Hello Mates... Great Forum...

I'm a lifelong sailboat guy but am planning to transition the more genteel trawler life... Love the boats and Trawlers seem to be a great way to get out on the water and to be part of a good boating community.

Don't get me wrong... i love sailing but I'm getting a bit old for... wet sails and covers in bunks, 'stowed' gear and food flying across the cabin, friends flying across the cabin, dogs rolling across the floor of the cabin.... AND everywhere I wanted to sail was directly into the wind... lol...

My goal is the Great Loop... but I probably should get a power boat first...

Greetings,
Welcome aboard.
"...wet sails and covers in bunks, 'stowed' gear and food flying across the cabin, friends flying across the cabin, dogs rolling across the floor of the cabin.... AND everywhere I wanted to sail was directly into the wind... lol...

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard! Sorry RT Firefly got here first. I usually try to warn people about him. He's smart but as you can tell a little crazy.
RTF, that's a good one.

Welcome aboard. Indy? Are you planning on keeping the boat on Lake Michigan?

Welcome

There is some guilt associated with the cross over. I'm sure your sailing buddies will remind you of your Judas sellout. You'll also get to suffer the arrogant superiority attitude of many sailboat owners. I switched when I realized how much easier it was to go somewhere in a straight line. Actually here on the west coast sailing is usually very cold and wet. That's fine if your racing, not so much if your cruising. With a slow trawler you will still get watch for favorable tides and currents, you just get to do it in the comfort of a pilot house. And as you will find out many of us have years of sailing background. But be careful, once you cross over you'll never go back. Besides you can always throw a little sailing dingy on the salon roof.

Welcome, we switched over about a year ago I loved sailboats also and still do . I had an old 1965 32 Islander that I restored . After I sold that I came very close to buying a 33 Hans Christian that was only 30 miles down river from me . I wanted that boat bad . It needed a pile of work but I didn't care. I even offered the guy 5 k more than the survey because it was so close to me . The owner would not budge . I was also looking at this trawler that we have now. It was 700 miles away and it needed a bunch of work .
I finally got honest with myself and realized that I was probably never going to go offshore sailing .We bought the trawler and love it. Already have had more fun in 2 years with the trawler than in 10 years with the sailboat.I got some plans from wooden boat for a nutshell pram sailing dingy that I plan on building someday and I think that will take care of my sailing itch. Or you can always go out sailing with your old sailboat buddies .They may be a let down when you get a trawler and get ready because they will probably give you a bi tof a hard time,but once they hang out a little on your new trawler they will slowly come around.Good luck with your search.

Thanks Guys...

My sailor friends are taking the news alright so far... most are in denial... At sail events, I feel the shun though... cold stares peeping over hot toddies... hushed sail equipment conversations when I enter the room...

A sailing dingy just might be the trick... gunkhole sailing then back on the trawler for straight line cruising and dinner on a non-heeling vessel...

I love Lake Michigan and will definitely be back in a trawler... i sailed out of Michigan City, IN and everything was upwind (and wet) from there!

Good to be on board with you!

Well, I do love the quiet of a sailboat, the swish of the water, the close connection to the wind and nature, the grace, the balancing skill it takes to sail well. But then on balance, I think my favorite feeling of all is firing up two smooth engines, standing on that high flybridge, slipping the shifters down and gliding about seven tons of boat out of the slip, master of all I survey. A well running orchestra of machinery on the water is definitely an equivalent thrill for me - and a heck of a lot less work and fussy hassle underway than sailing.

I know KT...

Love hearing the wind in the sails and waves slap along the hull... one hand on the tiller and the other trimming the sheets... you got me thinking about it all week...

Never have driven a flybridge before but i bet its incredible... have driven ludicrously large houseboats before but not even close... the purring engines and piloting on the flybridge sounds like it will do nicely... I'll go sailing with younger friends.... thanks for the nice alternative scenario... will think about it this week...

Welcome! We loved our sailboat too. Just a small San Juan 23 day-sailor, but fun just the same. Now we are enjoying our Roughwater35 and the joys of owning a 40 year old boat with good bones.

Roughwater... nice bones...

beautiful boat.... not too many in the East....

It's funny how for many there are three phases of sailing. Phase one is sail only, do anything possible to never use the motor. Phase two is use the motor more and more to enjoy different areas without so much work and areas where sails are impractical. Some of those do the loop and have the sails up no more than 10% of the time. Some even leave the sails at home. Phase three is saying I love the water but really ready for less work and more conveniences and space. You've now reached that phase.

