On May 8, 1:07 pm, 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
--

Larry,

What kind of ignorant hogwash is this? I have never met a sailor over
60 whom I would not trust to be a good and reliable skipper. It's
true that as we age our physical abilities diminish. However, the
dangers encountered in sailing are more related to abilities of
judgement rather than abilities of muscle. The fact is, younger
sailors are just as liable to make the same errors in judgement as
older sailors. The problem encountered by the sailors in question
had nothing to do with their age and everything to do with their
judgement. And, I'd be willing to bet they could pass a "licensing
test". After all, we have licensing requirements for automobiles and
drivers of all ages still make stupid errors of judgement.

Peter
s/v Now or Never!