Lifelong sailor seeking a trawler

Hello all, my 12th and last sailboat has gone under agreement. Now I'm looking for a trawler and hoping I can get some help here. I live in Florida near Ocala but spent most of my life in New England. My dream is to spend spring and fall at my home in Florida, summers in New England and winter in the keys and Bahamas. I'm a single handler now and looking for a trawler to do this in. Like all sailors I don't like to pay for diesel and think 8kts is fast. I'd like to keep the length around 32' with pilot house doors, a single diesel, bow thruster, genset, and seperate shower stall. The budget is about $100,000 for the right boat. Also, little if any exterior teak if it is possible. I'm a firm believer that cruising doesn't have to be camping. Suggestions?

Welcome to the Dark Side! Best of luck on your search for the new boat.

Hi Adagio, I am also a sailor looking at making the change, although I still have my sailboat. Lots of great information here and folks willing to share their expertise and knowledge. Good luck.

You would like a Pilgrim40, sailors are often drawn to them, the price is tough as only 42 were built but I think one is for sale in that range.

Adagio43 said:

Hello all, my 12th and last sailboat has gone under agreement. Now I'm looking for a trawler and hoping I can get some help here. I live in Florida near Ocala but spent most of my life in New England. My dream is to spend spring and fall at my home in Florida, summers in New England and winter in the keys and Bahamas. I'm a single handler now and looking for a trawler to do this in. Like all sailors I don't like to pay for diesel and think 8kts is fast. I'd like to keep the length around 32' with pilot house doors, a single diesel, bow thruster, genset, and seperate shower stall. The budget is about $100,000 for the right boat. Also, little if any exterior teak if it is possible. I'm a firm believer that cruising doesn't have to be camping. Suggestions?

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As a starting point, I would suggest just entering the information in Yacht World and then spending a few hours or days becoming familiar with the boats that might fit your criteria. I just entered "Trawler" "30-35'" and "$50k-100k" and "US" and got 52 boats.

Next I would look in detail at those 52 and what I liked and didn't like about each. Now there are other boats outside those because some might not have been listed as trawlers. But I see this as a starting place. With each boat that you look at the specs and photos on you will learn something. It might be, "ok I like the way that is laid out" or "I'd never want anything like that." It's just an immersion into a new language of powerboats vs. sail boats.

I would like to thank everyone for their welcome aboards and advice. Some specific items: SCOTTEDAVIS, thank you for recommending the Pilgrim 40. I had never heard of one of these and did some searching to see what you were talking about. The boat is probably exactly what I would want except, there's always an exception. The price point is too high for me and it's also too much boat for me alone. However, if I could afford it I would seriously look at it.

BandB, what you have suggested is pretty much what I have been doing for the last couple months or so. I've been on yacht world, Denison, boat trader, etc. It is pretty much how I developed my wants in the original post. Along the way I have found the following that appealed to but none met all my requirements.

Grand Banks 32...absolutely beautiful but more exterior teak than I want to deal with and no plot house doors.

Camano 32...seemed perfect but no pilot house doors and almost non existent side decks to go forward on. No seperate shower either but I could live with that.

Nordic Tug 32...everything I want but $$$$

So the search continues.

Yes Nordic Tugs are very nice and the 32 has been popular since it was introduced. One thing very discouraging from a buyers perspective, but encouraging to current owners is how high the resale value of Nordic tugs has been.

The oldest NT32 that I see right now is a 1988 and they still are asking $80k for it.

You could check out the classified here . William is 1/2 your budget . No bow thruster though .It has the pilot house doors and plenty side deck . Sorry about the teak .
Also you could look at an Eagle 32

Link?

As a sailboater, you are probably familiar with C & C yachts. I have just recently purchased a 1986 CML 37 trawler. It is built by C & C and has many familiar features found on sailboats, with twin 165 hp diesels. The boats appear to be well built in Canada and the two that I have seen are still in good condition without some of the issues the offshore built trawlers seem to have. The layout is comfortable and spacious and the hull shape is very comfortable in the waters around southern Vancouver Island. The only outside teak is around the rail. The downside is that there were less than 20 built. All the best in your search. There are so many good choices out there.

MBCML said:

As a sailboater, you are probably familiar with C & C yachts. I have just recently purchased a 1986 CML 37 trawler. It is built by C & C and has many familiar features found on sailboats, with twin 165 hp diesels. The boats appear to be well built in Canada and the two that I have seen are still in good condition without some of the issues the offshore built trawlers seem to have. The layout is comfortable and spacious and the hull shape is very comfortable in the waters around southern Vancouver Island. The only outside teak is around the rail. The downside is that there were less than 20 built. All the best in your search. There are so many good choices out there.

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They built the trawlers in Ontario, a total of 15. They build the sailboats now in Rhode Island.

Adagio43 said:

I'd like to keep the length around 32' with pilot house doors, a single diesel, bow thruster, genset, and seperate shower stall.

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Surprisingly, so far no one has mentioned the Island Gypsy 32 which i hold in high regard. (I owned the Gourmet Cruiser of this Halvorsen line of boats for 8 years.) Mine did not have a fly bridge or pilot house doors but some do. They are great boats and other members on this forum also own them. There many on Yachtworld both older and newer.

1998 Island Gypsy 32 Euro Sedan Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

I've attached a couple photos of my old boat but maybe dwhatty of this forum will chime in with a photo or two of his boat, Emily Anne. (It's a beauty!)

Another photo (same boat but new owner.)

Good to see the new owner is keeping her to similar standards as you always did Walt

A little bigger than what you are looking at, but added pluses are an awesome flybridge and a second cabin, and stairs not a ladder to the bridge. Mainship 390.

For So FL / Keys / Bahamas Flybridge very nice to have.

Most had single Cat or Yanmar with bow thruster, door at helm, separate shower, no outside teak.

They do come up with prices in your range, although most listings are higher.

I am biased, don't own one, have the original, but planning on one for my retirement boat.

Adagio43 said:

Camano 32...seemed perfect but no pilot house doors and almost non existent side decks to go forward on. No seperate shower either but I could live with that.

Nordic Tug 32...everything I want but $$$$

So the search continues.

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We were originally in the market for a Camano. Great boats. However, keep in mind that they are smaller than the Nordic Tug. If you go on board each, you will notice quite a difference. We were not actively looking for the Nordic Tug becuase of cost, but we got lucky and found one right after a deal on a Camano fell through. Worked well to our advantage. Oddly, the Camano owner was looking to upgrade to a Nordic Tug, and it was that deal falling apart that caused the owners to take the Camano off the market. I guess the stars just happened to have alligned for us. Best of luck on your search. We are just starting the search for our next, larger boat, and it will need to have a pilothouse with doors, as you have mentioned.

I think there is one CML 37 on the market currently. You should give it serious consideration. Fore and aft cabins each with ensuite and shower. Spacious main salon and very large bridge area with table and lots of seating. Twin diesels and lots of opening windows and hatches. Pilot doors on both sides, a full walk-around deck and stairs to the bridge. I looked at lots of boats in the size and price range and couldn't find more boat elsewhere with the same build quality. Probably a little biased

Some boats don't have railings directly opposite pilothouse doors. That's something I intentionally avoided.

Speaking of C&C, the Great Lakes 33 has some C&C in it's heritage, although I forget just what. It came in slight variations with some having a door beside the lower helm.

1981 Ontario Yachts Great Lakes 33 Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com