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Older years ahead; Anne Westlund 09-16-10
Several years ago Reese Palley wrote a book, THE CALL OF THE ANCIENT MARINER. I bought
the book and have enjoyed reading it, loaning it out and owning it. Sitting tightly on the
threshold of my 3 score plus 10, I need a break from thinking about it. I'm feeling and thinking
that if my years were money I'd be Bill Gates! I feel fuzzy, as if I was somewhere between life and
infinity! Is there a mathematical symbol for that?
Life was clear but it was before cataracts. I got the eyes fixed and it clarified the eye vision but
not the future as a sailor. Sure, I no longer miss the red buoys and I haven't smacked a rock in
years. My old sailing shorts still fit but more like a second skin than baggies. Wearing them, my
comfort level has decreased. I'm encouraged by some older folks I've met who are happily
sailing into their 80's and not looking back. They are my current role models for the passion of
splashing about on the water.
More and more of my friends are giving up their boats and their sailing. Some are opting to stay
on shore or crew with others. Some have become trawler drivers. Others have lost their partners
to one cause or another. “Getting older isn't for wimps” I've read. I'm agreeing with that
sentiment. Now, my age has produced another quandary. This past summer I met a boat and fell
in love with it. I want one really bad. That means selling my project boat I've worked so hard on,
Raggedy Annie. I still love the boat but she has to become the money for the new boat. I'm
finding it hard to mentally tear my feelings away from my current boat toward a new boat.
Meantime I am dreaming about the new boat every night! Go figure that one out!
This past spring season I fiddled around with my Potter 15, the 1982 Peapod Again, fixing her up
for solo sailing and installing a CDI furler, re-cutting and sewing the Genoa for a jib, adding
pieces and parts (read money in the form of cam cleats and fittings). She will be kept for road
trips since she is so easy to tow. The new boat will be used for the seasonal live aboard cruising I
love to do. This fall I am finding it hard to focus on the Potter because I'm day dreaming about the
new boat I can't even find the money for yet! E'gads, I think I'm hooked! Of course I have been
since I was a kid. It didn't matter then what boat it was if it had a sail on it, I loved it. I'm still
smitten. I equate it to the love of horses some folks profess. How to cure this or do I?
There is no cure. It's like being short. You can't get over it. No matter which way my mind moves
the ideas around, I want that new boat regardless. I'll find a way, somehow, before next summer.
I'll move the obstacles like a plow clearing snow out of the way. I'm determined. So, what
attracted you to another boat? You ask. Well, it is more than many reasons but some have to do
with age. One of the reasons has to do with the lines of the boat. I've heard it said that if you love
her lines you will really enjoy the boat. I've found that to be true with my cute boats (the Potters
I've owned) and with Raggedy Annie. So that's one reason. The new boat has lovely lines.
Another reason is the ease of dealing with her rigging. She will be a cat boat with an easy mast
raising system and fewer lines to deal with. I sail solo and rig solo, meaning I do it all. No one
helps me raise the mast or load the boat or de-rig either. I found it more tiring this year to get
Raggedy Annie rigged and it took quite a number of hours to get her ready to tow home too at
seasons end. The new boat should be far, far easier. I sailed in company with the boat like I want
and found it to be a good sailor that was so similar to my boat that to change boats would not
result in worse pointing ability nor speed. I liked the layout below for living aboard for a summer
season or more. The layout would be better for my aging body with less crawling around, more
head room for sitting and cooking, plus a decent sized bunk or two where I could actually take
along a guest if I wanted to (not likely however). Storage is good on the new boat's layout too.
What makes us change boats? Things like I've already written about the choice for my new boat
and perhaps the need for simple change itself. People get bored doing the same old things and
change sparks up the interest levels, the excitement levels and the learning levels. New boats
demand we look at things differently, see things in new ways and learn new stuff. Learning is the
greatest gas there is so us older folks can still indulge in that kind of gas. Until we are brain dead
we can always learn. All of us boat owners know what the feelings are that surround the purchase
of a new boat, be it NEW or used. Fixing up and personalizing a boat gives us new times to
analyze and problem solve as we fix the boat up, all mental flexing that should help us stay
younger of mind and attitude.
Sailing in the North Channel of Lake Huron every summer for the past ten years I've noticed that
the population of cruisers is getting older. There are more and more folks who have dropped out
of view over the winters. Some are staying closer to their permanent homes and others have
shifted to power boating or smaller boats. One couple I know bought a bigger, heavier sailboat
that has more power winches and other helping technology than their previous boat had. They
are getting by even though both are mid-seventies in age. One of the racers who has always
been a leader is 83 and going strongly. A larger sailing yacht some 60+ feet in length used to be
seen every summer. The folks aboard her were in their 80's. I haven't seen the boat in two
seasons now. Another boat, a trawler, had aboard her last season a gentleman and wife in their
late 80's and he had the reputation of being 90+. They did just fine but have most likely sold the
boat by now. They were not around this past summer.
