I Am Getting Old. No Not Getting Old. I Am Old.

[Wussername]

Not so long ago I used to help my grandchildren onto the boat

They now help me. It seems only yesterday.

Once I'm on the boat I'm OK. 

Sometimes the cry goes out. Let grandad helm the boat., its all going wrong.

Secretly I feel  valued, in reality I know that it will not last long.

I hope that they don't abandoned me completely.

 

[Ray]

They wont.. everyone knows that grandparents are special people 👍🍺

[Gracie]

You are loved on here by people you have never met. I am sure your Grandchildren, who know you better than any of us, adore you. I'd be proud if you were my Granddad 

[Wussername]

I get a little low sometimes.

Thank you for your kind words.

[webntweb]

Know exactly what you mean Wussername. I had to give up Broads boating a few years ago after 60 years because of balance issues. My grandchildren came along quite late in life and its only now that a couple of them are old enough to help with boating.

Can't realistically risk being on a river, so this year we have booked a narrowboat for a couple of weeks. Getting on and off the boat on a canal is usually on the level so much safer and we will have a couple of young teens to help with the locks etc.

We are really looking forward to a leisurely two weeks on the Llangollen and Montgomery Canals in July. 

[Wussername]

Balance. That is the very thing.

Getting on and off the boat. I feel so insecure, so vunerable and yet a few years past I was so confident.. Am I alone?

[Ray]

13 minutes ago, Wussername said:

Balance. That is the very thing.

Getting on and off the boat. I feel so insecure, so vunerable and yet a few years past I was so confident.. Am I alone?

Not at all, it's something that creeps up on us all. Just a few weeks ago I read something about this by the NHS with some exercises and having nothing better to do tried them and I was genuinely shocked at how bad I was at them now as I always thought I had a good sense of balance!

[ExSurveyor]

During my latest neurological exam, some of the tests involved balance, the results were shocking. My right side balance is not good. One test involved closing my eyes and marching on the spot 50 times, I ended up 10 feet away and 5 feet to the right. He confirmed that I shouldn't take up tightrope walking.

I have some eye and head movement exercises that I have to do 3 times a day to try to put it right.

Getting older is no fun but better than the alternative.

[FlyingFortress]

Getting older is no fun but better than the alternative.

 

Now that I will agree with 👍😁👍

[Gracie]

I haven't seen Andrew on here for a day or two, I hope all is okay with him.

I have been talking to my dad about mobility issues connected to disabilities and indeed getting older and how it makes him feel. My dad has always been a strong, dependable man, he still is but recent health issues have knocked his confidence to the point of making him feel low at times too. We talk, that is so important. He is the strongest person I know and I told him so

I would just like to say to Andrew that no matter how low you feel it's always good to talk and share how you are feeling no matter how minor you think it may be, nothing is trivial to the person going through whatever it is making them feel sad or lonely or both

If you read this Andrew, in the grand scheme of things it's not very much but please know I am thinking of you 

[Mouldy]

On 16/04/2023 at 20:53, Ray said:

Not at all, it's something that creeps up on us all. Just a few weeks ago I read something about this by the NHS with some exercises and having nothing better to do tried them and I was genuinely shocked at how bad I was at them now as I always thought I had a good sense of balance!

Don’t want to lose your balance, Ray, especially when transferring beer from the bar to your seat!  😉

[MauriceMynah]

Seconded.   :-)

[Ray]

58 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

Don’t want to lose your balance, Ray, especially when transferring beer from the bar to your seat!  😉

With age comes wisdom so I take a sip from everyone's pint before coming back from the bar.... it's the least I can do to stop folks from wasting beer! They'd thank me, if they knew I'm sure 🍺🍺🍺 😁

[ChrisB]

I to have swallowed the anchor. 15 years ago I could skip along a narrow side deck in a seaway  and know instinctively how the craft would move and go below down a companionway  freestyle. 

Now I would have to hold on all the time and with painful arthritis in my shoulder and hands my sailing days are over, I don't trust myself any longer.

