Trawler vs Keelboat for liveaboard

[Simi 60]

We would have preferred another sailing vessel

But it had to be comfortable like a small apartment, carry a decent cruising load, have space for big solar, big tender and big household style refrigeration and still be able to actually sail.

That is a very rare and expensive unicorn.

Plus areas where we intend cruising mostly have either no wind or too much wind.
Observations over several decades have sailboats motoring like mad on calm days and mostly not going anywhere when there is wind.

They may as well have bought a comfortable motor cruiser that actually motors well.
Most would be better off financially and, be more comfortable doing it.

[Osprey69]

Our C & C 40 is a VERY sweet sailing machine and we intended to keep it in New England. Went back last year to spend the summer. Finally admitted to ourselves that we motored way more often (75%) than we wanted to and realized we were done with cave cruising. She is on the market.

Cave living was never an option. Hence Rogue.

[socalrider]

I think the real advantage for sailboats aside from the pleasure of sailing is that they scale down better than trawlers for long distances; you can get a 30-35' sailboat which will take you safely around the globe (slowly) for $30k. And at that size everything is pretty inexpensive. There's no equivalent for trawlers; the closest equivalent will be an order of magnitude more expense.

This throws a lot of people off - buying a boat is emotional, and the idea of setting off to cross an ocean is romantic, though few actually do it.

[DDW]

It makes a difference where you are. In SF Bay where I now keep my sailboat, a trawler is relatively useless. The wind (and corresponding steep chop) are very dependable, distances are short unless you want to go somewhere else, then a long way away in open ocean. The last boat I kept here for 15 years and used about 40 gallons of diesel in that time, used (sailed) frequently. On my current boat, brought down from the PNW in 2018, I'm still using the diesel I purchased up there. The engine is fired only for getting in and out of the berth.

[PierreR]

The mentioned agility was a very big deciding factor is going to trawler for me. Agility is much more than working on deck. Stairs and ladders are typically steeper and fewer steps. That gets old fast.
The biggest factor is working on them. In sailboats the engine room and other spaces tend to be much more cramped and the surfaces much more uneven and sloped making it very difficult to get into any kind of a comfortable position to work on them. The result is pain, cramps and fatigue. Your screen name would suggest that this is probably important.

[backinblue]

Originally Posted by mvweebles

Ah yes......except a sizeable percentage of trawler owners own or have owned sailboats. The inverse is not true.

Peter

Good point Peter, as usual.

[WestCoastMcgyver]

Thanks everyone, really appreciate the insights. Yes, CharlieO - posted on a sailing forum too, seems much more of a "cult" sailing group over there, not trying to offend anyone, just doing due diligence. The romance of sailing hits hard up against the reality of navigating these waters of the PNW as many have eluded too. Dead calm up Jervis Inlet motorsailing the 40km may as well have been in a Trawler. I mentioned my trip back from Gibsons on a wet southeaster :-( I like the idea of provisioning for a month at a time, harder to do in a 37' sailboat (storage issues) as well as power (generator on a trawler) Solar is hit and miss at the 50th parallel. Enough rambling, thanks for the dialogue!

[ronobrien]

I have been a lifelong sailor and lived on my sailboat in the Caribbean for a few years. I just went to a trawler. More creature comforts for the size. Get there sooner. More access to locations due to less draft (air draft on the ICW) and my offshore days are pretty much over.

[eheffa]

For years, I tried to convince my good wife to buy a sailboat; but, when we chartered she would say that she didn't like being wet and cold, didn't like the "tilting" deck and when we got to a nice anchorage felt like we were stuck in a dark basement.

"What about a powerboat?", she would ask. I would grumble that they weren't as seaworthy... to which she would ask: "Why don't the Coast Guard and the fishermen have sailboats?" I had no good answer for that.

Anyways, eventually, I realized that unless I listened to her, we'd never have a boat. Like the OP, we live on Vancouver Island and could have access to several lifetimes of remote and scenic coastline exploring.

We bought a Nordic Tug 37 and this has opening up a wonderful world of coastal cruising for us. Having a boat that cruises comfortably and economically in all sorts of weather at 8 - 9 kts and can push up to 17 in a pinch means being able to time tidal slack-time windows or transit Johnstone Strait in a single tide cycle before the next bad weather moves in. With the time constraints of jobs and family, we can enjoy a wider cruising range with our holiday time than many of our sailboat friends.

When we get to nice anchorage in December, we can enjoy happy hour with a panoramic view from the pilothouse. No more dark basements or being wet and cold.

As to seaworthy? Our boat is remarkably good in snotty sea conditions or in the occasional open ocean transit. The boat can take a lot more than we can.

