Of Boats and Old Men

SunShower in Northeast Harbor, ME

It began last summer when Gretchen and I had a grand time sailing SunShower in Maine. We began to wonder if we could buy a larger boat (one we could stay on but still trail) so we could spend 3-4 weeks in northern climes in summer cruising and perhaps again down south in winter. We considered motor boats for cruising the ICW and canal systems in NY and Canada. We looked at a C-Dory 22 (nice cabin, outboard powered) but the sleeping area was so confined we could not imagine extended cruising on it. Further research led to Ranger Tugs (diesel engine) but the cost of maintaining a diesel plus the small size of the one Ranger we could afford eliminated that option.

So, our focus returned to sailboats which made us feel a lot more comfortable. A boat which was on our short list when we bought SunShower became our focus and I went on a road trip to the Rhodes 22 factory in Edenton, NC, to sail a recycled boat. The boat was beautiful with a lot more room; the factory does an excellent job recycling the boats! But a short sail on a calm day proved to be a life changing event for me. The Rhodes 22 has a mast furling system for the main sail and just operating it on a calm day irritated an old neck injury I've had for 30 years. It was evident I could not buy and sail this boat; a life changing event in the sense that it was the first time in my life I could not pursue something due to aging!

Rhodes 22

I returned from the trip, walked in the door and told Gretchen to "Break out the Cabernet, I'm DEPRESSED! Wine and reasoning led us to the conclusion that we would keep SunShower and the money we would save would let us stay 6 months in B&Bs on our sailing adventures! So we're looking into going to Maine again this summer.....but the reality of this experience still lingers. We are getting old, and even sixty-five year olds in good health, have physical limitations; not to mention the effect on decision making that aging brings with it!

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