Adventures in Retirement

In bygone eras, retirement typically meant slowing down, staying home, and accepting the idea that one had become old. Today, however, that’s a concept that more and more people are ignoring; none more so than five of the small-boat enthusiasts in this month’s issue.

When Chris Price was thinking about retirement in 2013, he decided to fulfill a lifelong ambition to build a boat, choosing the 13′ 6″ Tammie Norrie design. He had no plan for how he and his wife, Jacqui, would use the boat, but after they launched BETTY the following year, they discovered a mutual love of rowing. When Nic Compton caught up with them last fall, he learned that “within a few years there was barely a patch of water in the West Country they hadn’t explored.” In the years that followed, and at a time when many of their contemporaries must surely have been slowing down and putting their feet up, the Prices were rowing down the River Thames from Oxford to Rotherhithe; exploring the River Severn; and picnicking on the banks of the Great Ouse.

As I read Nic’s story, it occurred to me that the Prices are not only defining a new approach to retirement, they are also giving a whole new meaning to the term “downsizing.” For most, downsizing means exchanging a larger house for a smaller one in order to free up some capital with which to relax, unwind, and make life easier. But the Prices have downsized from the relative comforts of a 28′ sailboat to the more spartan accommodations of a rowboat with neither shelter nor auxiliary power. And for years now they have delighted in rowing their way through southern England, in an unconventional approach to aging that appears to be keeping them young.

At first glance, Gerald and Petra Trumpp’s story in Germany has little in common with that of the Prices. But there are similar threads. Like Chris, Gerald came late to boatbuilding. In 2017, he took a stitch-and-glue canoe-building class in Berlin, and it sowed a seed. As he approached retirement, Gerald and his wife, Petra, dreamed of exploring the Danube “in a bigger boat.” As a preliminary step before embarking on a major build, Gerald built a Northeaster Dory to gain more boatbuilding experience. But then, their circumstances changed and the dreams shifted. There would be no big boat and, for now, rowing the dory down the Danube was also not an option. But Gerald was not to be thwarted. Instead, he and Petra would learn to sail the dory. He installed a sailing rig and, through trial and error, they figured out the rudimentaries together.

By the time Gerald was fully retired, he and Petra were determined to go adventuring under sail. But for that, they would need a different boat: the dory was great for rowing, but when it came to sailing it was just a little tippy. So, Gerald built a Goat Island Skiff , a boat that is a tad more stable and offers more speed. And this coming summer, they hope to start turning their dreams into reality. Like the Prices in England, Gerald and Petra are eschewing the idea of slowing down in retirement, and instead, are looking forward to sailing their skiff on the rivers and lakes of France, Germany, Italy, and perhaps beyond.

Christopher Cunningham

Christopher Cunningham enjoying his Bolger Pirogue on a cold day in February. Top picture: Gerald and Petra taking the first sail in their new Goat Island Skiff; photograph courtesy of Gerald Trumpp.

And then there’s our very own editor-at-large, Christopher Cunningham. Regular readers will recall that in September Chris stood down from the editorship of Small Boats, muttering things about wanting to slow down. If any of us interpreted that as taking it easy, we were surely mistaken. In the months following his retirement, Chris has been busier than ever and, since Christmas, has repaired, refitted, refloated, and now reviewed a Bolger Pirogue. He could have waited for spring but, instead, chose to do sea trials on three consecutive near-freezing days in February—sailing, poling, paddling, rowing, and even putting the boat through a capsize drill. And when he says, in conclusion, that he’s looking forward to some summer cruising, you can rest assured that he means it.

What these five people, and many Small Boats readers like them, have in common is a desire to do things differently. And more than that, they share an understanding that while retirement may mean going slower, that’s not always a bad thing, for if you go slower in a small boat, you can discover the world anew.

Over the Bar

In last month’s Small Boats, I wrote about the collaboration between John Watkinson and the Elliott Brothers, and the development of the range of Drascombe boats. Recently, from England, came the sad news that Katherine “Kate” Mary Watkinson, wife of the late John Watkinson and for whom he named the prototype Drascombe Lugger, KATHERINE MARY, died February 20, 2025, aged 93. Douglas Elliott writes, “It was my privilege to know Kate for more than 67 years; she was a lovely lady who will be missed. Kate and John are survived by their son James and daughter Emma.”

Courtesy of Douglas Elliott

Kate and James Watkinson at the 2015 launching of the Drascombe Longboat TENACITY. The boat was built for the Plymouth and Devon Schools Sailing Association and was adapted for sailors with disabilities.