Kirtley Howe

Having good balance at any age is important. Having good balance when older is critical to being able to do the things we enjoy (like fishing). I have been an avid motorcycle rider for my entire adult life, and I really believe that has helped with my metal awareness, reaction time, judgement, physical endurance, and most of all my balance. It is funny how one form of recreation can have such an impact on another. 
I have to work around a number of "limitations" as I age. Back in 1980 (08/16/80 to be exact), I was in a very bad car wreck. I was driving my MG midget convertible to work. As I was cresting a hill I saw a 15 passenger Dodge van coming the other way, and drifting into my lane. I moved over...and kept moving over, until I was driving down the ditch at the side of the road, and coming to a complete stop. The van keep coming, and ran into the left front of my car. That turned my car sideways, which had the van collide with and climb up the driver side door, up over the windshield, and then stop parked on my head. The frame of my cars windshield was forced down thru my shoulder. The drivers side door was shoved into my left side. The clutch pedal was pushed thu my left food.
The total damages were:  Left foot partially amputated, and turned around backwards. Left ankle was totally separated/broken. Left knee was broken, and the kneecap was broken in half.  There was considerable nerve and muscle/tendon damage to lower left leg. Left hip was broken. Pelvis was broken. Six ribs on my left side were broken and my left lung was punctured. The windshield frame sliced through my left shoulder, and the impact broke my left shoulder and forced the shoulder joint several inches outside the skin. The tendons in the shoulder were severed, and the upper arm muscles were badly cut and damaged. (Note: I am left-handed).  My jaw was broken in two places, and a bunch of teeth were broken and knocked out. My left ear was partially cut off. The orbital bones around the eyes were broken. My nose was broken. My skull was fractured in 3 places. I had three badly damaged vertebrae. 3 ribs on my right side were broken. The muscle sheath on the left side of my back was torn off the bone. And I had a face full of broken glass. When they got me to the hospital the first two doctors to attended to me wanted to amputate what was left of my left foot. I refused to let them. They called in an orthopedic doctor (Cornell University's sports medicine doctor who also consulted with several pro football teams) He said he could put the foot/ankle back together and could reconstruct the shoulder, but he did not think I would be able to use my left hand again (due to the nerve damage) and would only have partial use of my left arm due to the bone, tendon, and muscle damage. He also told me that I may not walk again due to the damage to my back, and the damage to my ankle and foot, and if I did manage to walk it would most likely be with a canes or a walker for the rest of my life. I was told by the physical therapy people that I would be in rehab for at least 6 months to a year, and would most likely never be able to return to my work again, and would be disabled for the rest of my life. I left the hospital after 2 weeks. I had to learn to walk all over again. I had to learn how to use my left arm and hand again. I ended up with a bone marrow infection that had me on intravenous antibiotics every 6 hours for 3 months. I had a heplock installed and was doing the IVs at home. One of the things I did for rehab was to go fishing. A friend of mine would take me out in his 14 ft. boat. I got a kick out of some of the looks we got when I would tie an IV bag to an oar, and he would hold the oar straight up while the IV ran into my arm. Good times.   I returned to work in 5 months (with a walker, and only weighing 127 lbs. instead of my normal 185lbs.). It took 3 years and several more surgeries, but after all that I was pretty much "normal" again. I do have some weakness in my left shoulder and it gets tired/sore faster than I would like. I have trauma induced arthritis in my left ankle, shoulder, and back that gives me some grief, but for the most part I can deal with it. I do limp a bit by the end of the day. I think that fishing and motorcycling really aided in my recovery. Both were good exercise, and doing those things keep my mental state from becoming very depressed and bleak. I honestly thing fishing helped save my life. 
Twelve years ago I got lung cancer. I ended up having a third of my right lung removed. Not fun, and to do the surgery they make a large incision in your back. Great....nothing like having the muscles in the right side of the back hacked up to go along with the already damaged left side....oh, well, back to rehab. It took 2 years to get the full strength and range of motion to return to my back. The only long term problem I have from that is shortness of breath and loss of some stamina from missing a chunk of lung. Again, fishing helped preserve my sanity and aided in the physical recovery. Motorcycling helped a lot also. 
I will keep fishing until I am either dead or totally bed ridden. Being old(er), and having a busted up body does slow me down, and keeps me from doing some of the things I would like to do, I would love to fish like Kate does, but I am just physically unable to. I had to give up days of wade fishing a river...the body just can't do it anymore. But I still get out there and fish with fair regularity, and will continue to do so until it is impossible for me. Some days it is hard to get motivated to do things....and when the weather is cold and damp, it is very difficult to be motivated to go fishing....but then I remember when I could not even really move, and I thank my lucky stars that the possibility to go fishing even exists for me, and I suck it up and get out there. It is always worth it, and it helps keep me sane, and mobile.
For those who say it it hard to get motivated to go fishing when old/sore/tired......just think about those people who would kill just to be able to go fishing for a few minutes, but are completely unable to.  And then thank your lucky stars that you can. I know I do.

Look into Venture Heat Mesn's Heated Vests. They are actually intended for motorcycle riders but work great for fishing. They are very durable, water resistant, and comfortable (at least for me) to wear. They will keep you warm and seen to have good battery life.  Priced around $180, but worth it. 

Testing a battery with a multimeter won't tell you much. A battery can have a "surface charge" that shows 12.6 to 13 volts, and still be just about worthless. A multimeter cannot measure the batteries ability to hold a charge or supply amps. You need to load test them individually. As casts by fly mentioned you can do a poor mans load test using your trolling motor, but the only definitive test is to have them individually checked with a load meter.

I solved the problem of "nowhere to put the trash" by talking to a few local  businesses....it took asking more than one, but I found 3 different companies in my area (a grocery store, a small machine shop, and a convenience store) that were happy to let me discard a bag or two of trash I had picked up while fishing. I explained what I was doing, and they agreed it was a good thing and let me toss the trash in their dumpsters. Since then, I have almost always managed to find a business that will allow me to discard trash I have cleaned up while fishing at all the places I usually fish. If you explain what you are doing, a lot of businesses will cooperate. However, and I cannot stress this enough...DO NOT EVER discard trash into a commercial dumpster without getting permission from the business first.  On the rare occasion when I cannot find a business that will allow me to toss the collected trash, I take it home and cram it into my trashcan.