Times have certainly changed…

[Frank]

Times have certainly changed.
I just finished a major spring cleaning and in doing so took all the books and magazines off of a shelving unit to make things look less cluttered. As I leafed through the years long collection of magazines, It struck me how many are no longer here and how the market has truly changed. Cruising world magazine, which once had multiple articles on smaller boats for every day sailors out cruising now seems to simply be an advertising media for large vessels. Canadian yachting which in the early days had a series of articles about exploring the North Channel aboard a 20ft trailerable sloop now has high speed power boats on the cover.. Good Old Boat, which truly was "a magazine for the rest of us" as they claimed, is now defunct along with Latts and Atts. As I packed away my collection of Small Craft Advisor it saddened me to see the improvements from the small early  offerings that grew over the years into a fine quality print magazine that now has had to change with the times.
I began reflecting on my early years attending Toronto boat shows back in the late 70s and 80s. There were a multitude of small builders proudly showing their products and sub 30ft , heck sub 25ft boats were abundant. Siren 17s, Sandpiper 18s, Nordica 20s, CS and Tanzer 22s, Mirage and Shark 24s, Tanzer, Nash and Grampian 26s all had long line ups to view. In hindsight, Grampian's brochure for their new 30 would be a joke today as it stated "step up to a large yacht, the Grampian 30". Heck most builders smallest offerings are larger now!
As with most industries today, competition is reduced to very few large companies. That "multitude of builders" is no longer...
Boat shows, as well as current magazines no longer interest me. I miss the old magazines with ads showing a Flicka 20 in Bora Bora or a Westsail 32 in Tahiti to spark your imagination and articles of folks on limited budgets living out their dream! I miss the boat shows where I'd leave lusting several of the vessels presented. The last boat show I attended saddened me as not one caught my eye. I miss the earlier days of this site where members shared their dreams and the virtues of smaller-simpler boats with passion. Very few post anything now...
The saying goes that the only constant in life is change but dammit that doesn't mean I have to like it!

[CapnK]

Warning : Old guy ramblin' (& perhaps also some ranting) below.

I'm with you, Frank. I think there are a number of reasons for it all. When we (us old fogies here ;) ) started dreaming in our relative youth, there were still scads of smaller boats around from the 'new material' fiberglass building boom of the 60-70's, and it hadn't been so long ago (then) that a lot of people used them.

Nowadays, many many of those 'plastic classics' have been given up on. They are crushed or sunken or in such a state of disrepair that they can't or won't sail again.
Sadly.

In their stead, the bigger products of the next building generation, 30-40'ers from the 80-90's, even 50+ feet now, have now become the "old" boats that are cheap and easy to get.

In addition to that, this newer generation of potential sailors, the young dreamers of today, have all been raised while surrounded by the result of the consumerist market created by the mags and advertisers, the one which preaches that "45'LOA is a minimum for a safe, comfortable bluewater boat". Of course, no mention is ever really made that bigger also, really means higher prices and thus profits for the manufacturers... Caveat emptor!

In addition to being told/sold the above by slick glossy photos videos and highly refined marketing campaigns, it sure seems that the young 'uns of today also have different expectations of what they 'deserve' insofar as comfort is concerned. What is expected as plain comfort aboard now, is the decadent luxury of sailors from yesteryears.

Economically, this group of 'young noob's' also seems to be coming from a much more affluent background. Necessary frugality of the old days seems to have gone the way of the plastic classics, at least based on the high profile refits we all see on the internet tubes. No longer is it sufficient enough to make sure that your hull and rig are sound before bending on some blown-out sails to head out...

Now apparently sailor budgets are in the literal tens of thousands of dollars, if not a hundred or more. Seriously - what's the cost of a custom-fit, giant aluminum structure to hold a field of solar panels that feed enough LiFePo4 batteries to power a shore-bound home, along with the high-speed motorized dinghy which costs as much as a nice used car hanging off the back end? Out there, just beyond the several name brand, weatherized stereo speakers...? The freshwater cockpit shower? Clusters of brand new gee-whiz instruments, where a compass used to suffice? (What? You really need a 'wind direction indicator' - wuffor???).

(All adorned with color-changing LED fixture zone lighting, of course.)

New gear and gadgets galore; the above doesn't even scratch the surface. Nor does it take into consideration the cost of the new sails, new standing and running rigging, ground tackle (and the requisite electric windlass to haul in the hefty new-gen anchor), all of a size needed aboard a boat well up into the 40, 50 or more foot range.

