Old Age and Old Boats

Age brings with it different ways of dealing with the world

Article by Brooke Elgie

A man of my acquaintance is “getting on,” as they say. He’s just entered his 80s and he’s still in relatively good shape; his friends often speak of him as “spry.” This acquaintance of mine has had a life-long passion for boats, which has likely gone a long way towards keeping him going. That is beginning to change now and it is those changes that make this story.

He has had quite a few boats over the years and it has often seemed that each one has marked a particular part of his life. In his 20s he’d gotten himself on the weekend crew list of a spectacular sailing yacht owned by a crusty retired Admiral, a salty coot who definitely did not run any “beer and foolishness” vessel. Crewmembers were expected use proper nautical terms and to keep everything “all a-taunt-o,” in his archaic language. The Admiral barked, the crew jumped to it and the boat was the prettiest in the harbor. The hook was set and the young man’s learning curve was steep.