about it. I see lots of old men get into trouble as soon as Murphy gets his say. Big is easy and safe as long as everything goes well. If the shit hits the fan, small is better.

I sold the nice teak planked and much restored by me wooden boat after 28 years and bought an elderly plastic hulled and wooden decked one of much the same size (but much bigger below!) So I proudly claim to have osmosis below and rot above. But she can "pass for wood" at a distance of ten feet, and is quite pretty.

 

[AndrewB]

Absolutely, if you really want to do it, GO SOON! You've already left it late. I was just a year older than you when I found short-handed blue-water cruising was getting physically a bit beyond me. Thinking of the people I met, I would say that 72 is about the maximum, and that for people who are already well-experienced (notwithstanding the likes of Tilman and Richie).

You already know more about sailing than most of us here, so don't haver about the details. There are enough threads already about the ideal cruising yacht. The only thing they prove is that everyone has their own opinion.

 

[sailaboutvic]

There are enough threads already about the ideal cruising yacht. The only thing they prove is that everyone has their own opinion.

Yea your so right , I don't think there is an ideal yacht , my first that I arrived in the Med was a Jaguar 25 some 28years ago and being single handed that did me fine , second time out was a Moody 336 still solo ,
each time sailing back to the UK after some years in them days you could get a better price for your boat then the Med .
last time out was a Dufour 385 in 2009 two of us this time , 7 years on and we found it was getting too small with all our worldly belonging so up when the size again , up to 42.
I guess a few more years we be getting a bit weak for big boats and be going down in size again .
Getting back to the point if at any time any one ask me what the best size boat , I would had said the size we had at the time .
Although wood look beautiful when looked after , it's one boat I wouldn't have any where it's hot . It enough work looking after a plaisic boat .

 

[Kukri]

Absolutely, if you really want to do it, GO SOON! You've already left it late. I was just a year older than you when I found short-handed blue-water cruising was getting physically a bit beyond me. Thinking of the people I met, I would say that 72 is about the maximum, and that for people who are already well-experienced (notwithstanding the likes of Tilman and Richie.

You already know more about sailing than most of us here, so don't haver about the details. There are enough threads already about the ideal cruising yacht. The only thing they prove is that everyone has their own opinion.

Thanks. Like most of us I only become aware of losing muscle when I try to do something and it’s harder than it was!

 

[Kukri]

Yea your so right , I don't think there is an ideal yacht , my first that I arrived in the Med was a Jaguar 25 some 28years ago and being single handed that did me fine , second time out was a Moody 336 still solo ,
each time sailing back to the UK after some years in them days you could get a better price for your boat then the Med .
last time out was a Dufour 385 in 2009 two of us this time , 7 years on and we found it was getting too small with all our worldly belonging so up when the size again , up to 42.
I guess a few more years we be getting a bit weak for big boats and be going down in size again .
Getting back to the point if at any time any one ask me what the best size boat , I would had said the size we had at the time .
Although wood look beautiful when looked after , it's one boat I wouldn't have any where it's hot . It enough work looking after a plaisic boat .

Thanks. I sold the wooden beauty on to a good home - she has now joined the RYS! - because she has a wooden rudder stock and I could not see a good way to worm proof it as it always chafes a bit, and she has an iron keel and consequently iron floors, not bronze. Fine in temperate climates; not good in warmer waters. She was a perfectly capable boat, adn never worried me for a moment, but she would have been hard work in the tropics.

Thanks for your advice on sizes.

 

[charles_reed]

Go Soon!!

Alarm bells ringing - I'm still single handing in the Med at age 82, so there's no rush - just less time to enjoy yourself.
Wood is not best - as you age you have less energy and time for maintenance - so maintenance free is better.

 

[AndrewB]

Thanks. Like most of us I only become aware of losing muscle when I try to do something and it’s harder than it was!

It isn't the insidious muscle loss I was thinking of. That can be managed, as others here suggest, at the cost of making your boat a little more complicated. Nor is it the slower reactions and reduced agility that come with ageing - experience compensates a lot.

The reason to go soon is that for many people, sometime in their late 60's one or more chronic health problems kick in that cramp their style. Heart conditions, arthritis, sight or hearing problems, replacement joints, ... you name it. Not enough to stop them sailing but enough to make them feel they cannot do it all by themself any more, or wary of being too far from medical help for significant periods.

