On May 8, 11:07�am, Larry wrote:
Chuck Gould wrote roups.com:

One of the saltiest and most capable boaters I ever knew was cruising
his 38-footer until a week before he died. In fact, we were with him
when he started having chest pains one evening at the Silverdale town
dock. We took him to a hospital to get checked out. That was the
beginning of the end for him, he didn't survive the angioplasty
operation the following week. He was 83 or 84, and his wife a couple
of years *younger.

What a bunch of nonsense. *NOONE you'll ever meet on the dock over 60
years old should be allowed to be the primary muscle on any boat going
out of the harbor, out of sight of land. *I don't give a damn how many
years him and his wife got away with it. *An 80+ year old man CANNOT do
the physical work of a much younger man (or woman), required to handle
such emergencies in such conditions. *Hell, the 20-somethings are
overwhelmed by a lot of it.

Doesn't wash, no matter how many years they got away with it.

Larry
--

Under you standard, almost nobody old enough to be retired would be
allowed to go boating without a babysitter?

Chuck Gould wrote in
ups.com:

Under you standard, almost nobody old enough to be retired would be
allowed to go boating without a babysitter?


I sail offshore on an Amel 41 ketch. Cap'n Geoffrey is around 70. It's
his boat. I must admit we HAVE sailed offshore of Florida, just the two
of us, between Ft Lauderdale and Ponce Inlet, S of Daytona Beach.
Weather was perfect or we wouldn't have gone.

Neither one of us are "disabled" and either one of us can sail her safely
for a day, maybe two. But, neither one of us will go offshore over 2 in
our condition, which isn't really that bad, but we DO GET OVERTIRED IN 2
DAYS....too tired for safe sailing in a squall condition, which happens
often, here.

Our "crew" is SIX sailors, sometimes EIGHT, for passages Charleston to
FL, for example. Everyone gets SLEEP, noone gets DEAD. All hands are
available, including ours, in bad situations. The other four are late
20's to mid 40's, experienced sailors, physically fit. And we STILL have
been beaten up to exhaustion a few times offshore of Georgia.

I cannot imagine how an 80-year-old goat and his 78-year-old wife can be
called "fit" to sail a 38' boat under those circumstances...I just can't!

Larry
--

On Wed, 09 May 2007 00:10:54 +0000, Larry wrote:

Chuck Gould wrote in
oups.com:

Under you standard, almost nobody old enough to be retired would be
allowed to go boating without a babysitter?


I sail offshore on an Amel 41 ketch. Cap'n Geoffrey is around 70. It's
his boat. I must admit we HAVE sailed offshore of Florida, just the two
of us, between Ft Lauderdale and Ponce Inlet, S of Daytona Beach.
Weather was perfect or we wouldn't have gone.

Neither one of us are "disabled" and either one of us can sail her safely
for a day, maybe two. But, neither one of us will go offshore over 2 in
our condition, which isn't really that bad, but we DO GET OVERTIRED IN 2
DAYS....too tired for safe sailing in a squall condition, which happens
often, here.

Our "crew" is SIX sailors, sometimes EIGHT, for passages Charleston to
FL, for example. Everyone gets SLEEP, noone gets DEAD. All hands are
available, including ours, in bad situations. The other four are late
20's to mid 40's, experienced sailors, physically fit. And we STILL have
been beaten up to exhaustion a few times offshore of Georgia.

I cannot imagine how an 80-year-old goat and his 78-year-old wife can be
called "fit" to sail a 38' boat under those circumstances...I just can't!

Larry


Maybe so, Larry, but I'm about half way around the world from where
you are and the marina here is full of boats. Certainly some of them
are based here but I'd guess that half are on their way the rest of
the way around. I don't go around asking people how old they are but
from looking at them I'd guess many/most are over sixty and I have
known quite a number who were in their seventies. Hell! I am and I
sail a 40 footer; alone.

I think the difference is that you are doing something like a delivery
voyage, i.e., trying to get there quick. Most single handers are
certainly trying to get there but aren't adverse to heaving to if that
is the best solution to whatever is facing them.

I have a good friend who has sailed literally all over the Indian
Ocean alone. I know innumerable people who have sailed from south
Africa to Thailand, alone. No licenses either..

I just brought a motor boat from Singapore to Phuket, some 1,000
miles, with just my wife.

As for your six man crew, to quote someone or another, "I don't know
six people I'd want to go to sea with" :-).


Bruce in Bangkok
(brucepaigeatgmaildotcom)

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

As for your six man crew, to quote someone or another, "I don't know
six people I'd want to go to sea with" :-).


Bruce in Bangkok
(brucepaigeatgmaildotcom)


Bingo!

Gordon wrote:

As for your six man crew, to quote someone or another, "I don't know
six people I'd want to go to sea with" :-).


Bruce in Bangkok
(brucepaigeatgmaildotcom)

Bingo!

That's why we don't sail to Bermuda and down to the Virgin Islands
which is what Bob wanted to do. I said I wouldn't do it without at
least one other person to help stand the watches, and he said he
didn't want anyone else on the boat. So we don't go.

We have gone with another couple (on our boat) down the ICW for a
couple of weeks, but that wasn't offshore - it was just an extended
series of day trips.

Rosalie B. wrote in
:

he said he
didn't want anyone else on the boat.

Too bad. I bet some of those strong, young dockhands you know at your
marina would just drop everything to go.....treating you and he like
Queen and King. Taking "another couple", who expect to be treated like
guests, not knowledgeable crew, is a whole different ballgame.

Keep a sharp eye out for such a strong young man. Every marina has a few
strong hands who just stand out from the pack on the dock, more friendly,
helpful and undemanding. All you need do is feed him and let him sleep
in that quarterberth that's usually piled with junk...(c; Watch the
dockhands when they dock a big yacht. Your boy is the one with the
sailing gloves taking charge.....(c;

Larry
--
They were nasty when I politely said I wasn't interested....(c;

Larry wrote:

Rosalie B. wrote in
:

he said he
didn't want anyone else on the boat.

Too bad. I bet some of those strong, young dockhands you know at your
marina would just drop everything to go.....treating you and he like
Queen and King. Taking "another couple", who expect to be treated like
guests, not knowledgeable crew, is a whole different ballgame.

Keep a sharp eye out for such a strong young man. Every marina has a few
strong hands who just stand out from the pack on the dock, more friendly,
helpful and undemanding. All you need do is feed him and let him sleep
in that quarterberth that's usually piled with junk...(c; Watch the
dockhands when they dock a big yacht. Your boy is the one with the
sailing gloves taking charge.....(c;

Larry our marina is down at the end of nowhere. There are no
dockhands helping to dock boats. It is strictly a DIY operation. If
you need fuel and call on the radio and there is actually someone
there to respond (sometimes I've had to call the shop on the phone),
then there MIGHT be a dockhand to catch a line, but more than likely
it will be an older woman. Most of the people that work there are
owners or work at the restaurant or work in the shop. And the other
people there are boat owners - most of them at least our age.

Our friends who sailed with us didn't act like guests - they cooked
and took the wheel and helped us tie up etc. They were sailors and he
(at least) was much more knowledgeable than I am, but they are also
our age.