Healthy Sailing and Cruising
Optimize Your Health & Performance on the Water
Healthy Sailing & Cruising is a collection of essays (“voyages”) written by a neurologist and exploring the following topics: Navigation; Time and the Sailor’s Brain; Sleep; Exercise (including those for seniors); Sailor's Guts (including the newly discovered Microbiome); Cruising for Seniors; The Need for Speed; Accidents, Injuries, and Medical Care at Sea; Balance on the Water; and many others.
If you go anywhere near the water you will find plenty of useful and fascinating information presented in an informal and occasionally humorous way.
This collection was written since the publication of Healthy Boating & Sailing (2019). Each article in the new book stands on its own, but collectively complements the former.
Voyage 1 Cruising Health for Seniors
Cruising is a great way to improve your
“Healthspan.” If you aren’t familiar with the term then you really need to read this voyage.
Voyage 2 The Need for Speed, Senior Speed
Yes, we slow down as we age. The slowing down actually begins in our 30s. If you are in your 40s, 50s or beyond, you need to fight back!
Voyage 3 Take a Deep Breath
Sure, you’ve been breathing all your life, but are you doing it correctly? If you’re a couch potato it doesn’t matter. But if you want to stay physically active and control your stress, read this voyage.
Voyage 4 Accidents, Injuries, Medical Care at Sea
Stuff happens. Are you thinking ahead to both prevent “accidents” and provide medical care at sea? What’s the old scout motto? “Be Prepared.”
Voyage 5 Senior Sailor Situation
Yes, as we age we all develop of arthritis of the spine – both neck and low back. This voyage explains the nature of neck and low back arthritis and most importantly what you can do about it.
Voyage 6 Balance on the Water
We have all been dealing with balance since we were born and especially since we were toddlers. We just never paid much attention to it - it just came naturally. Until it didn’t. Whether you are in a sailboat, motorboat or cruise ship, keeping your balance is critical.
Voyage 7 Sailor’s Guts
The important symbiotic relationship between the bugs that are on andinside us, and “us” humans has come into sharp focus only recently. Weneed each other, biologically referred to as mutualism. Don’t skip this voyage.
Voyage 8 Time on the Water
The human obsession with time dates to 20k years ago with the appreciation of the lunar cycle. By 4500B.C.E. the Egyptians had developed a yearly calendar. Time has been a human obsession ever since. Time is even more important on the water. Whether you are sailing or cruising, time is critical to your safety and your enjoyment. And what is “Ship’s Time?”
Voyage 9 Time and the Sailor’s Brain
Your brain is a time machine. Or really a series of time machines or clocks. Yes, our brain has a “master clock” deep in the hypothalamus, but in addition, your brain has numerous clocks each of which keeps time of a different function. And not only that, but each of your organs has its own clock system. It’s time you understood this.
Voyage 10 Concussion on the Water
As sailboats move faster through and above the water, the need for head protection is increasing. MIT recognized this early on and other schools and programs are following suit. For seniors, the problem with impaired balance on the water – even on large cruise ships increases the likelihood of a fall with subsequent concussion.
Voyage 11 One Number You Should Know
The single best measure of your cardiorespiratory fitness and your overall health, (including your risk for heart attack, stroke, diabetes and others) is your VO2 max. It is so important that the American Heart Association has recommended it be considered the 5th vital sign, along with temperature, respiration, pulse, and blood pressure.
Voyage 12 Some Other Important Numbers
How much exercise should I be doing? What kinds of exercise? This voyage discusses the overall recommendations for adults and older adults. And there are additional references to guidelines for children, pregnant and postpartum women, and those with chronic health conditions and disabilities.
Voyage 13 Navigation 1
This is a voyage into the world of Natural Navigation and Dead Reckoning (DR). We are not the only animal that uses DR (although we are the only one to use tools!) Should we learn traditional DR? The US Power Squadrons and US Coast Guard Auxiliary/Boat US recommend traditional navigation for those inevitable times when our electronic systems fail.
Voyage 14 Navigation 2
Everything you wanted to know about navigation, but couldn’t find a comprehensive discussion. From finding your way back to your marina to finding your way around town, it turns out that your “hippocampus” (which you thought was mainly involved in memory) turns out to be equally important for navigation. That makes sense, because all animals need navigational skills to find food and a mate. They don’t have to remember what happened in the year 1066. And loss of navigational skills is an early sign of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Voyage 15 Sleep
Sleep turns out to be one of the most important aspects of our lives. A night or two of sleep loss, has a profound effect on our behavior and our performance. We all have experienced that. But chronic sleep loss has been shown to adversely affect our overall health, our mortality, and our even thinking. Chronic sleep loss has been shown to promote (not cause) Alzheimer’s. Keeping a good sleep schedule is especially difficult on the water. Learn how.
Voyage 16 Flow
Folks, this is the mental state you want to be in, when you are trying to accomplish anything that is challenging and that requires a skillset. As you can see from the chart, flow will only occur if your skills are high, and the challenge is high. A typical example is Michelangelo who worked on the Sistine chapel from 1508 through 1512.
Voyage 17 Heat, Cold, & Therapy
We all need to treat ourselves for minor injuries, often with heat, cold, or if more persistent, with physical therapy. Do you understand when to use heat or cold? I didn’t think so. And things have changed. The physician who proposed the R.I.C.E. protocol has partially recanted! Find out what you need to know to treat yourself and your family.
Voyage 18 Sailor as Systems Engineer
This relatively brief voyage is at the heart of the matter. You as a sailor become adept at understanding and being able to monitor the many systems that are required to make your vessel work. You may or may not be able to repair them, but you understand them. Well, your human systems require the same attention. And if you are indeed far from medical care, you may be forced to do the repair work as well (see voyage 4).
Voyage 19 Shouldering Your Responsibilities
The major theme of this voyage (aside from a chance to show off my baseball card) is that persistence often pays off when it comes to working through a physical ailment. I learned about my shoulder “problems” 25 years ago and have been working on them ever since. Shoulder problems are common in sailors as the joint itself is “unstable” and at least in my era, we were using those shoulders to accomplish many a task which is now electronic.
Voyage 20 Light and Vision at Sea
This voyage had originally been an Appendix to Chapter 8 of “Healthy Boating and Sailing.” It remains self-contained and deals with the ways that light is altered by the atmosphere – playing tricks on the sailor's vision. Since vision is our dominant sensation, I felt that we should have some idea how the system works, especially at sea.