Freshwater vs. Salt Water

Hello,

I'm having trouble finding a trawler in the Great Lakes that fits my budget and needs. For this reason I need to widen my search and am considering looking in Florida and East Coast.

Does anyone have thoughts or is there already a thread on Freshwater vs. Salt Water?

Thank you

We bought our current boat about 4 years ago. We ended up buying it in Virginia since we could not find what we wanted around here (Saginaw Bay, MI). We found one that needed quite a bit of TLC but that is my hobby and what I really like doing. We ran it home in the spring of 2016. It was about 1400 miles and we took about 45 days doing it. We really were not in a hurry and looked at the trip as a vacation. It went really well and we had a great time. I made 2 trips to Virginia before we brought it home. I spent about 5 weeks total there getting it ready for the trip home, putting on new electronics and doing some deferred maintenance and a shakedown cruise. I have since done lots and lots of work and upgrades to is since. I have a couple more years working on it to get everything that I would like to do done. The problem is that I will probably want to sell it then and buy another boat to work on, but I am not sure I have another boat in me... Good luck in your search. If I can answer any specific or even general questions please ask. Oh, BTW welcome aboard.

trawlin said:

Hello,

I'm having trouble finding a trawler in the Great Lakes that fits my budget and needs. For this reason I need to widen my search and am I'm considering looking in Florida and East Coast.

Does anyone have thoughts or is there a already a thread on Freshwater vs. Salt Water?

Thank you

Click to expand...

No shortage of decent vessels between St Louis and the Great Lakes if you consider Sea Ray, Carver, Cruisers, Bayliner etc. What is a trawler anyway?

sunchaser said:

No shortage of decent vessels between St Louis and the Great Lakes if you consider Sea Ray, Carver, Cruisers, Bayliner etc. What is a trawler anyway?

Click to expand...

For me a few trawler characteristics would be slow moving displacement or semi displacement hull, single direct drive diesel, room for supplies and provisions, closed cooling, protected keel and outfitted for anchorages.

Nice DeFever by the way.

Crappy SS if on freshwater boats requires less effort to keep up.

If you're looking at boats listed in brokerages, Annapolis MD, Virginia Beach VA, Charleston SC, and Stuart FL were areas I routinely end up going to look at boats.

What's your budget? Some areas may not have have boats in your price range.

Ted

FF said:

Crappy SS if on freshwater boats requires less effort to keep up.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. I'm not sure what SS means.

O C Diver said:

If you're looking at boats listed in brokerages, Annapolis MD, Virginia Beach VA, Charleston SC, and Stuart FL were areas I routinely end up going to look at boats.

What's your budget? Some areas may not have have boats in your price range.

Ted

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25-30K US, 1977-1985 Marine Trader double cabin type.

I'd like to find one to start my loop on here in WI in Oct or more southern later in the year with the goal of being back in WI around June 2020.

trawlin said:

25-30K US, 1977-1985 Marine Trader double cabin type.

I'd like to find one to start my loop on here in WI in Oct or more southern later in the year with the goal of being back in WI around June 2020.

Click to expand...

I would focus in Florida. The Saint Johns river and Okeechobee waterway have marinas and boatyards with the older boats. That price range will likely keep what you're looking for out of the high rent districts. You may be more likely to find them in "do it yourself " boatyards that post listings of boats for sale. The price range will keep most brokers from listing them. There are also a few places to look in the FL Keys.

Ted

"Thanks for your reply. I'm not sure what SS means."

SS is stainless steel , common on railings .

Florida is the graveyard for many cruising boats.

The prices may be way lower as the cosmetics die first.

Craigh's List and Florida Mariner are on line and frequently have fixer up ers that boat brokers wont touch.

The glut of boats ib FL lowers the price of great boats too.


Good hunting!!