New and on the hard

I am Mick Scarborough. I grew up sailing and cruising in sailing yachts up to 60 feet. As I prepare to semi-retire (I am going to focus on writing and only occasionally produce and direct) I have determined I want to go back to my roots. I have lived on the water before and loved it. My wife says she wants to do the live aboard thing too (but has never done it before) so I am getting ready to pull the trigger. The only thing is, my wife is the type who wants to see land at all times or she gets scared. This of course would pass with some experience. What may not pass is she is not used to the confined space of a sailboat. This is why I have been considering a trawler. I have been doing research and found unlike power yachts, trawlers actually get close to sailboat fuel consumption numbers (2 gph). I would be happy either way, trawler or sail but since the wife is a concern I am here to learn everything I can so as to make an informed decision down the road. Sailboat or trawler? We will see.

Mick

I grew up in the bay worked on sailboats sorta as teenager crewed later on larger sailboats and we always had a boat in our back yard ( our backyard was Tampa bay)

we live aboard about half the year wife retired

this forum is a great place to learn from

Welcome and best of luck

One of the tough lessons to learn about owning a boat is that the fuel you consume is not anywhere near the most expensive part of boating. Then again, you could buy something with a pair of Mann's, big Detroits or large Cummins and make a liar out of me, but most trawlers and trawler-speed boats are "reasonably" economical.

Welcome to the site! Sailboats are fun but suck if you want to get anywhere; on the BC coast you will be running with the motor anyway and with a trawler, when the weather is inclement, you can drive from inside with big, wipered windows and a cup of your favourite beverage in hand. Inside a sailboat you need to stand on tippy-toes to see out the tiny windows. Oh, also in your trawler, the heater can be on, no cruiser suit or gumboots! I think you'll like it.

Greetings,
Welcome aboard. Ricky huh?

Welcome Mick, we looked at sailboats from Northern Washington State to Mexico & back again. My wife also did not want to be confined to a small space. So we bought a trawler in Portland, OR. She needs TLC, we are getting it done. Xsband, summed it all up. You'll discover that RT's posts are just amazing - you just can't help like the guy!!!!!

Xsbank said:

One of the tough lessons to learn about owning a boat is that the fuel you consume is not anywhere near the most expensive part of boating.

Click to expand...

Many people are saying this and on another forum one guy calculated he spends 2700 dollars a month cruising. My father lived on a boat for years and at his salary working for West Marine there is no way he could have afforded to cruise as much as he did. He maintained his Crocker Ketch, Seafarer 38C and Bruce Roberts Spray for very little money. Are boats just junk today or are people just paying others to do everything? When we cruised, food was the #1 cost with fuel being next. Maintenance was down the list a ways and we never broke down.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Welcome aboard. Ricky huh?

Click to expand...

I am a huge Trailer PArk Boys fan