Recreational Trawler

The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
The 3 options for the earliest Nordic Tugs.
 

Attachments

  • ForumRunner_20160108_131443.jpg
    ForumRunner_20160108_131443.jpg
    43.9 KB · Views: 66
Marin said:
............ People use words however they see fit. There are correct uses and incorrect uses and ambiguous uses but it all comes down to the individual. How they use words is a reflection of a zillion things from their education to upbringing to knowledge to experience to communication skills, you name it. ............ .
Click to expand...

You seem to be putting yourself out there as the absolute authority on word usage a the fact is, this is only in your mind. There have been examples provided by people quoting other common uses of the word "trawler" but you seem oblivious to these examples.

I have tried to point out that the meanings and usage of words changes over time and even provided examples. Rather than admit to this, you are stuck with a dated definition and refuse to acknowledge the current common usage.

I will continue to describe my boat as a trawler and you will probably continue to insult my intelligence. So be it, there's no hope.
 
WesK said:
You seem to be putting yourself out there as the absolute authority on word usage
Click to expand...

Wrong again. I use dictionaries and other language guidelines as the basis for my statements.

There have been examples provided by people quoting other common uses of the word "trawler" but you seem oblivious to these examples.
Click to expand...
Wrong again. The fact that others use the word in other incorrect ways does not make them correct. It just makes them wrong in a different way.

I have tried to point out that the meanings and usage of words changes over time...
Click to expand...
Even my dog knows this. Anyone still breathing knows that language evolves. But this does not automatically make every incorrect, ignorant use of a word valid other than in the mind of the person who uses it incorrectly.

You are stuck with a dated definition and refuse to acknowledge the current common usage.
Click to expand...
Wrong again. It's not a dated definition according to the sources with a hell of a lot more authority and knowledge of the subject than either of us.

I will continue to describe my boat as a trawler and you will probably continue to insult my intelligence.
Click to expand...
There. FINALLY you got one right. I learned long ago not to expect ignorance to cure itself so I have no false expectations in this case, either.:)

What your posts tell me is that you are the exact target of the marketing folks who cooked up the application of the word "trawler" to attach to a cabin cruiser in the hopes of fooling the market into thinking their toy boats had the attributes of a truly seaworthy, rugged, working boat. The objective as a lot of us know, was to change the perception of a (somewhat) mass produced pleasure craft in the eyes of a specific group of buyers.

Like the guys who in the 1800s mixed river water, dye, alcohol and a bit of flavoring and flogged it to a gullible public as a cure for any ailment they might have had, the cruising boat manufacturers read their target market perfectly and fed it a term they knew would clamp onto their buyers' egos and desires and sucker them right on in.

And, as evidenced by this thread, it worked probably better than the market folks ever dreamed it would. When I read one of these "my toy boat's a trawler" posts what I see is a guy standing in front of snake oil wagon in some podunk town holding up a fistful of dollars to the "doctor" and clamoring for "one a' them bottles of magic elixir."

It's a trick as old as the hills. Hell, I and the people I work with use it in some form or other almost every day with our audiences. It should surprise us that it still works as well as it does. But despite today's technology, sophistication and communications, human nature never changes. People will fall for anything if you give them just the right shove.

The word "trawler" was the perfect shove in this case. It would be fascinating to know just how many toy boat sales the use of that word has been directly responsible for.
 
Last edited:
WesK said:
...the meanings and usage of words changes over time...
Click to expand...
True, but a change in usage does not automatically change the words true, real, correct or even legal meaning.

I keep waiting to read where some lawyer wins a case or has it thrown out because the opposing side used "then" for "than" or vice versa.

Change of use is often just laziness.
 
Sedan Cruiser, aka from the text a Long Range Diesel Cruiser....
 

Attachments

  • 35-Early-Brochure-4.jpg
    35-Early-Brochure-4.jpg
    122.5 KB · Views: 59
CPseudonym said:
Recreational trawler, hmmmm....
Click to expand...

I care...I liken this to the "lifeboat exercise" they often use in leadership courses.

So far based on the responses...I have plenty of water in the liferaft for me and my friends and the sharks are happy too. :D
 
Ran into my blackwater pump-out guy this morning at the boat. He showed interest in the Coot and had a few questions about it. He was surprised at the number of commercial boats in the marina, including trawlers, trollers, etc. He said he had operated a number of fishing vessels. He said the Coot would make a good fishing boat if the saloon was replaced by an open deck. I began to wonder if he wanted me to commit that the Coot was a trawler. Instead, I responded the builder said its design was based on "workboat" practices, and that the original design had a smaller saloon but larger cockpit to be more suitable for fishing.
 
For a change of pace, here's some history from someone who is actually an authority, William Garden in his 1977 book "Yacht Designs"
ImageUploadedByTrawler Forum1452301017.727454.jpg
ImageUploadedByTrawler Forum1452301075.769971.jpg


Keith
 
I believe trawling was performed with sailing craft at one time. Would that entitle builders of sailing boats the moniker of Trawler? I attach pictures of two working trawlers I passed today. They do not appear to have very much in common with most boats called Recreational trawlers and they are each very different in many respects from the other but are true trawlers. If the builders made similar boats with larger cabins and no trawl equipment would they still be trawlers? Basically any type of boat could be and may have been a trawler. The present use of the word for recreational power boats is a nonsensical misnomer latched on to by builders and sales people mainly because humans are not the least bit logical(ask Mr. Spock). For those who go to a Trawler Fest ask the builders and sales people to define what makes their boat a trawler. The use of the misnomer in this case is amplified by the fact that there is no meaningful definition of a recreational trawler in architectural or functional terms it is pure pie in the sky. Fortunately for builders and marine sales personnel it works well with the public. Not my saying but an old wisdom ( the masses are asses).
 