I don't see us ever going back to sail.

[thataway]

PNW? No question trawler. We spent 4 "seasons" (Mid April to Mid Oct) sailing from Sequim Wa, to AK, and then back. Cal 46 (modified) is as much as equal sail/power "motor sailer". In the PNW we were under power 90%. Sailing down the coast, and thru the Panama Canal and then up to Pensacola, we sailed 90% of the time.

[socalrider]

Originally Posted by thataway

PNW? No question trawler. We spent 4 "seasons" (Mid April to Mid Oct) sailing from Sequim Wa, to AK, and then back. Cal 46 (modified) is as much as equal sail/power "motor sailer". In the PNW we were under power 90%. Sailing down the coast, and thru the Panama Canal and then up to Pensacola, we sailed 90% of the time.

Love the Cal 46. Almost bought one but decided we needed 3 full cabins. That was the boat that put us on the path to trawlers.

[Capt Ray]

I am 63 years old, my Admiral is 60. She has MS, and uses a cane on docks and on land. A wheel chair at boat shows and museums. Trawler with swim platform and walk thru transom. No ladders, molded F/G stairs to the fly bridge (MS 390) is our choice. We have railings and extra hand holds all around the perimeter of our MS 390. She LOVES it.

However, if several of those factors were not in-play, we'd prefer a sail boat with a keel, that can help us choose the outside routes more often than the ICW skinny waters... and then there is the *security* of getting home by sail if/when needed.

I grew up with my familiy's 31 ft Seafarer full-keel sailboat. I was heading out in the afternoons LOVING white caps while all my class mates (many of whom were lobstering) where heading IN when I was heading OUT!

It did not take me long to figure out that a cruising "rag hanger" puts their miles on in the afternoons, trying to make port at sunset before dark. Conversely, a "smoker" was up with the sun trying to make their destination by noon or 1:00pm before the wind picked up... which made for an uncomfortable day at sea. (generalizing in both cases).

SO, the crux of the matter for ME is the fitness of your CREW to be climbing all over a sail boat vs. making it easy to get on and off the boat without assistance in many ports of call. Imagine how my Admiral would feel if she ALWAYS needed my assistance to simply get on and off our boat?!?!?!

Then there is the issue of what YOUR crew's preferred time of day to be underway.

Do you "like" the idea of staying on the "inside" on the ICW?
OR
Do you "lust" for the ability to go out when you want to and have the *security* of sailing as a back up plan. Obviously, twins can help.

That's my 2 cents! Hope you enjoyed.

Ray
Shellerina.com

Doing the LOOP is easy... some open water for sure... but mostly no blue water.
If you want to follow the seasons north and south on the eastern seaboard, power is easy. If you have aspirations to go beyond those waters, and you [both] have the health and physical dexterity I would consider sail.

It depends on your desired "GO-NO/GO Criteria". That is the huge determining factor for your decision and discernment.

[mbdana]

As many said and Peter's comment about having the best of both worlds. Buy a trawler and have a sailing something you can put over the side to sail around visiting folks in the anchorage.

We have a 36' GB and we keep a rowable, 8' Dyer Sailing Dinghy on chocks on the trunk top. Launch and retrieve with our boom and electric wench....pretty slick. And use the dinghy for deck storage when not sailing around. Also have an inflatable off the transom with OB. Best of both world! "The Way Life Should be"

Happy selecting.
Best regards,
Mike Dana
Third Reef
36' Grand Banks Classic #819
Potts Harbor Maine(South Harpswell)

[PNK]

WestCoastMcGyver, there is an article in the new issue of 'Passagemaker' about someone who just switched to a trawler after owning 3 sailboats over 30-odd years, the last a 55' Amel in which they made several long ocean voyages. He said something that I think sums up the issue as well as anything I have read:

" When we pass a sailboat motoring in the rain, and I'm in my slippers in the pilothouse with a warm cup of coffee, I don't miss sailing at all."

PNK

[ronobrien]

Originally Posted by PNK

WestCoastMcGyver, there is an article in the new issue of 'Passagemaker' about someone who just switched to a trawler after owning 3 sailboats over 30-odd years, the last a 55' Amel in which they made several long ocean voyages. He said something that I think sums up the issue as well as anything I have read:

" When we pass a sailboat motoring in the rain, and I'm in my slippers in the pilothouse with a warm cup of coffee, I don't miss sailing at all."

PNK

My life long sailing buddies are giving me a (fun) hard time about switching to the trawler life. I asked them over a beer, "How many times have we moved sailboats for people (Bermuda, Bahamas, Florida, Caribbean, US East coast) and how much of that time did we have to motor?" Uuuummm, another beer please!