Well Lady Jessie, I hope it's not a given! Our retirement plans had to await both the arrival of state pensions and staying put to enjoy the early years of four grandchildren from our three daughters.

Now, Jill (65) and I (67) , are heading for the Eastern Mediterranean at the end of May. Neither of us has eons of sailing experience, although I have crewed for a number of years, more recently taken the RYA Yachtmaster theoretical and Day Skipper practical, and Jill has taken competent crew practical.

We've had a shake down sail from the Medway to Falmouth two weeks ago, with a mixed bag of weather and sea conditions which, hopefully, have shown up any major glitches. Now we are waiting for a sensible weather window, and the arrival of our delivery skipper - to guide us through the next leg of our journey, to Biscay, Gibraltar, and to Mediterranean Spain. After that we're on our own!

At our advanced age(s) I guess we'll never get to be real seamen, but we both love learning new skills and meeting new people: so if I find retirement is wasted on me I'll come calling on you and demand a dram.