Attachments

  • trawler 2.jpg
    trawler 2.jpg
    91.5 KB · Views: 180
  • IMG_0413.jpg
    IMG_0413.jpg
    165 KB · Views: 179
Pack Mule said:
Spy I guess they do kinda favor each other .Maybe we could get Healhustler to photoshop my aft deck roof off .:ermm:
Click to expand...

Yes sir....I can tear that sucker right off of there. Good looking' boat either way.
 

Attachments

  • William without hardtop.jpg
    William without hardtop.jpg
    125.7 KB · Views: 364
healhustler said:
Yes sir....I can tear that sucker right off of there. Good looking' boat either way.
Click to expand...

Yes it is. I have always thought Pack Mule's boat is one of the best looking designs on this forum. With or without the cockpit cover. One can hang any name on it one wants but it won't change the fact it's a boat I would be very proud to own and operate up here in the PNW.
 
There's a Nordic Sport Tug in my marina. I always thought someone cut the cabin off. Now I know better. Thanks.
 
very long but thoughtful thread...all I know is I was told it was a trawler when I bought it and of course since then I have seen many with similar attributes that could definitely fit them in together as a "type or style" of pleasure boat. not all participants here fit that mold but they are varied and interesting all. I had a document that I cant find now that described them as boats manufactured in Taiwan in the '70s in fiberglass pieces and then shipped to USA to be completed. There were many "finishing " companies. Mine was completed for Willis Tool Co in Edmunds WA. in 1977 and on the plaque that commemorates this fact it is called a Puget Trawler.
 
Tangler, if what you say is right, then that design goes back further than I thought, and was resurrected here in Aus relatively recently (lie about 2005), as the Clipper 38 Evolution Series. Because it was considered the cockpit could do with more room, they almost immediately lengthened it by nearly a metre to make it the Clipper 40.

Boat Reviews - Read Boat Reviews, News & Boat Advice Online
 
Used boat adverts I`ve seen take the Clipper 40 back to 2003. I don`t recall a 38 advertised, though clearly they exist. The LOA of the 40 is said to be 40ft 6", bowsprit to swim platform. Some early examples have twin Cummins. Singles may have bowthruster only or thrusters both ends.
The Clipper resemblance to Tangler`s handsome 38C&L Puget Trawler is uncanny. I guess "trawler" design is trawler design, the changes seem to come more in fitout than hull and cabin, though aluminium window frames replacing wood is a huge plus.
Were I to update on the IG36 I would happily buy the same boat newer and better fitted out, a role nicely filled by the Clipper, which best I can tell is the MT40 in USA.
 
Yes, well 2005 was a bit of a guess on my part. I also would be (have been) over the moon with a Clipper 40. Not to be now, but one can only dream, I guess.
 
refugio said:
Good news everyone - the world has evolved and many (most) of us do indeed have "recreational trawlers":

Trawler
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Trawler may refer to:

Boats[edit]
  • Fishing trawler, used for commercial fishing
  • Naval trawler, a converted trawler, or a boat built in that style, used for naval purposes
  • Recreational trawler, a pleasure boat built trawler-style

Interestingly, that disambiguation page was last updated more than a year ago. Just think of all the keystrokes that could have been saved if this knowledge had been widely available. :flowers:
Click to expand...


I looked this up today because I always thought of a trawler as a fishing boat and that's what Google said it was..... a fishing boat. :ermm:

I've seen some mighty fine 'fishing' boats on here.
 
scurvy-yard-dog said:
I looked this up today because I always thought of a trawler as a fishing boat and that's what Google said it was..... a fishing boat. :ermm:

I've seen some mighty fine 'fishing' boats on here.
Click to expand...
AGREE
The only trouble with that recreational trawler definition is that it depends on a trawler style. A trawler is a boat that trawls nets be it a sail craft an OB motor driven boat or a flat bottomed aluminum boat. Since there is no real definable thing as a trawler style and it could be any style we come back to any boat you want to call a trawler is one since you can not disprove it by matching to a specific definition. The term is a misnomer and somewhat of a nonsense description and will probably always be until it is specifically defined. Needless to say it is here to stay because it fills a need. I for one would love to have this forum make a real stab at defining a Recreational Trawler or is it impossible?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Adopo
Stability and righting ability
Replies
19
Views
3K
Hippocampus
H
Sabre602
37' Diesel Trawler, Former Commercial Fisher - Bellingham, Washington
Replies
4
Views
3K
delirious duo
D
El Dia
Greetings
Replies
2
Views
287
RT Firefly
RT Firefly
P
  • Locked
2000 Cherubini Independence 50, Virginia Beach/Norfolk, $500k
Replies
8
Views
4K
Insequent
Insequent
W
Learning how to fly fish (as in paravanes)
Replies
4
Views
800
Whodgins
W

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom