I think about that a lot. We are still in the youngish stage of life compared to our 60-80 year old friends and neighbors and we often swap stories of our sailing adventures.

Most of the older ones have tales of harrowing adventures to tell, but have probably wisely decided that they now prefer to be at anchor by happy hour, and will cancel cruises if the weather is not likely to be comfortable. In their younger days, they would cancel only if 'unsafe', but now 'uncomfortable' is their criterion and there can be a big difference.

While I don't actively seek danger or discomfort, I feel good about having done well through a number of challenging times at sea. I hope it doesn't make me cavalier about such challenges in the future, but I do take a bit of pride having endured a certain amount of discomfort. Besides, if everything always went well, what boring stories we would all have!

Duane
Well put. I can remember rowing out of Bridgeport Harbor three miles out in 20 plus knts to go fishing on my 12 foot row boat when I was a kid. Hey, it was Sunday and the only day of the week I could row out that far because I had delivered my newspapers in the early morning and did not have to be home untill dark.

I just cancelled my reservations at South Seas Resort because after further thought it "Might be uncomfortable" sailing in the cold 60-70 degree wheather.

After reading you Email maybe I should call and reinstate my reservation just to prove I'm not old....Just experienced.

I trust Mike and any others did not read anything untoward into my post. I think it shows maturity and sensibility to want to be comfortable at sea.

I hope to become mature and sensible someday, too. ;)

I wouldn't know when that maturity and sensibility might arrive, judging from my own experience. I look back at my 67th birthday and I don't see a lot of maturity and sense, boatwise anyway. About growing old, I am conflicted: on the one hand I am proud to be here, as I have earned every grey hair I have; on the other, I don't want this great show to end.

My feeling going forward is that 'they're gonna have to pry that boat from my cold, dead fingers'.

I've had the "unsafe vs uncomfortable" discussion with my bride a few times, mostly when I was trying to convince her that sailing really was a good lifestyle choice.

I think that a lot of the time what feels comfortable feels that way because you feel safe. If you don't feel safe it's only logical that you're going to be uncomfortable.

Getting heaved around for 8 hours isn't all that comfy, but if you enjoy what you're doing for that 8 hours then the trade-off is worth it.

The big problem is getting enough experience to truly be able to decide what is just uncomfortable and what is not safe without screwing up in a major way. I am still working on that, so I tend to try to err on the side of being a conservative sailor. But when I see the stories of people heading off into the great blue yonder with way less sailing experience than I have, I really wonder. What's the saying about god looking after fools and sailors? So maybe sailors who are fools really get looked after well!

Regardless, we are both looking forward to living aboard next year and being fully immersed in the lifestyle for however long that turns out to be.

If you are trying to get your risk factors down pretty low then you want a well-found boat, plenty of good safety/communication gear and the knowledge to use it, and lots of knowledge and experience about sailing, weather, etc.

On the other hand, it amazes me how many sailors violate all or most of the above and still wind up crossing oceans and cruising in places I will probably never see.

Their risk factors appear to be high, but the vast majority still make it intact.

I have sailed for the past 36 years and am now 66 and planning my next 6 week cruise on the great lakes. I have been out to the Atlantic and down the coast. I have been in 10 foot seas and some violent storms,
but have never felt uncomfortable on the boat. Seeing what is coming and preparing the boat is key to being safe. I recently installed a chart plotter, radar, and satellite weather system. I find that these help me prepare for coming events and deal with them as they arrive. I also do not deliberatly go into harms way, and do humker down if the weather calls for it. That is just wise sailing, and I much rather be holed up safely sipping some wine with a good book while nature clears the air for some really good sailing.

Fair winds to you all,
Dave Smith
hull 1821