Also missing from my cruising grounds are the young families. There are a few but so few that
they stand out. Folks who come to charter boats frequently have teenagers aboard and I've seen
a few boaters with infants or near-infants (not yet toddling). The most boats have couples aboard
plus a few boats have solo sailors like me. There's been a population shift here from middle aged
to older aged persons aboard the sailboats. Us older sailors are to be found exercising: walking
to town, shopping and hauling groceries by hand, backpack or cart, swimming at anchorages
and rowing or kayaking around the shorelines. We're an active bunch and staying fit is part of
our goals. Remember to reef early, very early! And consider your goals.
I've talked about all this with friends this past summer. One change from younger years of sailing
is that the sailors who are older tend to stay put in high winds and take shorter days at the helm
instead of the 8 hour day, it's become a 4 hour day or less from anchorage to anchorage. They
are not spending as much energy in a given period of time sailing. They also tend to spend more
time in one anchorage than moving daily from place to place. Especially those who are solo or
couples. With more hands aboard they tend to move further, longer and more frequently.
I have also noticed less exposed skin as people age. I suppose it is experiences with
dermatologists rather than saggy bodies that mean they stay out of the sun as much as is
reasonable considering the sport. We all wear sun hats, long sleeves and most wear long pants.
I'm still wearing shorts but slather on the sunscreen faithfully including my feet which are in
sandals and exposed. We wear gloves because it helps us deal with less hand strength due to
age and arthritis as well as keeping the hands covered against more sun damage.
I recommend you read Reese Palley's book, The call of the ancient mariner. The subtitle is: Reese
Palley's guide to a long sailing life. It's interesting and full of helpful ideas. He was near or over 80
when he wrote it with the voice of experience. The book is put out by International
Marine/McGraw Hill and the ISBN is #0-07-138881-8. He writes, “People die these days as much
from boredom and irrelevance as from disease. There are obvious adjustments to be made as
physical and mental facilities alter and falter. For a sailor, being through with the sea is like being
through with life itself. Choose life and continue to choose the sea.” for me, I choose life and am
going after a new boat.
Anne Westlund
westlund@lighthouse.net
(Just between the two of us....Anne has fallen in love with the Com-Pac Sun Cat)
Several years ago Reese Palley wrote a book, THE CALL OF THE ANCIENT MARINER. I bought
the book and have enjoyed reading it, loaning it out and owning it. Sitting tightly on the
threshold of my 3 score plus 10, I need a break from thinking about it. I'm feeling and thinking
that if my years were money I'd be Bill Gates! I feel fuzzy, as if I was somewhere between life and
infinity! Is there a mathematical symbol for that?
Life was clear but it was before cataracts. I got the eyes fixed and it clarified the eye vision but
not the future as a sailor. Sure, I no longer miss the red buoys and I haven't smacked a rock in
years. My old sailing shorts still fit but more like a second skin than baggies. Wearing them, my
comfort level has decreased. I'm encouraged by some older folks I've met who are happily
sailing into their 80's and not looking back. They are my current role models for the passion of
splashing about on the water.
More and more of my friends are giving up their boats and their sailing. Some are opting to stay
on shore or crew with others. Some have become trawler drivers. Others have lost their partners
to one cause or another. “Getting older isn't for wimps” I've read. I'm agreeing with that
sentiment. Now, my age has produced another quandary. This past summer I met a boat and fell
in love with it. I want one really bad. That means selling my project boat I've worked so hard on,
Raggedy Annie. I still love the boat but she has to become the money for the new boat. I'm
finding it hard to mentally tear my feelings away from my current boat toward a new boat.
Meantime I am dreaming about the new boat every night! Go figure that one out!
This past spring season I fiddled around with my Potter 15, the 1982 Peapod Again, fixing her up
for solo sailing and installing a CDI furler, re-cutting and sewing the Genoa for a jib, adding
pieces and parts (read money in the form of cam cleats and fittings). She will be kept for road
trips since she is so easy to tow. The new boat will be used for the seasonal live aboard cruising I
love to do. This fall I am finding it hard to focus on the Potter because I'm day dreaming about the
new boat I can't even find the money for yet! E'gads, I think I'm hooked! Of course I have been
since I was a kid. It didn't matter then what boat it was if it had a sail on it, I loved it. I'm still
smitten. I equate it to the love of horses some folks profess. How to cure this or do I?
There is no cure. It's like being short. You can't get over it. No matter which way my mind moves
the ideas around, I want that new boat regardless. I'll find a way, somehow, before next summer.
