Safely cruising into our 80s?

We are looking for our next boat to live aboard at least half time. East Coast, Bahamas and the loop. Our last was an American Tug, but that’s not in the retirement budget. LOL. We would love the space on one of the sun deck trawlers, but I keep coming back to boats with a cockpit and transom door. It just seems safer when older to be able to stand securely in the cockpit when coming into a dock or picking up a mooring and not leaning over or trying to step off a high deck onto a low dock. And so much easier with dogs and groceries. Those of you cruising in your 80s, what are your thoughts?

I'm approaching this situation too. At this age, how far to travel in the boat is a fair question. I can only state the obvious which I'm pretty sure you already know. Have a plan for medical care diversions if necessary. Make sure the boat is up to the task and have a plan for contingencies and haulouts. Get your wife/other up to speed on handling the boat, docking and using the VHF. But having said all that, use the boat and have adventures to the extent your health and abilities will allow. Next year, you may not be able to. Sorry about not answering your more direct questions about transom doors, cockpits, etc which I'm sure would make things easier.

Cruising into your 80s safely and comfortably will depend on what you feel you need. It's a very personal decision based on your health, agility and other concerns.

We are in our 70s and recently purchased a boat with a transom door to the swim step and a strong bow thruster. These were so the line handler does not need to lean over, jump to the dock or run to the bow line. We also looked for a galley that was easier on the cook. Not so much bending over or kneeling to get to everyday things.

If money were no object I would add stabilization and remote controls to the check list. Stabilization reduces the likelyhood of falls underway. Remote controls allows the driver to easily pass dock lines to the line handler.

I would reject a sun deck boat. Getting down to handle the lines, pick up a mooring etc it too risky.

Some years ago I helped a TF member bring his sun deck trawler up the east coast. After a few experiences docking, I said not for me.

I don’t think it would be good for you either, particularly at 80 yo.

David

Portage_Bay said:

Cruising into your 80s safely and comfortably will depend on what you feel you need. It's a very personal decision based on your health, agility and other concerns.

We are in our 70s and recently purchased a boat with a transom door to the swim step and a strong bow thruster. These were so the line handler does not need to lean over, jump to the dock or run to the bow line. We also looked for a galley that was easier on the cook. Not so much bending over or kneeling to get to everyday things.

If money were no object I would add stabilization and remote controls to the check list. Stabilization reduces the likelyhood of falls underway. Remote controls allows the driver to easily pass dock lines to the line handler.

I would reject a sun deck boat. Getting down to handle the lines, pick up a mooring etc it too risky.

Click to expand...

That’s my thinking too. Thanks.

Dorrie said:

We are looking for our next boat to live aboard at least half time. East Coast, Bahamas and the loop. Our last was an American Tug, but that’s not in the retirement budget. LOL. We would love the space on one of the sun deck trawlers, but I keep coming back to boats with a cockpit and transom door. It just seems safer when older to be able to stand securely in the cockpit when coming into a dock or picking up a mooring and not leaning over or trying to step off a high deck onto a low dock. And so much easier with dogs and groceries. Those of you cruising in your 80s, what are your thoughts?

Click to expand...

9 years ago, at age 70, I bought my "old age boat," a 37' Canoe Cove sedan bridge, with transom door, flat into salon and galley, good visibility from lower helm for when I couldn't climb the ladder up to the flybridge, 2 steps down to the head and front stateroom. Oh, and easy access to the engines. This year, I traded it for a Bayliner 4588 with lots more "creature comforts," but also a lot more stairs. Wise? Maybe not, but I'm enjoying it a lot - as others have said, it all depends on your physical and mental capabilities.

Those same issues were concerns for me. One thing that you might find makes your life easier is DockMate. It is a remote control for the transmission, engine rev's and thruster, if you have one. You can wear it around your neck and dock or lock through from wherever you need to be to handle lines, pick up a mooring ball, etc. You can't steer with it, though.
It's not cheap, but well worth it for peace of mind in my opinion.
Peter

I can give you a backwards perspective on this subject, as I will turn 84 soon. My story may make a good data point for your thoughts.

A lifelong sailor, I sold my Ranger 33 sloop about 2015 (age 74) and searched for a slow cruiser ("Trawler"), knowing what my wife and I wanted: Not too large, for easy handling and lower maintenance and running costs. A walkaround deck with good railings or a bulwark for safety. Sturdy construction. Good condition, especially mechanically. I wrote an article for Chesapeake Bay Magazine on the subject and it is in their archives:
Trawler Treason | Chesapeake Bay Magazine

We bought our Grand Banks 32 in Delray Beach FL in 2017 and brought her up the ICW to Kent Island MD in several legs over the next year. That went beautifully and I turned 77, still doing fine with the boat. We cruised our home waters of Chesapeake Bay and had a splendid time.

