Sad scene today. Poor old bloke...

[EDManual]

You hear about people getting too old to drive, and maybe we see the odd real slow oldie getting around, or our grandma giving up after some prodding.

Today I went down to the boat ramp in Geelong, just watching a few boats coming in and chatting to the owners about boats and fish, when this old bloke (maybe 80) straight out of the 60's comes in in his brown speed machine. Looked mighty cool I must say! All in perfect nick, nice clothes on himself too.

Anyway he goes to get his matching XW ute in original condition to pick up the classic boat. Man they went together great! And the brown trailer (with registration sticker from 1972 still stuck to the side!

I Dont think the boat has been in the water since 1972! I bet the ute and boat were bought new!

Anyway he tried and tried and tried to back the trailer down. A fair few blokes offered advice on how to do it, he wanted to do it himself. I and others offered to do it for him. Nope, he was adament. He was aiming the trailer down the pontoon, jackknifing. Finally he let another fella hop in and back it down after at least 20 minutes. I heard him saying I used to be able to do it etc etc. Sad day for him as a bloke, you could see his frustration and I guess embarassment. Was VERY hard for him to take help.

We all think that we can drive forever, I guess we cant :-(

[Geez Louise]

Awww..that made me feel a little sad for him. :(

I find it hard now, not being able to do some of the things I could once do when I was younger.

Growing old happens to us all....if we are lucky enough.

[dave351cid]

must be a bugger getting old.

i hope that it has broken his spirit and he can keep up his boat trips.

[GTpilot]

wow, just wow, think of al the memories he must hav taking the kids/ gran kids out skiing and fishing in that rig.
boat and car are both perfect, both just awesome.

[jaydee]

Thank God, as I was reading I was waiting for "...and then it all slid into the water".
And how cool is that little boat.

[Kryton]

Now have a think how he got the boat in the water in the first place............

[FPVF6X201]

I reckon quite a few people would have difficulty in a single lane ramp like that. Good on him for giving it a go, and for accepting help when he couldnt.

[JG65TE]

That's the stuff. Hope he don't use the interweb. I personally would have at least removed his rego. Reckon he feels bad enough without people comin up n sayin seen you on the web, ya can't back a trailer for love nor money.

[stevz]

Originally Posted by jaydee

Thank God, as I was reading I was waiting for "...and then it all slid into the water".
And how cool is that little boat.

That's exactly what I was thinking!

[gcg2503]

So glad it wasnt ditched into salt water!

PS: Looks like an XT

[csv8]

I am a nurse and what I have seen, makes me wonder what life is all about.
Couple reach their eighties one gets dementia the other doesn't. Its so sad.
What you saw today, the old guy probably has taken his boat out hundreds of times, with the wife and kids. Probably wanted to do it for one last time, but couldn't, life's cruel. Stories like that make me sad....hope he did get to go out in his boat.....

[tankclare]

What a sweet old XR ute. Very well looked after and good to see him out and about enjoying life at his age

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Old men were young once as well, soon that might be us, time goes so fast unfortunatly....

[Spammy]

Cool how the gold trim on the boat sort of matches the colour of his ute.

Great retro set - looks like a Matchbox toy car & boat set from the 60s.

[mik]

it is sad to see people get to that stage when it gets hard to do the things we take for granted, the guy was probably an old school very skilled tradey in earlier years, it`s funny we go to school learning stuff but there`s just no training for getting old, it starts to hit home your getting up there when you start burying relatives :(.

[blackf6]

Good nick that ute.

[nuthin' fancy]

Good old guy, good old ute. Nice to see cars like this in the streets of my town.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Love his ute!!

[Cam]

Pretty sad story, would be a tough thing for someone that age (and from that era) to accept that they can are no longer capable of doing something seemingly simple like putting his boat in the water. Hope it hasn't deterred him, because i reakon good on him for giving it a go, and not just sitting in a nursing home waiting for the inevitable..

[jcxr]

The cheapest source of entertainment, is to go to a boat ramp and watch people endeavoring to reverse their trailers into the water, age has not much to do with the complete lack of ability in most instances.

[gtfpv]

good on him . sometimes the mind can be the same as when your 30 , but your body is 80 . remember though that at that age how many people on the planet born in his year are still on it . and how many can attempt that . i'm impressed with the guy . feeling embarrassed suggests he is a little pompas !!! . some people have to start giving things up at 1/2 his age and accept things and get on with it . very pleased for this guy and anyone like him .

[big_landau]

nice xr,love the pic

[EDManual]

yes good on him! Hope he tries again, even if he does take someone with him to help.

Yep, looks like a retro matchbox set!

[TMC]

My XF ute doesn't look a patch on that XR. I hope he enjoyed his outing on the water.

[deesun]

I guess when he had the boat on the trailer he could see which way it was going but when it is off he has no sight of the trailer. Good on him anyway I hope he had a good day out.

[Polyal]

That is very cool, and good that people helped out. I can understand how it would be frustrating to "loose" the skill...if you dont do it often its tricky.

Great ute and boat combo though.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by dave351cid

must be a bugger getting old.

It is, especially when you see all these bikini clad girls and.....

[macman]

It's an XR Falcon 500 ute.

Nice old boat too. I'm on the hunt for a timber inboard ski/speed boat too.

[Jim Goose]

We will all be in the same boat (no pun intended) one day and need to realise that loosing your licence because your too old to drive will mean a huge hit to self esteem and independance.

My old man drove until he passed away (88yrs old) though the last few yrs his driving was suffering (reactions a bit slow) and i was torn about his independance and telling him not to drive anymore.

[kaniSS]

Holy **** Evinrude 140 on that little thing. This old bloke must be a speed machine.