I've known far too many yachtsmen who have planned, or at least talked about for years, the great getaway in their own yacht when they retire, but illness at 65 has brought it all to nothing.

On the bright side, if you are already doing it, then it's always possible to reduce your horizons a little. Like Sailaboutvic, I now cruise the Med, which I always promised myself "would be left to last". Others I know of my age still do long-distance ocean sailing, but now with crews rather than just the wife. There are a good few people still enjoying day-sailing into their early 80's.

Certainly there are some remarkable exceptions, so hats off to Sailaboutvic and others here like him.

 

[Kukri]

It isn't the insidious muscle loss I was thinking of. That can be managed, as others here suggest, at the cost of making your boat a little more complicated. Nor is it the slower reactions and reduced agility that come with ageing - experience compensates a lot.

The reason to go soon is that for many people, sometime in their late 60's one or more chronic health problems kick in that cramp their style. Heart conditions, arthritis, sight or hearing problems, replacement joints, ... you name it. Not enough to stop them sailing but enough to make them feel they cannot do it all by themself any more, or wary of being too far from medical help for significant periods.

I've known far too many yachtsmen who have planned, or at least talked about for years, the great getaway in their own yacht when they retire, but illness at 65 has brought it all to nothing.

On the bright side, if you are already doing it, then it's always possible to reduce your horizons a little. Like Sailaboutvic, I now cruise the Med, which I always promised myself "would be left to last". Others I know of my age still do long-distance ocean sailing, but now with crews rather than just the wife. There are a good few people still enjoying day-sailing into their early 80's.

Certainly there are some remarkable exceptions, so hats off to Sailaboutvic and others here like him.

Well, you scared me into the gym!

I am thinking about the old rule that you should never have a boat that you cannot single hand, and would very much like to learn from others on this. I'm also thinking about where I want to go.

 

[Bertramdriver]

Stop angsting and get on with it. The boat size and construction doesn't matter a damn. You can change your current boat anywhere once you really know (through bitter experience) what you really need. After 15 years of funning around the med it was me, not the boat that brought it to a painful end, so stop dithering and start loading your boat up tomorrow.. BTW my Health collapsed at 65 murdered by arthritus, blindness and dementia.

 

[OldBawley]

Well, you scared me into the gym!

I am thinking about the old rule that you should never have a boat that you cannot single hand, and would very much like to learn from others on this. I'm also thinking about where I want to go.

Agree with that. Practice is the key. Even when my wife is on board I do all manoeuvres single handed. That can be a bit tricky since we use a manual anchor winch. Mooring an old heavy long keeler stern to is one of those moments. I have to run from the tiller to the winch more than once to adjust the distance to the quay wall. Always managed.

About health; the sailing life keeps fit. Not sure about mental health, but physically I am a lot leaner and better off then all my old schoolmates. Using a rowing / sailing dinghy also helps.

About where to go; Summer in the Med is not good. Way to hot. We both like winter in the south more than summer. Weather a bit more dangerous but even nature is way more beautiful.

 

[AndrewB]

I am thinking about the old rule that you should never have a boat that you cannot single hand, and would very much like to learn from others on this. I'm also thinking about where I want to go.

Excellent idea! Enforce this, and 50% of yachts would immediately become redundant. 90% of those bloated floating caravans over 45ft. No shortage of places to go then.

.

 

[OldBawley]

As to bigger versus smaller, in 2006 I was asked to skipper a big fast catamaran for a week trip.
I accepted because I wanted to sail a fast yacht for a change.
Small problem, the owner and her guests did not touch a rope, not even while mooring in a marina. They paid me good money, I was the slave.
No problem, I just called for marineros when mooring in marinas. However I had to do all the sailing work myself.
Although all was done using electric winches, after some days I became so tired ( just stack a main on one of those big boats ) that I was longing for my small old workhorse.
The money was good, the tip at the end even better ( My god, some folks are rich ) and I sailed 17 knots. That is fast.
I learned a lot then. First, I don´t like been a slave. Second a big boat is easer to handle, certainty is a lot safer, but even at 53 and very fit, after a week I got so tired I preferred to use the engines.
The clients liked that anyway.

For the next trip, the organising firm wanted me to do some cooking also.
No way.

In 2006 that was a big yacht, nowadays you see cats that big more and more. Not half as fast and with 12 or more people on board. I always wonder how they will cope when it gets bad.