Then COVID hit us with mild cases (we're vaxxed) in early 2022. That summer both of us came down with "Long COVID" that sapped our energy and affected our ability to reason quickly. Combined with all the other pandemic world effects, we could not make our planned trip to Canada. By the time that settled out, I was 81 and not feeling up to making the trip up the New Jersey coast, through New York and up to the Great Lakes because my endurance was lower, my thinking slower and I would be responsible for the safety of my wife as well as myself. I have made that coastal trip four times as well as many other long cruises and realized that the window had closed.

Now, even local Chesapeake cruising is more difficult and tinkering and crawling into the bilge to work on the boat can be hard, so I am doing less DIY and more check writing. It looks like another couple of years will be about all we will be able to use SNOWBIRD. I stopped doing sailboat reviews for SAIL Magazine this year because climbing aboard from a dinghy while underway and scampering around an open deck were just too much, physically. I had stopped racing our Flying Scot at about age 79.

The point of this monologue is this: Get the boat and get going now, considering how you will run, dock, anchor and repair it. Think about what happens when your aging rate accelerates, as it surely will. In my experience, that starts around age 80 and once it does, exercise, diet and all the other well-meaning health advice have much less effect on your thinking and mobility than they did in your 70s.

I've had a great run of boating since the mid 1950s and it has enhanced my life and shown me the world. It's hard to see all that end but it was bound to happen. And as the Monty Python skit says, "I'm not dead yet!" I could still charter a houseboat on a river somewhere...

-- Tom Dove

Those of you cruising in your 80s, what are your thoughts?
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83 last March
50 years sailing and cruising.
loosing my wife (2018) meant loosing my companion and sharing sailing chores.
decided to go back to sailing/cruising
mowing the lawn not my thing

purchased a Cape Dory 30

wanted a small enough for single hand and big enough to provide basic comfort.
Solid and seaworthy will take care of me
replaced main with main roller furling, no need to leave the cockpit

mostly alone, will pick up a crew here and there if involves more than one overnight.
Docking/locking is an issue being alone, for docking I alert the marina of my situation and line handlers take care.
Leaving the dock is easier, always somebody eager to help.
I don't anchor much, too much work, plus enjoy the social aspect dock life offers, meeting people, walking to restaurants, local attractions.
Locks is a different game and feel the need for another person aboard.

Maintenance is becoming an issue and the wallet is supplementing for now.

Posting here because I am looking for a trawler,

my MUST-have,
no steps, full protection from weather, easy access to engine (could be outboard)
Side door from steering station
transom platform for access.

life is good
Alternatives to my lifestyle?
Not so good.

Plans?
not even try
life gets on the way

Saving money by not purchasing extended warranties!!!

This topic comes up a lot I know, and I'm still 20 years from my 80's, but more and more often I've done a lot of thinking about advancing age and boating. For what it's worth --

1. Our boat is an aft-deck cruiser, no cockpit, so we usually have to jump (step?) from the swim step to the dock finger. I did slip once and went flying, right into the water between the dock and the next boat. Luckily no injury, but I could have easily whacked my head and drowned. It's made me much more careful ever since. Our dog has also fallen in, so we use a harness with a handle. Lots of handholds are good and in general it's not too hard to be more cautious, at 80 or 20 for that matter.

1. It is very hard to generalize, it's so individual. My father is a little older than Joe Biden and he still has my (very complicated) electrical panel memorized so I can ask him advice, after only being on my boat a few times years ago. Dad is also very spry and can run his center console just fine. On the other hand, Dad had a bypass earlier this year so he's much more cautious, even though he still *can be* very active. Prefers not to be far from emergency medical services, so I think it's more psychological than physical. My point is, it's so individual. Some 80-year-olds seem like they're 20 years younger, and others might as well be 105.

2. Boat work -- and very physical work in general -- certainly takes a toll on me even now (where's the Advil?) -- but I figure the activity and difficulty and pain are good for me. I don't want to fossilize. In other words, if something is difficult, that's a good thing. (On the other hand we chose our current boat because it has stairs, not ladders. Age aside, it's hard to climb a ladder with morning coffee in your hand. And I simply don't like the look of cockpit boats. And it's grand to eat dinner on the elevated aft deck.)

3. I do frequently think of one more thing. I really enjoy boat maintenance, keeping things running well, a repair that's a great improvement over a previous system, something done *right* instead of a previous mess. I'm more and more conscious though that I don't have a lot of time to fool around with details that drain time for no good reason. Chasing obscure parts for hours. Trying to figure out a frustrating electrical problem because some prior tech changed the wire colors between the engine bay and the helm. So circling back to the OP, for what my experience is worth, buying a boat in good repair and being able to hire out some work makes more sense as we have less time remaining on earth.

