Let's be clear. We aren't young by any means, but if you look around an anchorage in our area in the summer, usually the only people younger than us are the children or grandchildren of the boat owners.
Carol and I were talking last week and I realized that the virtual world might be fooling me into thinking that there are a lot of our-age cruisers out there.
In my google feed reader I have a selection of cruisers in our age range -ish and by connecting with them virtually I feel like there are a lot of us. Plus, there is one boat of our age friends that left last year and another boat leaving this year. I even wonder if perhaps there is a resurgence of younger cruisers. There (apparently) were more in the 70s than the last 20 years.
On one hand, it doesn't matter. Our cruising friends are all ages. Like other sub-cultures I've been involved in (e.g., swing dancing or rock climbing) age has a way of fading in the face of shared interests. But on the other hand, there is something about meeting people who are doing what you are doing who are also like you on some dimension (e.g., female rock climbers) that is inspiring and comforting.
There were about five other young (I mean between the ages of about 20 and 35 years) couples living in the marina where we were last year. I was surprised by the number at first, however most of them were not cruisers, nor were they planning to be, just living aboard because it was cheaper than renting in downtown Charleston or buying a house. Boats are expensive, which makes it hard for young people to afford, esp. if you consider the number of college graduates who get out of school at approx. age 23 (or later if you consider grad school) without much in the way of savings and possibly even loans to pay off. Brian and I saved hard for two years (immediately after I graduated college - I am paying off loans now) and have been acquiring all sorts of new skills because we don't have the money to pay someone else to do the work. I think it's hard for young people to get together the kind of money that is required to get started and gaining the skills needed to make repairs takes time.
ReplyDeleteYoung pups. :)
ReplyDelete@Lara - agreed completely.
ReplyDelete@Mike - whatever Grandpa ;)