Modifications for the "aging sailor"

[Troy Scott]

Joe (et al),

The boat is in my hangar, 15 minutes from my house. In the back of the hangar is a complete woodworking and machine shop, so I'm taking advantage of that to get everything done while it's relatively handy. When she is finally back in the water (I hope she remembers how to float...) where she belongs, it will be a 2.5 hour trip (one way) by car, or maybe one hour by small plane if this economy gets back on track. :-/

I have had just a little help over the past three years. I work mostly alone, not by choice. The problem is that this is a labor of love, and nobody loves it like I do. I've not been able to keep a helper very long, probably because I scare them with my expectations. I've learned that I can't just give a helper a job to do while I do something else. I have to do whatever it is along with the helper. This seems to improve enthusiasm, and it gives me a way to observe and demonstrate.

Now about the gym: I like the IDEA of getting up and getting it over with. Here's the deal: I'm a night person. Long after everybody else has gone home (except the night watchman) I'm going strong. I usually get on a roll between 9pm and midnight. Early morning sessions in the gym might just shock my whole system. But maybe I'll give it a try.

[winthrop fisher]

sorry for your grandparents.

i lost my mother and she was only 53 and then a few years later i lost mine grandfather at 99 and my grandmother at 97, she died a week after he died, then my father inlaw died four years later at 69, he was only retired for four years....

my father family lives along time, but my mother side dies very young, her mother was only 20 and her grandparents were in their early 50's.

sorry enough said...

the hardest thing for me at 51 is the weight, five years ago i was at 310pds in 16 months i lost 100pds and keeping around 210 to 230 is hard....
winthrop

[Troy Scott]

Winthrop,

Thanks. My grandmother and I were very close, like best friends.

I was slim for most of my life, but for some reason I've put on about 40 pounds in the last five years. I don't overeat. I'm not diabetic. I want to lose about forty pounds: get back to about 155. I believe that would fix my knees problem. If I start running while carrying 40 extra pounds, I might just finish them off. If I could just find some reasonable, doable approach that works, I could get on a roll and get it done. There have been too many false starts. Fad diets don't work, neither does starving. I can't think and work if I'm hungry. Suggestions?

[Troy Scott]

About modifying the boat to make it easier as I get older:

Well, I don't much like running a lot of lines to the cockpit. It fills the cockpit with spaghetti. It doesn't look neat at all. It gives aging sailors a lot more to get tangled up in and trip over. And the more complicated the control system, the more likely there will be some kink or whatever that requires the same aging sailor to go up on deck and straighten it out.

I think a set of "sissy bars" at the mast is a great idea. So are a few electric winches and an electric windlass.

Getting rid of the spinnaker pole, and anything else that's heavy and awkward is a good move. As we get older, we need to keep it simple, easy and fun. Hey.., that's not bad advice for ANY sailor.....

[winthrop fisher]

i was just about to get off when i saw you were on the site,

well troy, first im not a diabetic just a large man, thats what ever one says.

first i lost the weight because my belt size almost hit 50, now 42 but i am 6'1" at 220pds....

all i do is stay away from all sugar products and fried foods, but my wife and me love the holidays meals.

i am on my feet all day because of the job i did, i walk at least five to eight miles a day and lifting most of the time as well on the job that help allot, but now i sit behind a desk i don't do that any more because the company closed us down...

i try to take walks with my dogs, my son trying to get me to go to the jim with him when i can...

many years ago i put in sheet bags that attached to the inside of the foot wells for each line, it works great.

you can put them any where life lines, foot well, bulk head, stern rail and i use them for dock lines...any where...

each line has its own bag it goes in the bag when under way so it does not get under foot at all....

i do that for all the lines including spare dingy anchor lines as well...

i never leave my seat in bad weather.

electric wrenches are nice to have and you can use a bag with them as well, i will get them in years to come...

as far as spinnaker poles, i have not used one in many years...

so hows that for you troy...

