Cruising Sailors Forum Archive

Re: Understand fully. At 75, I have serioiusly considered the next step. Giving up boating is NOT an

We are in our mid 50's Charlie. We could easily sail longer if we chose to. We are both concerned about Dorsey's shoulder...she is a very active woman! I'm sure you can hurt yourself on a trawler/tug as but I believe there should be fewer opportunities.

Esmeralde is a really wonderful sailboat. She can easily sail to weather at under 30 degree apparent, she is quick, comfortable and loads of fun under sail. She is even reasonable under power. The sail drive makes for a very low vibration motoring experience and she is fairly quiet. For me, the issue with sailing is the number of miles we cover under power.
A trip to Maine is a push to get there. From the fuel stop in Sandwich at the Cape Cod Canal to Boothbay is something like 130 miles and our faithful Scotties have to get ashore! So a trip to Maine becomes an extended delivery of motoring hops up the coast. Day after day of 6 knots pushing.... Once in Maine, we return to a more leisurely, sailboat appropriate, cruising style. It is a lovely way to sail! Whatever distance you can drift is fine once in Maine. There are loads of anchorages everywhere.
The same thing happens locally. A trip to Block Island so often becomes a race to motor there early before the southwest wind gets up.
Our interest in sailing to Bermuda has waned...been there, done that... Now the boat is a "local" cruising boat with a range between CT and Maine.

We will certainly miss those extraordinary days where everything comes together for a perfect sail. The, set the chute, 7 to 8 knot sail home from BI, the Eggamoggin Reach when you can actually reach, the lazy but steady drifting kind of day.

The tug at 6 knots is burning less than 1/2 gallon an hour more than the sailboat. We can always conserve if need or desire dictate. It will also cruise happily at 10 to 14 knots. Yes it burns fuel at those speeds but not as much as an express boat and you can get to where you are going!

Life on the water will certainly be different and we are looking forward to the change while we are young enough to take advantage of it!

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