I'll move the obstacles like a plow clearing snow out of the way. I'm determined. So, what
attracted you to another boat? You ask. Well, it is more than many reasons but some have to do
with age. One of the reasons has to do with the lines of the boat. I've heard it said that if you love
her lines you will really enjoy the boat. I've found that to be true with my cute boats (the Potters
I've owned) and with Raggedy Annie. So that's one reason. The new boat has lovely lines.
Another reason is the ease of dealing with her rigging. She will be a cat boat with an easy mast
raising system and fewer lines to deal with. I sail solo and rig solo, meaning I do it all. No one
helps me raise the mast or load the boat or de-rig either. I found it more tiring this year to get
Raggedy Annie rigged and it took quite a number of hours to get her ready to tow home too at
seasons end. The new boat should be far, far easier. I sailed in company with the boat like I want
and found it to be a good sailor that was so similar to my boat that to change boats would not
result in worse pointing ability nor speed. I liked the layout below for living aboard for a summer
season or more. The layout would be better for my aging body with less crawling around, more
head room for sitting and cooking, plus a decent sized bunk or two where I could actually take
along a guest if I wanted to (not likely however). Storage is good on the new boat's layout too.
What makes us change boats? Things like I've already written about the choice for my new boat
and perhaps the need for simple change itself. People get bored doing the same old things and
change sparks up the interest levels, the excitement levels and the learning levels. New boats
demand we look at things differently, see things in new ways and learn new stuff. Learning is the
greatest gas there is so us older folks can still indulge in that kind of gas. Until we are brain dead
we can always learn. All of us boat owners know what the feelings are that surround the purchase
of a new boat, be it NEW or used. Fixing up and personalizing a boat gives us new times to
analyze and problem solve as we fix the boat up, all mental flexing that should help us stay
younger of mind and attitude.
Sailing in the North Channel of Lake Huron every summer for the past ten years I've noticed that
the population of cruisers is getting older. There are more and more folks who have dropped out
of view over the winters. Some are staying closer to their permanent homes and others have
shifted to power boating or smaller boats. One couple I know bought a bigger, heavier sailboat
that has more power winches and other helping technology than their previous boat had. They
are getting by even though both are mid-seventies in age. One of the racers who has always
been a leader is 83 and going strongly. A larger sailing yacht some 60+ feet in length used to be
seen every summer. The folks aboard her were in their 80's. I haven't seen the boat in two
seasons now. Another boat, a trawler, had aboard her last season a gentleman and wife in their
late 80's and he had the reputation of being 90+. They did just fine but have most likely sold the
boat by now. They were not around this past summer.
Also missing from my cruising grounds are the young families. There are a few but so few that
they stand out. Folks who come to charter boats frequently have teenagers aboard and I've seen
a few boaters with infants or near-infants (not yet toddling). The most boats have couples aboard
plus a few boats have solo sailors like me. There's been a population shift here from middle aged
to older aged persons aboard the sailboats. Us older sailors are to be found exercising: walking
to town, shopping and hauling groceries by hand, backpack or cart, swimming at anchorages
and rowing or kayaking around the shorelines. We're an active bunch and staying fit is part of
our goals. Remember to reef early, very early! And consider your goals.
I've talked about all this with friends this past summer. One change from younger years of sailing
is that the sailors who are older tend to stay put in high winds and take shorter days at the helm
instead of the 8 hour day, it's become a 4 hour day or less from anchorage to anchorage. They
are not spending as much energy in a given period of time sailing. They also tend to spend more
time in one anchorage than moving daily from place to place. Especially those who are solo or
couples. With more hands aboard they tend to move further, longer and more frequently.
I have also noticed less exposed skin as people age. I suppose it is experiences with
dermatologists rather than saggy bodies that mean they stay out of the sun as much as is
reasonable considering the sport. We all wear sun hats, long sleeves and most wear long pants.
I'm still wearing shorts but slather on the sunscreen faithfully including my feet which are in
sandals and exposed. We wear gloves because it helps us deal with less hand strength due to
age and arthritis as well as keeping the hands covered against more sun damage.
I recommend you read Reese Palley's book, The call of the ancient mariner. The subtitle is: Reese
Palley's guide to a long sailing life. It's interesting and full of helpful ideas. He was near or over 80
when he wrote it with the voice of experience. The book is put out by International
Marine/McGraw Hill and the ISBN is #0-07-138881-8. He writes, “People die these days as much
from boredom and irrelevance as from disease. There are obvious adjustments to be made as
physical and mental facilities alter and falter. For a sailor, being through with the sea is like being
through with life itself. Choose life and continue to choose the sea.” for me, I choose life and am
going after a new boat.
Anne Westlund
westlund@lighthouse.net
(Just between the two of us....Anne has fallen in love with the Com-Pac Sun Cat)