i try to make ever thing on board as easy as possible for my self and my wife and kids and four granddaughters as well...

winthrop

[Como No Cruising]

Captain will be 70 this year and Admiral is 65 - we think we have done very well for a couple of geriatics as we are just completing our circumnavigation after 11 years aboard our CD 40 Como No - we do have a windless, roller furling headsails but at our age electric winches might be nice. We still have to go to the mast to raise, lower and reef mainsail and we still handle our own foredeck work, raising, lowering and jibing the pole even in heavy seas. And we still do most of our maintenance work - I think maybe having someone else take care of the teak would be nice - I would hope that we are still sailing years from now - about the only unwanted modification because of age is that there are no more speedos or bikinis worn by crew.

[Dixon Hemphill]

I must ask "Como No Cruising" two questions: Who is the Admiral and who is the Capt? And what is the model and size of your boat? A circumnavigation is certainly something to be very proud of doing. I wish I were younger I might try it!

To those who want to loose weight: walk one mile every day and cut out all foods having more than 10 grams of fat. You'll be surprised at the results after six months!

[Greg Kozlowski]

Como No is a Cape Dory 40, crewed by no other than Will La Fleur an his wife.

Hey, Will... sorry we missed you guys at Marti Marina. Unfortunately, we couldn't get back to Turkey till late July. Are you still in the Med?

Best Regards,

Greg

[Troy Scott]

Will and Wife,

I was never brave enough to wear a speedo when I was slim! Not that I didn't want to.....

Dixon,

I love your quote about the Swedish villages. Where did you find it?

Winthrop,

I've done it both ways. I just like the simple look and feel of halyards and reefing lines left at the mast. Probably someday I'll once again choose to run it all aft.

[Dixon Hemphill]

Scott,

This quote was made by Helge Graslund the father of my two Swedish friends Lars and Per who in turn are nephews of the late Carl Alberg designer of the Cape Dory sailboats. I lived in Sweden for two years and have great affection for both the country and its people.

[SurryMark]

From Borealis Press cards:

"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?"
Satchel Paige

"You can't turn back the clock, but you can wind it up again."
Bonnie Prudden

"You only live once, but if you work it right, once is enough."
Joe E. Lewis

"If you don't grow up by middle age, you don't have to."
James Gurney

"If you want a thing done well, get a couple of old broads to do it."
Bette Davis

"If I had my life to live again, I would make the same mistakes, only sooner."
Tallulah Bankhead

"The longer she dates me, the better she looks."
Robert Langham

"They tell me that you'll lose your mind when you grow older. What they don't say is that you won't miss it very much."
Malcolm Cowley

[Troy Scott]

SurryMark,

I like it. To the first question: most days 25. Some days 57.

I'm all about winding it up again and making every day count.

[SeaBelle]

SurryMark,

Thanks for your quotes; to return the favor here are some from Will Rodgers.

Will Rogers, who died in a plane crash with Wylie Post in 1935, was probably the greatest political sage this world has ever known. Part American Indian and from humble beginnings, he adopted a cowboy persona and enthralled our nation. Enjoy the following:

1. Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.
2. The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.
3. Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know "why" I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved.
4. When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra.
5. You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.
6. I don't know how I got over the hill without getting to the top.
7. One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young.
8. One must wait until evening to see how splendid the day has been.
9. Being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.
10. Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today it's called golf.
11. If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you are old.

[Joe Myerson]

Jack and Mark:

Thanks for those quotes.

Is it the long, cold winters or the clean air that helps Mainers come up with such gems of wisdom? (Of course, the late Marshall Dodge was was originally a New Yorker, as was E.B. White.)

Most of the jokes I remember from my days in the salty seaport of Skowhegan couldn't be printed on this board.

--Joe

[SurryMark]

Jack,
Hey, maybe there's something here for a Borealis card.
Could you imagine? Something to do with boats could actually pay for a piece of winter storage?
mark