I'm not saying it's bad, per se, just that it's far more money than what I could have reasonably been able to source just out of my teens.

Yet I wonder, wonder that there should be, somewhere out there, some young folks who don't have all those means, but who maybe have the dream - or would, if they knew of the opportunity - to do it more the "old fashioned way". How do we find them? How do we reach out to make them aware that life doesn't have to be just like they see in 'the Social'??? That there is another path to adventure and learning and living aboard and voyaging via gunkhole or sea, one they could follow without all that much money invested in the startup?

Right now, I dunno, but - I'll think on it.

[Norman]

Here we are in July, and there are only 2 posts on this subject?

I have not been on a small sailboat for 2 years, aged out (or infirmed out).  My sons are using my old john boat, and a couple of kayaks, sailing is too demanding of skill, and has poor performance at getting back on schedule.  Grandchildren have been out with me a few times, sailing is "neat", but not interested in learning how to do it.

The retirement complex where I live now has a 'Model Yacht Club', with a Commodore, and 6 radio controlled 'Yachts' but decided the on site pond is too polluted by the resident geese to put their yachts in it.  I started sailing in the Potomac River when it was comparably polluted, the turnout for the Sunday races was about 50 sailboats.  We just washed up good when we returned to the marina.

They  have 6 $300 yachts that have never been in the water.  All the members that I have talked to previously owned 30 foot or larger sailboats, two did races to Bermuda more than one time, crew of 6 friends.  "The fun of sailing is getting together with your friends on your sailboat".  Apparently just one or two friends is a bust, as far as sailing goes.  It is also important that about half of the crew is relatively young, in case of bad weather.  One of the members had a 44 foot yacht.  He had a larger crew, and 3 watches, 3 on, 6 off in good weather, 6 on 3 off when life got tough.

I have not found a trailer sailor yet, among the many  people that I have had conversations with.

Their version of the BEER  cruise has more boats, but they may spend most of the cruise out of sight of all the other boats.

[Frank]

There must be water somewhere close for them to sail-race their model boats?
Interesting take on the dynamics and sailing histories....
I took my little runabout up river today with my brother in law for a burger and beer at a beach bar.
Ran into an old sailing friend from the 80s. His daughter was along... I remember her about 6 or 7. She had her husband and 2 children along with her ... both kids were older than i remember her years ago.
Chatted with her dad about the old days when sailboats were far more popular on the river. Our conversation then went to our upcoming knee replacements :)
He sold his last sailboat several years ago. Has a pontoon boat now to putt up river in stable comfort...
Yes, the times have changed...
Guess I'm a die hard...

[Norman]

Frank, the big boat guys are more focused on the boats than the local environment.  The pond they targeted for sailing on  has 3 problems.  The deep blade keels with streamlined bulb ballast need 18 inches of water.  About a quarter of the pond is shallower than that.  Less than half the shoreline is steep enough that the yachts can come close enough to launch or recover them, but they are too steep to stand on safely, and are slick clay.  The pond is a runoff catchment for all the area roads and parking lots, plus from lawns when rain is heavy.  This means that there is fertilizer for algae plus brake dust and tire dust, both presumably unhealthy.  Next, there is a 30+ flock of non migratory geese resident, and they add their full share of pollutants. The result is that they are not wiling to put their beautiful, sleek yachts in that pond.

They had in mind walking to the pond for regatta's when the wind was good, with their yachts neatly ensconced on carts with accessories, inconvenient to carry by car.  For the last couple of months, the debate continues, on where to sail, no good answers.

I have visited their meetings, but not joined.  The have solved one of the problems, with more money, of course, buying an electric powered tug to bring the yachts back to the pagoda, which is deep water.  But the pollution remains, and so far none are willing to put THEIR YACHT in the water.  The first yacht was assembled in February.

I have spent more days away from the home marina per year than most of them, but my adventures are not interesting to them.  Worlds apart.

[Frank]

Yes... times are changing ..
Was just thinking...
I live on the Ottawa river which is a major tributary to the St Lawrence and about a mile wide here.
When I moved home in 1984 the marina was about 70% sailboats.
Deep River marina, about 25 miles upstream was about 90% sailboats.
Today pembroke is only about 5% sail and mostly runabouts with several pontoon boats.
Deep River, which was almost all sail now has Zbout 65% pontoon boats, then runabouts and sail....
I assume it's an aging progression.....