Good luck with the search.

I will turn 80 this coming January and this topic is often on my mind. I made the mistake of buying a trawler that was almost completely rebuilt. Five years later, it's nearly finished. The new engine has 15 hours of test runs on it. The paint job glistens under the LED lights in the shop. Hopefully everything will be ready for launch this coming summer. But, the years between 75 and 80 are amazingly destructive on the human body. My advice: Get a boat that is in perfect condition and use it ASAP.

Hindsight is 20/20
So far this boat meets all the needs/wants we had 10 years ago. Why did we wait? We were young then, in good health and were cruising on a Harley.
Now older and wiser we are aging out of our coveted hobbies.
Not enough time left, the mind still works, the body is slowing down, DONT WAIT!

Hello…just turned 70 in July and after 16 years with my 1989 Cape Dory flybridge I’m thinking of selling for some of the reasons davil1 mentioned above…time running out was one of them, plus I started rving the last few years and thinking of transitioning more to that. I also appreciate the satisfaction of a job well done and have done several projects on the boat over the years including a solar setup ,rebedding of all hardware,new deck hatches,auto pilot,etc.,etc. the list goes on…they are great seaworthy boats, Mike K

We sold our sundeck trawler a couple of years ago. We needed a faster boat as well as my wife wanted a boat with not as many steps up and down. We went with an express cruiser. So far we love it but it may be more than I am capable of maintaining, we will see. One of the things I did when we got this boat is look around and see where the potential fall risks were. So far we have added 7 handrails around the boat. They are there to stop the falls before they start. We put SeaDeck on all the fiberglass decks excethe bow area. We added both bow and stern thrusters so my wife doesn’t have to go out on the bow. You should audit your boat, or prospective boat, and look for potential problem areas and see if you can limit your exposure before it happens.

YES!!!!

" So far we have added 7 handrails around the boat. They are there to stop the falls before they start."
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As mentioned, still have my sailboat, From the steering wheel/pedestal to the interior down below have installed/bolted handgrab handles, including the companionway and head.
Even when seating on the throne, there are a couple of teak grabbers!!
Underway and a rolling sea was propelled from the seat!!!
I cannot move without having a firm grip on a support.

In summary, having my sense of balance shut, have Fewer falls in the boat than home!!

There have been many excellent suggestions in the replies. We left a sailboat two years ago. My wife had slipped off the boat and fell to the dock, breaking a wrist, so stability was critical in a future purchase. We have a trawler with a cockpit and side deck. We have a transom opening to a swim platform and a starboard side opening in the cockpit. Pretty much forces us to tie up starboard side. With electrical outlets both aft and at the bow, easy to do. Or have long powercords. A Nordhavn, it also has a portuguese bridge, so with the side deck, cockpit and portuguese bridge, one can walk about on these while under way in safety and comfort. Some trawlers do not have side decks, and you are then up on the boat deck and that area, when underway, can be a challenge. Of course you can go through the salon, but I do like steping out in the breeze from time to time. A lot of boats these days have stern steering stations, essential when backing. On our older boat, one cannot see to the rear when in the pilot house, so I had to buy a remote steering station, which means I can manuever the boat from any place on it. Expensive but it takes the stress off the crew (wife) when docking. Marinas will have dockhands, but with a remote (Dockmate or Yacht Controller) or stern steering station, you can dock single handed, much less double. Space in the engine room allows you to do routine maintenance, but age limits the ability to twist and squirm into exctiing places. Actually, getting in not so hard; getting out another story. To me, a safe stern area, safe side deck, and safe bow make boating safe and comfortable, and are things to be aware of.

Good discussion, whether you're 80 or 20 I think. One other feature we appreciate -- Mainship designed our boat (37's and 34's, cruiser style, mid to late 90's) with a walk-through helm. Big drop-down door in the front cowling so we can easily walk directly from the helm to the bow without walking around or using side decks. Now that we're used to that ability, I can't imagine running a boat without it -- although that's rare I know. I remember we did the Newport Boat Show in 2023 and toured a beautiful American Tug 395 -- but to get from the upper helm to the bow, you had to climb down two ladders, go all the way to the stern, and then all the way forward on the side decks. Our Mainship sure isn't a Fleming or a Nordie or in that class, but the longer we own ours the more I appreciate the ease of moving around and operating that boat and the generally good design. Except for almost impossible access to the hull side of the port engine, and that I can't see anybody on the swim step from the helm, I keep thinking to myself, good design Mainship, you did good.