Age may make us wiser, but it has the opposite effect on agility and endurance. We often hear of sailors switching from sail to trawlers as balance and strength leave them, but what of us powerboaters? We laugh at the ancient mariners whose boats never leave the slips and have transformed into floating condos. Now I am one of them and find myself searching for a better solution.
In my younger days extending my boating season had a different meaning. For decades my boat was held captive from the end of October until April 15, entrapped not by ice and snow but by my storage facility which closed the gates each year November 1. Wanting to extend my boating season, I reasoned with and even tried bribing the marina manager, all to no avail, and I found myself landlocked until mid-spring for decades. Winters found me not cruising the Caribbean but parked in the local pub, listening to others just back from a late tuna run or local boat parade wishing I could be the one telling the story but instead listening to others do the telling. These pub sessions filled me with envy (and beer), conjuring up the most brilliant of solutions (until I sobered up).
My boat at the time, a 28-foot Grady-White bowrider, while not small, was still able to be trailered. Seemed easy enough to pull it home October 31 and keep it at the house allowing me access to use it when I pleased. Problem solved.
Putting this plan into action was harder than I thought. It made no sense to pull it out of a totally enclosed storage facility and park this monstrosity (my wife’s description not mine) at the end of my driveway after covering it with a bright blue tarp in the off chance I might use it one more time over the coming months.
Back to the pub for more beer and ideas.
I might want to explain that this is not my first boat. Thirty-eight years and 16 boats ago, we were happy with a 16-foot bowrider with a 120-hp IO and a single axle trailer. The latest boat was 28 feet, sat on a triple axle trailer, and was propelled by twin 250-hp Yamahas. As I now find myself in the same age bracket as the ancient mariners described above, the current boat and trailer was proving a handful to maintain as my agility and strength were both compromised by time. Extending my boating season by bringing it home was not going to work. The boat was proving to be more effort than fun.
In October of 2023, I sold it. Problem solved. Instead of extending my boating season I eliminated it.
Being boatless after 40 years was liberating. I increased my golfing, spent time with the family, traveled. I felt like a new man. This lasted six weeks. My buddy Gary calls it a fiberglass addiction. My wife calls it an obsession. Whatever it is I knew I needed number 18.
Like our friends the sailors I changed my approach. Ninety-nine percent of boaters increase the size of their boats and find themselves overwhelmed by everything larger boats bring with them. An extremely intelligent gent, sitting on the next barstool during one of my fact-finding missions, reminded me of how much fun I had years ago on a smaller boat. I needed to forget my ego and downsize to extend my boating season(s).
That brings us to March 15, 2024, my wife’s birthday. I promised her a fun day with lunch at a great waterfront spot on the South River. But first a quick stop at the Grady-White dealership, Tri-State Marine, located just 30 minutes south of the restaurant. It was a quick but expensive stop, and my wife ended the day with a great lunch and a new boat!
I left my ego at the door as I entered the dealership and instead of going larger, I downsized from a 28-foot bowrider to a 23-foot walkaround model. It may not sound like much, but in boat size every two feet is a huge difference. The boat kept the large beam of my last boat, measuring nine feet, three inches, providing lots of cockpit space for family and fishing and also kept twin engines but downsized to 200 hp from 250 hp.
After running the new boat all summer am I okay with giving up all that space? Absolutely. We might be a little cramped when everyone is onboard, but that happened once this summer. Most of my boating was alone or with my wife or a buddy or two. We found we had more than enough space for everything we wanted to do. I even ran it to the Baltimore Canyon in July chasing tuna and dolphin with a few buddies. I may have to pick my weather days as I don’t want to be beaten up during that long run offshore but it’s a small price to pay. The last boat was trailered to Florida and run to Abaco, Bahamas numerous times and this boat might make the same journey. It is more than capable which might be more than I can say about this aging skipper.
Currently two of my friends have their boats for sale. I know they will miss being on the water, but age catches up with all of us. It had caught up with me until I made the move to downsize to a boat I could easily singlehand and continue enjoying my boating life.
The new boat sits under a dark brown cover at the end of my driveway and the trailer now sports an electric winch just to make life easier. And I might add I took it to Ocean City at the beginning of December when the bluefin were migrating south just off the coast. And I might just enter it in the Christmas boat parade next winter.
Downsizing? Best thing I could have ever done as it has extended my boating season(s).
Tight lines!
By Joe Borrison