[Godot]

Happily, in my working man's marina, small (older) sailboats are still the norm, and a lot of folks are working on them (generally poorly, but they are trying). Powerboats are beginning to take over, however.

Times have changed, though, for sure. Not just for the boating world, but for me. When I first joined Sailfar I expected to be halfway around the world by now. Man plans, and God laughs. Then I got old enough (and married enough, and new housed enough) where it just made sense to keep waiting until retirement. Hopefully I'll remain healthy enough to do some of the adventures I had planned on twenty years ago. The good news is I now make a lot more money and am beginning to put the time and money back into (the sadly tired and neglected) Seeker that the rest of my life has been demanding over the last decade or so. With a little luck retirement is only five years away. With a lot of luck maybe a couple years earlier. I want to be done by 60, which freakin' scares me how close it is.

[wolverine]

Adam, as someone who had similar dreams, life and time has a way of changing them. As a child I would go straight to the travel section of the Sunday paper and look for articles on traveling by sailboat. While in high school, and on the 1st date with my now wife, we went for a walk along Chicago's lake front and I explained the different rigs on the sailboats and which boats were suitable for ocean crossings. She asked me how I knew so much about the boats and I explained how I read a lot about sailing and that when I retire, it will be on a sailboat so I can travel to far off exotic lands. For years I gathered magazine articles, underlined passages in books, and studied old charts and wrote notes on places I wanted to visit. I even found my "dream" boat. A Pacific Seacraft Orion. Little did I know that 12 years and 3 daughters into our marriage, my wife would suffer a massive stroke and never fully recover. Now that I'm retired and my wife is not able to move around on a boat, I sail mostly solo and don't wander too far from home.  Although I do occasionally take a 3-4 week cruise, but nothing like I had planned so many years ago.

I may never cross an ocean, but in my little Compac 19, the waters I do cross become oceans as sit with tiller in hand, and dream the afternoon away under sail.   

[Frank]

It's crazy how the years pass isn't it Adam!
An ole lad once told me your most valuable commodity is "time" and not to waste it.
I was late 40s when I met Tim, Craig and Kurt over on the Ariel site, then the start of this. I'm 67 now... Blink and the years are gone!
Keep the dream alive. Nice you can give Seeker some attention.

[Frank]

Wolverine... aren't smaller boats a blast! Yep, epic adventures can be had close to home!

[Godot]

It's crazy how the years pass isn't it Adam!
An ole lad once told me your most valuable commodity is "time" and not to waste it.
I was late 40s when I met Tim, Craig and Kurt over on the Ariel site, then the start of this. I'm 67 now... Blink and the years are gone!
Keep the dream alive. Nice you can give Seeker some attention.

I have a theory about why time passes so fast. We (humans) are built to be efficient. We end up doing the same things over and over again in the most efficient manner. Our brains also like to be efficient. To save mental storage space, it compresses all similar memories into the same memory slot. Only new things get recorded. This is why when we are young and every experience is new time seems to go much slower. But when we are old and spend years doing the same things the same way over and over again, there is no need to remember them and our perception of time skips ahead. It may also be why it gets harder to learn new things. We fall out of practice as we don't need to learn much to survive day to day.

Just a theory. But it suggests we should all be out experiencing new things, and performing tasks we aren't already optimized for. I think it would make our lives seem longer and better lived. Sadly, we spend so much time working where getting really good and efficient at limited tasks is rewarded financially and with recognition it is hard to break out of that trap. I suspect, but am not willing to test, that jumping from job to unrelated job for forty years would stretch out the apparent life, but at the cost of the traditional view of "success" and healthy bank accounts. Not to mention the efficiency we create in our comfortable home lives.

I do wish I had made more bold moves when I was young. Sadly, those magic years were spent struggling just to survive.

[wolverine]

Certain decades past fast for me. My 30s and 40s for sure. I was touring the states on my motorcycle then. My 20s seemed to last forever because we were always broke,  and my 50s dragged on, and on, and on. Possibly because I was waiting for 59 to roll around so I could retire. Now after retiring, the last 5 years flew by. 🤔 Maybe if I spend all my money, time will slow back down?

[CapnK]

Interesting theory, Adam! Will have to think some more on that new idea... :)