Old Salt Sails South with Sandy

Sailing, an endeavor that demands physicality, mental acuity and the ability to be uncomfortable for long stretches of time, has a youthful reputation. Granted the grizzled old salt is a longtime cliché but serious racing or offshore voyaging is best suited to those with a certain level of stamina and vigor. This means a lot of the content about sailing focuses on younger people – though it seems that the definition of “young” is fairly elastic (think Dennis Conner, no spring chicken) it’s not often that you come across stories about older folks going sailing – which is why this tale from the Miami Herald is so refreshing. The article is about a retired machinists search for love, and maybe just as importantly a voyaging companion for his dream sail to the Caribbean. You may feel, as I do, that his methods (piteous boat signage) were unlikely to succeed but they worked in the end – just barely – and now these two are setting sail for adventures south to Trinidad then south to Argentina and back. The article notes that their trip will also be chronicled on a Web site, http://sandyandtom .com but nothing up to date. If and when they go live I’ll post the link.