I fly less now due to cost considerations, but I wouldn’t dream of quiting and I make an effort when I fly to get some utility out of it. After selling the Mooney I joined a flying club and it’s doing quite well, although it’s members average age is a point of concern.
Stickandrudderman wrote:
I found the responsibilities of being skipper much more onerous on a boat than a plane.
Being on the water might be riskier, too (at least for minor incidents) – it’s rare we go out sailing and don’t hear at least one mayday call although it’s usually not sail boats (mostly jetskis/kayaks/dinghies we’ve heard so far, although motorboats seem to sink quite a bit! Our local port was on the BBC’s “Saving Lives at Sea” last week for the rescue they did early this year after a sail boat got snared up on a lobster pot trying to come into the harbour to shelter from a storm, and ended up wrecked on the rocks. The owner was an experienced skipper (of about 30 years) who had just bought the boat.
One time we went out for just two hours and heard four mayday calls.
In flying, hearing one during an entire lifetime of flying is rare! The worst I’ve heard in about 1400 hrs of flying is a pan pan from a student who got lost.
Stickandrudderman wrote:
Sailing is much more difficult to do solo and for some reason I found the responsibilities of being skipper much more onerous on a boat than a plane.
I’d think it is also much more time consuming than flying? Obviously much slower too.
Mooney_Driver wrote:
I’d think it is also much more time consuming than flying?
That depends. Lots of people sail in regattas. Each Wednesday there is a regatta here in the fjord for anyone to participate. It takes that evening. Going longer trips take more time of course. You count days rather than hours 
How many pilots have packed it all up due to the coronavirus situation?
Is that the title of the thread? Well, not many answers given here, and I have no clue either…
One thing I sure know is that the virus (hype) made me realise once more how fragile my passion is… one more reason to make the most of it… Now… As long as I can…
I’ll save the sailing (and golf, etc) for later, thanks 
I went from flying to sailing due to cost in 1965. No problems with solo sailing. I returned to flying in 1986. Not tempted to boats again, although I live overlooking the harbour.
alioth wrote:
Being on the water might be riskier, too (at least for minor incidents) – it’s rare we go out sailing and don’t hear at least one mayday call although it’s usually not sail boats (mostly jetskis/kayaks/dinghies we’ve heard so far, although motorboats seem to sink quite a bit! Our local port was on the BBC’s “Saving Lives at Sea” last week for the rescue they did early this year after a sail boat got snared up on a lobster pot trying to come into the harbour to shelter from a storm, and ended up wrecked on the rocks. The owner was an experienced skipper (of about 30 years) who had just bought the boat.One time we went out for just two hours and heard four mayday calls.
In flying, hearing one during an entire lifetime of flying is rare! The worst I’ve heard in about 1400 hrs of flying is a pan pan from a student who got lost.
I made one once. We were halfway between Tenerife and Lanzarote, and as the sun came up the forestay parted from the deck. The mast was swaying around like a palm tree in a hurricane and I suggested to the skipper that an early call was in order since if the mast came down (a) it could really hurt or kill someone, and (b) we’d lose the ability to make a radio call over any non-trivial distance.
We got an aeroplane and later a boat from the Spanish coastguard in attendance, but managed ourselves in the end. They seemed glad of the shout as an excuse to exercise their equipment, and we took them a case of beer once we’d limped into Gran Canaria.
The August info-pilote magazine has an article about the president of Gap-Tallard replacing their DR400/120s with Rotax two seaters. The annual flying hours before and after Covid are constant, but the profile has changed considerably: school usage has increased from 40% to 60% (estimated up to 70%); and, with the exception of Corsica, trips beyond the local area have almost disappeared. This agrees with what others have already said.
In flying, hearing one during an entire lifetime of flying is rare!
Just noticed this. Off the original topic, but I did hear one once. I was returning to Livermore (KLVK) from an aerobatic flight, and a pilot in a Bonanza made a Mayday call that his engine had stopped. ATC was very cool and very good and tried to vector him to a little strip nearby, but in the end he landed in a field. There were no injuries but I don’t know what happened to the aircraft.