[ChrisB]

P.S.

 

Total reliance on Transition X Varifocals does not help either.

[MauriceMynah]

Now, I'm not NEARLY as old as Wussername but this thread has made me think to the... no, my future on boats.

My feet are numb owing to type 2 diabetes, my eyesight is failing and I suffer from gout. My breath is short and my stamina shorter still. So, how long can I continue "living the dream".

FF might say that I'm already a danger to myself and perhaps even to others, but I'm not yet ready to be a bad influence in an old folks home.

It is my hope that I've got another 10 years at least on Nyx, even if the Fortress has to keep diving in to stop me from drowning. (If the water is too cold, just send the dog in to get me).

I sometimes think of Alan who, although before his time, was taken so suddenly, doing that which he loved. I wonder if I might be so lucky. (Please God, not yet, I've got too much gin on board)

My father gave up boating when he was 82, he just knew when it was time. Two years later he "gave up everything else" much to my mother's annoyance. 

So Wussername, I realise you are very VERY old, but I reckon you've got a few years playing in the gutter yet.

[Wussername]

1 hour ago, MauriceMynah said:

o Wussername, I realise you are very VERY old, but I reckon you've got a few years playing in the gutter yet.

Sans eyes, sans teeth, sans everything  MM

Is that playing in the gutter or laying in the gutter? Indeed is there a difference at a certain age?🥺

 

[MauriceMynah]

I find both to be perfectly acceptable  :-)

[FlyingFortress]

7 hours ago, MauriceMynah said:

Now, I'm not NEARLY as old as Wussername but this thread has made me think to the... no, my future on boats.

My feet are numb owing to type 2 diabetes, my eyesight is failing and I suffer from gout. My breath is short and my stamina shorter still. So, how long can I continue "living the dream".

FF might say that I'm already a danger to myself and perhaps even to others, but I'm not yet ready to be a bad influence in an old folks home.

It is my hope that I've got another 10 years at least on Nyx, even if the Fortress has to keep diving in to stop me from drowning. (If the water is too cold, just send the dog in to get me).

I sometimes think of Alan who, although before his time, was taken so suddenly, doing that which he loved. I wonder if I might be so lucky. (Please God, not yet, I've got too much gin on board)

My father gave up boating when he was 82, he just knew when it was time. Two years later he "gave up everything else" much to my mother's annoyance. 

So Wussername, I realise you are very VERY old, but I reckon you've got a few years playing in the gutter yet.

Don't worry MM , I only think you are a danger when you are offering to buy me 🍺

[addicted]

o

When you love being on the boat as much as we do, the advancing years and the deterioration  that comes with it is a worry. I' m really dreading the time when we must admit to defeat.  My own balance is not as good as it was and I'm not  nearly as sure footed moving about the outside of he boat as I once was. Fortunately Tony does not suffer the same problem., Which means we are o.k. for the forseeable future I'm hoping.  We did make the decision to give up back in  2019. then, having sold our boat we made the "mistake" of having lunch at a hotel attached to a marina we used to moor at on the RGO. Finding ourselves surrounded with boats got us wondering if we could manage a smaller boat as our decision to give up was mostly because Tony's back condition had made keeping the boat we'd had clean very difficult. So the decision to buy Hi-Jinks was made and he manages it just fine If ever there was a good year not to have a boat it was 2020 and that is when we were between boats so we were very lucky.

 

Carole

[MargeandParge]

All used to be cleaned and polished with a cloth on my knees stood up stretched or bent over. Now all is done with telescopic mops brooms and scrubbing brushes. 

Just wish I had used the telescopic cleaning aids earlier as It might have made me a good Gondolier (an opportunity missed}

Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 

[eddybear]

On 20/04/2023 at 13:08, MauriceMynah said:

but I'm not yet ready to be a bad influence in an old folks home.

I've only met you once but read about your various antics over the years so God help the old people's home when you arrive at their door LOL. PS Like yourself I intend to grow old disgustingly Haha