“How much longer do you expect to sail?” I have been asked this three times in the last two days. I am turning 66 in two weeks, but I feel that I am in very good shape and do not look feeble. I am totally new to sailing, so I wonder: do most folks hang it at 65? We purchased our Nonsuch for retirement, but were we foolish? It seems like many of you are in our age bracket and enjoy sailing, and we chose the Nonsuch for its ease of use, quality, and the helpful community of owners."
Tim, I have been thinking about this myself. Obviously, it’s going to be different for each person depending on their mental and physical states, and their depth of desire to keep sailing. I am about to turn 71. I’m happy to share my thoughts and aspirations on the subject.
I do not want to put a limit on my sailing future, as sailing is one of the things that helps me feel alive and inspired. I acquired my Nonsuch 26 Misty Cat in 2002. This came at the tail end of sailing my gaff-rigged Cape Cod Catboat Queen Celeste’ for about 15 years. Prior to that, the Nonsuch belonged to my folks since 1983. They passed it on to me when they were 73. After that they sailed with me a few times on Misty Cat (we live 2000 km apart otherwise it would have been more often). Since they handed responsibility to me, they were happy to vacation on small cruise ships for another 15+ years after that. They always took a GPS with them and kept watch and consulted with their Captains during adventures in the north and south Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, China Sea, and South Pacific.
About 8 years ago I acquired a solid but tired 1980 Niagara 35 which I refit in my home shed (4 years of fun) with the idea of cruising in the Caribbean with my wife Dawn. For many reasons/excuses we did not sail that boat south, but just before COVID struck, Dawn and I bought a cat-rigged catamaran in Florida on which we spent the past few winters living aboard and cruising the Gulf Coast. I put the Niagara 35 into captained charter service in summer 2020 and have been doing tours and instruction aboard her since then. To make things kosher I had to meet Coast Guard commercial vessel standards with the boat, and obtain a Master ticket (Limited <60 tons). I think I have a couple years of sailing the Niagara this way before I sell the boat with the business. Misty Cat has been in the shed since 2020 and I am taking slow pleasure in bringing her back to like-new condition, and simplifying her systems for easy maintenance, day sailing and cruising the Nova Scotia coast and Bras d’Or Lake… into whatever old age I can muster it.
The one thing I don’t enjoy anymore is crawling around the engine room. In the Niagara I installed a hatch in the cockpit sole, and we re-powered with a Beta 30 on the original Volvo sail drive. That has made it much easier to maintain. Plus, I have a somewhat younger and very able 1st Mate who has way more blue water sea-miles than me, and does the heavy lifting. And sewing. And fibreglass repairs now that I am epoxy-intolerant. I will probably put a similar cockpit sole hatch in the Nonsuch, and am considering re-powering with an electric motor. And I plan to keep sailing her for as many years as I can.
Gordon Fisher’s big idea for the Nonsuch was to keep sailing into old age, comfortably, enjoyably, and safely. I honour and respect that notion, it was my father’s plan, it is now my plan. For anybody pondering your question, Tim: a Nonsuch owner is in the best possible position to sail into old age, as Gordon Fisher imagined.
Best wishes to all, especially us older sailors, for continued messing about,
Greg Silver
Misty Cat Nonsuch 26C #121, and
No Rush II, Niagara 35 #86
St. Peter’s, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
