Hello!

I currently own a 40 foot sailboat but am considering jumping ship to power in the 5-10 year time horizon. My immediate interest in joining up was to post a classified ad but I've been a long time lurker and have enjoyed reading many of the posts here and learning. One thing about sailboats is that there are only about 4 or 5 basic interior configurations and only a few deck configurations to choose from while with power vessels there seem to be a huge variety of configurations and variations on different basic layouts. Figuring out what works best for us if and when we make the switch will be the biggest challenge.

Welcome aboard.

Welcome to the Trawler Forum and good luck with your search. Giving yourself 5 years to look is a great idea!

Greetings,
Welcome aboard. "...if and when we make the switch..." IF????? Do it NOW and do it OFTEN!

4arch, I am in the same situation as you. 40' sailboat but looking ahead to making a change. The TF crew have a wealth of great information. I am learning lots.

Same deal here, except I have a 31' Sailboat. =) Best of luck in your search! You will learn tons here and get excellent advice.

Oops.. And WELCOME!

4arch said:

One thing about sailboats is that there are only about 4 or 5 basic interior configurations and only a few deck configurations to choose from while with power vessels there seem to be a huge variety of configurations and variations on different basic layouts. Figuring out what works best for us if and when we make the switch will be the biggest challenge.

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It was pretty overwhelming for me when I first started to look. After a bit, you will start to quickly recognize the different types of design layouts and you will realize that at least in the 35-45 foot range there aren't all that many different layouts.

You will also start to develop a list of the things that you really like. One of the best suggestions that the TF crew gave me, and I will pass it on, is to charter some boats that are similar to the type of boat that you are interested in. I have yet to do it, but that is on my list for this winter. While I think I know what I want, until my wife and I actually experience them we won't really know for sure.

Thanks all for the welcome words and thoughts!

For those who've made the sail to power switch or are in the process of doing so, I'm curious what pushed you over the edge? I think for us the major factor is the realization that if we're going to be motoring 75% of the time anyway, we might as well be doing so on a boat that's roomier and more comfortable. Also we've never loved the fact that on a sailboat no matter how nice of a cockpit enclosure you have, you can't completely escape the elements while underway.

Greetings,
Mr. 4. "...what pushed you over the edge?" I've never been faced with that decision having been a stink potter from day one BUT from numerous observations, I think you've answered your own question....

4arch said:

Thanks all for the welcome words and thoughts!

For those who've made the sail to power switch or are in the process of doing so, I'm curious what pushed you over the edge? I think for us the major factor is the realization that if we're going to be motoring 75% of the time anyway, we might as well be doing so on a boat that's roomier and more comfortable. Also we've never loved the fact that on a sailboat no matter how nice of a cockpit enclosure you have, you can't completely escape the elements while underway.

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For me it was 2 fold.

Weather/Comfort:
One Sunday afternoon last summer we were motoring home in a driving rain. I was soaked. I put my hood up and what seemed like a gallon of water poured out of the hood on to my head and down my back. A few mins later A GB42 crossed our bow. I could see the steam coming off his cup of coffee through the windshield wipers. That was the turning point for me lol

Space:
Second one is that my wife loves boating. We try to go every single weekend and at least 2 week long trips each summer. She is a school teacher so it works out awesome (for me lol). When I get to the boat on Fridays. Everything has been loaded on, filled, put away etc. I just turn the key and we go. The only problem is that her whole summer consists of loading and unloading the boat. At 31' we do have nearly enuff storage to have a second set of everything on the boat, and we do not have refrigeration. Pretty much everything is brought on and off the boat every trip. There is no boat that she would consider too large =)

Oh yea and the motoring. We end up motoring a TON. Its probably more than 75% here. We joke that the windex at the top of the mast just points at where we are going.

I will definitely have a sunfish or something like that on the new trawler to scratch our sailing itch.

We took a slip overnight recently at a marina whose broker is a dealer for new and used Grand Banks. We were drooling.

4arch said:

For those who've made the sail to power switch or are in the process of doing so, I'm curious what pushed you over the edge? I think for us the major factor is the realization that if we're going to be motoring 75% of the time anyway, we might as well be doing so on a boat that's roomier and more comfortable

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You got it. Plus age. I could pull myself to the top of that mast with a bosun's chair when I was in my early sixties, but don't think I could do it now.

People who want to go to faraway places with strange sounding names, like my wife and I did, and who cannot afford a Krogen, etc., can do it with an affordable sailboat.

But now . . . been there, done that. The twilight years are here, and the time is more easy passing on a trawler than it was on the Allied Mistress.