FirstTime trawler buyer

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FreeBird

Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2015
Messages
5
Location
Usa
Hi all! I have experience owning planing power boats that I operated on the Chesapeake bay and now in the st Joseph bay in Florida but I want to buy a trawler that will allow me to visit the Bahamas and stay for a couple of months on it. I know nothing about buying a trawler. The research. Phase is just now beginning. Suggestions on how to start? Two questions right away: is diesel or gas motor better ? Is there a particular make to avoid? I want to stay on the small side 34-38 ft ... any advice to get me started would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!
Claudia
 
If you haven't done it already, you might consider chartering one for a week. Might answer a lot of your questions and maybe help you with what you may want or not want.

Ted
 
You will get many responses and mostly good advice. But rather than provide answers i will suggest some questions to consider

1)What is your budget for:
Purchase
Initial repairs/updates
Continued upkeep
2) do you have restrictions based upon slip availability
3) is it important to comfortably sleep more than yourself onboard?
4) would 1 stateroom mett most of your needs and the rare guest could crash on couch or get a hotel?
5)stability and ability to be more comfortable in rough water can vary wildly. How important is that to you?
6)if you do much your own service how accessible are the systems
7)if you are planning months onboard will you need space for a watermaker or just a larger water tank and fill at dock? Both are options require $ and space.
8)is there an active user forum? While sometimes biased for obvious reasons those can be a good source of information pre and post purchase
8)ican you live with 7-8 knots all the ti.e or do you want to pay for a bigger engine and sometimes higher fuel cost. Also typically means bigger boat or less space in engine room.

I have had 10 boats in 40 years and about the only thing in common was they all had an engine. Motoryacht, express cruiser, center console...
My use case, family size, home port, budget and cruising grounds were all factors.
My least favorite boat was the one that was the lowest quality while my favorite boat was/is the one I owned when asked the question :)

Lots of great boats and I am sure you will find one that works for you! Let us know how it goes.
 
You need to make a list of your priorities in a boat. Since we are getting older one of our priorities was no ladders to the flybridge. We sold our last boat because of that since we really didn’t realize how far up it was by ladder on a short sea trial. Another was loose furniture since we wanted recliners in the salon due to bad back issues. 2 cabins and heads were a must for us. Sufficient range of at laest 400 miles for coastal cruising. Good luck with your hunt and have fun.
 

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