Sailing with prescription lenses

[Barquito]

Always use a strap on your expensive glasses:

Being a slow learner, I have lost two pairs of prescription glasses to the bottom of our lake. The first pair was lost when I was doing an intentional capsize in a dinghy lesson (forgot I had glasses on). The second, when I was moving my arm in a gesture to point in the direction I wanted a friend to turn the boat... my finger caught the edge of the glasses, and flung them to the depths of Lake Mendota. Lesson learned... maybe.

[arf145]

I wear progressives all the time, and I'm lucky that they work well for me. For sunglasses I use Vistana over-glasses. I tell myself the Vistana's look less geezerish than some

My main problem with the progressives comes when working on the boat, not sailing. Can never seem to get the best focus when working on the engine or the like.

[silverbeard]

Originally Posted by arf145

I wear progressives all the time, and I'm lucky that they work well for me. For sunglasses I use Vistana over-glasses. I tell myself the Vistana's look less geezerish than some

My main problem with the progressives comes when working on the boat, not sailing. Can never seem to get the best focus when working on the engine or the like.

I too have had good success with progressives but also trouble when working on stuff in tight quarters getting my head in the right place so that what I want to see is in focus. When I got new lens last year, I got new frames as well which came with polarized sunglasses that attach to the glasses with a magnet in the bridge of the sunglasses. It works well.

[Brent Swain]

I wore glasses for years. Melted a tiny hole in the temples, with a pin heated cherry red on the galley stove , held in vise grips, and ran a monofilament 15 lb fishing line thru it with a knot in the end. Melted the end round so it wouldn't scratch. Ran the hole lengthwise so it wouldn't chafe.
Licking them is the best way to get salt spray off. Smeared a bit at first , but quickly clears up.
Then 3 years ago, I had laser surgery, the best money I ever spent. Now , it's like having 7X50 binocs on where the glasses were. Wunnerful.
I now need reading glasses, but that's 5% of the time vs 95% for the former glasses. Reading glasses cost me $3 a pair, so I have plenty around.

[hellosailor]

"Can never seem to get the best focus when working on the engine or the like."
I find the same thing, can't get any useable portion of the lens tuned for "fingertips" distance, so I keep a slightly older pair with an rx that works at that range for "fixing this" days.
More incentive to fix things right the first time, so they don't need to be done again.

[ccriders]

My experience with progressives was disasterous. They only work in the straight ahead mode. You loose all focus periferally and can't work on anything that is not perfectly posistioned in front of you.
My answer is tri-focals for all around use and specialty bifocals for music reading and computer work. The trifocals would work for these applications but you don't get the breath of vision (left to right plus top to bottom) that is needed.
I've just ordered new trifocals plus polarized very dark trifocals for sailing. I have been using transitions but they just don't get dark enough and you get a lot of glare from the water.
High quality tri-focals are easy to get used to and you really miss them when you put on bifocals.
John

[bandaidmd]

I just use the semi custom clip on's from Wal Mart, the ones that are all lens with a telescoping spring at the bridge weigh almost nothing and the cost is only 10 bucks. I tried the magnetic clip ons like someone else said but the extra few ounces of weight annoyed me. I found a pair or regular sunglasses that have a bifocal area in the bottom that's not polarized so you can still see your electronics, if you can get by without a prescription lens they work great for our older eyes.

[redfishnc]

I wear progressive Polaroids, had difficult time with contacts and eyes are too dry for LASIK. Expensive but worth it.

[travlineasy]

UPDATE:

After several visits to the eye care center that performed the surgery on my eyes my sight is slowly, but surely getting worse. I've seen 4 different doctors at the center, but have not seen the person that actually did the surgery since the procedures were performed. (He may be hiding from me.)

I briefly talked with another eye surgeon from another group and he told me in no uncertain terms that I should NOT be having these problems. I have scheduled an appointment with him on the 27th and will post the results.

Ironically, everyone that I talked with that had a hard, acrylic lens implant now has 20/20 vision and no problems. At least 2 of 5 people I've talked with that had soft lens implants experienced the same problems I've encountered. From MY perspective, if you must have lens implants, go for the hard lens--no matter what the eye surgeons recommend.

Good Luck,

Gary

PS: I now have to use a 21-inch PC monitor in order to see 14-point font on the screen. Prior to the surgery, while wearing progressive lens eye glasses I was able to easily see 10-point font on a 17-inch screen.

[SVAuspicious]

Gary - Sorry about your experience. I hope it works out.

Thanks to everyone for their input. I'll keep the thread updated as I go through the decision process and see how things go.