I think the loop becomes a dream of most of us. We love coastal boating and runs even off shore, but the loop is in our future plans as is also trips up and down many inland rivers. The coastal parts of the loop will be areas we've covered many times so not the area on which we concentrate. But the inland portion a new experience. We intend to spend months on the Great Lakes, not just days. Then maybe leave the boat over winter on the Tennessee River, using it some there. But come spring, extended cruises up the Ohio, perhaps the Missouri, definitely the Cumberland and the Tennessee river. Months in those areas before heading down the Tenn Tom.

We never have been big sailors. Enjoy it on someone else's boat or a charter where we don't have to do any of the work. We admit freely that we're too lazy to be sailors.

indy said:

I'm a lifelong sailboat guy but am planning to transition the more genteel trawler life... Love the boats and Trawlers seem to be a great way to get out on the water and to be part of a good boating community.

Don't get me wrong... i love sailing but I'm getting a bit old for... wet sails and covers in bunks, 'stowed' gear and food flying across the cabin, friends flying across the cabin, dogs rolling across the floor of the cabin.... AND everywhere I wanted to sail was directly into the wind... lol...

My goal is the Great Loop... but I probably should get a power boat first...

Click to expand...

This will be your new reality (assuming you have a flybridge):

You are motoring, enjoying the placid time on the water....suddenly, you notice that a stormfront is in your path. So, you gather your drink, walk calmly to the lower salon station, and turn on the radar and wipers. You curse when you spill a bit of your drink when you put it down on the helm station.....

Oh, as it's gotten a bit nippy, you reach over and turn on the heater...

You wave as you pass your sailing buddies, hunkered down in their yellow Helly Hansens, looking like a Gorton's advertisement.....


Life is good.

Ha! There you go, right there. Good one, you nailed it.

Oh Gawd, I shot hot tea out of my nose! "Master of all I survey(!)." That's a good one!

I too recently (5 weeks) switched from a sailboat, which I still have and is up for sale to a 44', twin engine, aft cabin, cockpit motor yacht. My sailor friends give me a lot of flack, but they are already checking out how their boats will match up so they can raft up to us. I have a feeling the sundeck will be the most popular place at our anchorage. I do expect to hear it from my sailing buddies, but my guess is they'll come to love things like my getting to the anchorage early, getting my anchor down and then dinghing out to help them get rafted up and all set. There are advantages to all types of boats and your sailing buddy's will soon recognize the yours. Have fun and tease them back.

looking better all the time!

OK... I'm feeling much better about my transition to trawlers...

Good point about fellow sailboat OWNERS... looking back at all the comments over the last few months, I don't remember one negative opinion from mid-aged folks that owned sailboats...??? We have all been through the cold rains, yanking down heads sails in huge waves, et al... That kind of romance? goes to a new generation...

Interesting point... almost all negative and/or snide remarks have come from NON-OWNER sailors?/passengers/human ballast... You know, the people that show up at your sailboat and say 'turn it on and let's go' or 'let's beach this baby and go swimming'...

To these people, I show them a picture of a trawler flying a stay sail and they're placated... "See, its just a big boat with a little sail... "

Fellow sailboat OWNERS get it! They know how tough ownership can be... Deep in their hearts, they know that trawlers are their next logical step as watermen...

indy said:

OK... I'm feeling much better about my transition to trawlers...

Good point about fellow sailboat OWNERS... looking back at all the comments over the last few months, I don't remember one negative opinion from mid-aged folks that owned sailboats...??? We have all been through the cold rains, yanking down heads sails in huge waves, et al... That kind of romance? goes to a new generation...

Interesting point... almost all negative and/or snide remarks have come from NON-OWNER sailors?/passengers/human ballast... You know, the people that show up at your sailboat and say 'turn it on and let's go' or 'let's beach this baby and go swimming'...

To these people, I show them a picture of a trawler flying a stay sail and they're placated... "See, its just a big boat with a little sail... "

Fellow sailboat OWNERS get it! They know how tough ownership can be... Deep in their hearts, they know that trawlers are their next logical step as watermen...

Click to expand...

HA! You have completed your transition to the Dark Side.....

John Truesalt by Darrell McClure