Full time cruisers

Just wondering how many of us are full time cruisers. We have been out for 20 months, cruising the LOOP and our second year in the Bahamas. I estimate that 5% of the boats I've seen in the Bahamas are trawlers. We have an Albin 36DC and have only seen three others since we started.

I'm in.

Looks like I'm the first vote for "full time" but it comes with a caveat. When we sell the house this summer and I hang up my fire boots the wife and I will be cruising full time for several years before deciding on a home base. The plan is to do the loop the first year and then do the snowbird thing spending time exploring places we found on the loop in a more leisurely pace.

We have given ourselves a rough 3 year window to decide where we may want a condo (most likely) but who knows. We met several couples this winter who started with the same plan but are still full time 10 years later. I guess only time and health will decide.

5% of the boats are trawlers in the Bahamas. I would estimate to 3 to 4% in the Eastern Caribbean among the cruisers.

I have been fultime cruising for just over a year and loving it. Kind of looping.... Started the loop near Tampa Feb 2014 cruised the Keys headed north then missed a turn some were near New York and ended up in Boston. Enjoyed Summer on my home waters Cape Cod and the Island. Then back to SW Florida... Should be in The Bahamas now, but had a mutiny. My girlfriend had to go back to the frozen north to help out a very sick friend.

My trawler a HerShine 37 is a close cousin of your Albin 36. Why do you think so few trawlers in the Bahamas?

Well the plan is 1-6 months but in practice, for a variety of excuses, its only been short vacations since returning to Oz.

I don't know why so few trawlers here. We are in georgetown now. Fuel and water are available along the way. Last count a few days ago was 325 sail/power at anchor here. On the other hand it has been blowing 20+ for the past 2 weeks. We are about 5 miles from town, great dinghy rides.

Spike said:

Looks like I'm the first vote for "full time" but it comes with a caveat. When we sell the house this summer and I hang up my fire boots the wife and I will be cruising full time for several years before deciding on a home base. The plan is to do the loop the first year and then do the snowbird thing spending time exploring places we found on the loop in a more leisurely pace.

We have given ourselves a rough 3 year window to decide where we may want a condo (most likely) but who knows. We met several couples this winter who started with the same plan but are still full time 10 years later. I guess only time and health will decide.

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Hello. Don't I count?

meridian said:

I don't know why so few trawlers here. We are in georgetown now. Fuel and water are available along the way. Last count a few days ago was 325 sail/power at anchor here. On the other hand it has been blowing 20+ for the past 2 weeks. We are about 5 miles from town, great dinghy rides.

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In our trip from Georgetown to Trinidad and the six years since in the Eastern Caribbean we have seen few trawlers and almost without exception they have been full displacement.

Does anyone have an opinion as to why there are so few trawlers?

Daddyo said:

Hello. Don't I count?

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Are you sure you have voted?

Bay Pelican said:

In our trip from Georgetown to Trinidad and the six years since in the Eastern Caribbean we have seen few trawlers and almost without exception they have been full displacement.

Does anyone have an opinion as to why there are so few trawlers?

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Most trawler guys I know are looking for relaxation not true adventure.

There is just a bit too much open water that people would have to cross to get there. Once there it wouldn't be an issue.

Because many have not really cruised all that far....and are already a bit older....the Bahamas satisfy the palm tree, coral reef types and the rest of the tens of thousands of miles of exploration within the loop or just withing 1000 miles of their home.

Sailboats are better suited for the passage and sailors buy them with distant horizons in mind...even though many never make it.

Of course it's all gross generalization....but mainly because of the types of trawler people you associate with too which could slant anyone's input.

Terry, I can't get your Blog to work.

On the west coast, specifically Mexico, there are a lot more trawlers/power boats than in the Caribbean. We would be in anchorages and the split would be 50/50 a lot of times. In my opinion, the seasonal conditions are betting for the power boating crowd with flatter seas and less wind (no trades). The comment we heard the most from the sailboat crowd was, "I though we'd be sailing more than we are".

Daddyo said:

Hello. Don't I count?

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Sorry Daddyo, when I logged in there were no other votes showing for "full time". I ass-u-med I was the first. My most humble apologies.

A pitiful response in the polls so far. 24 votes and the thread has 554 views. Get out and vote.

Shucks

I quit updating my blog last year after WEEBLY and GOOGLE MAPS both made changes to their apps.

My experience mirrors Terry's, moved aboard KaJen, a single engine 36' Marine Trader, two yeargs ago; Loop, Keys, Exumas, Chesapeake, west coast of Florida, back to Bahamas (currently at Great Harbour Cay, Berry Islands). All in over 11,000 miles with no significant boat issues.

I am considering a trip down the Carib to Granada and perhaps up to and through the Panama Canal and on to Baja/Sea of Cortez.

So what are my concerns? Certainly not the distance; at 6,000 miles or so it is roughly half the distance I have done in the last two years. Longer and potentially rougher ocean passages? In general with a bit of care, those passages are fairly low risk, but my little boat is not designed to withstand big weather. For all intents and purposes, this would be an extended coastal cruise. So a consideration but not a show stopper. For me the real issue is being a long, long way from help if something goes wrong with the boat or me ( I am a 66 year old single hander).

While a sailboat can put up a scrap of cloth and limp to help, a Trawler, especially a single engine one, does not have that option. So that is, in my opinion, why so few trawlers are seen in far/remote areas.

Arch

Hmm...hard to quantify.

I liveaboard full time. I don't keep a permanent slip during June, July, and August when I'm cruising in BC and Alaska. The rest of the year I moor the boat in Anacortes or Seattle depending on the month. During fall, winter, and spring I get out cruising at least a couple weekends a month, usually more.

We cruise 2/3 of the year. We take six week periods cruising and 3 week breaks at home, still often on the water.

As to why not more trawlers in the Bahamas, most trawler owners only cruise the coasts and rivers. They are more than capable of crossing to the Bahamas but they don't. I see owners of KK's and Grand Banks and Tugs and others who if it's even 3-4' outside decide to stay on the ICW. 5-6' definitely they avoid. Many also don't like to cruise overnight and that's required to go to the Bahamas. Many trawler owners seldom do more than 50 miles in a day. There is nothing at all wrong with any of this, just answering the Bahamas and Caribbean question.