I have a confession in these days

Well, even after years with trawlers, enjoying all that a trawler gives, and really having fun with my Prairie 29.....

I STILL love sailing and truly miss not having a sailboat.

There, I said it.

I began boating on sailboats and sailed for the first 15 years of my boating life.
Ive owned small sailboats and up to a Hunter 33. I love sailing.
I love the feel of the wind simply blowing me and moving the boat calmly across the water.

Yet, 10 years ago I moved to trawlers and when I lived aboard I thrilled at the space, "above ground" living of a trawler and the feel of the power, generator, space to live and spread my life around the boat.

But as these days of self isolation and virus attack......I look online and find boats for sell that Ive loved and desired to own.
I dream of sailing again (yes, I have a sailing dinghy, but really not the same, and yes, I have friends who sail....but they do not sail like I do )

So I lust, dream and ponder about sailing again. I even lurk on a sailing forum.

But I do not fool myself. I got out of sailing because i found I motored more than actually sailed (unless it was a lazy afternoon just to sail around....if I was on a journey...I needed to move and not wait for the wind)
It is much more work to sail instead of starting a nice engine and simply moving.
A trawler has so much space, liveaboard room, and i love the upper helm so very much.

BUT, I still love sailing and dream of sailing again.

Thank you for allowing me to confess.

Tim

Go rent one for a day - I suspect you will soon get over it again!

There's probably a 12 step program for people like us. Most of those steps would involve rum.

Motorsailor ? Not the best of both worlds but has advantages of both.

pete

Sailing is glorious - those few days out of any given year you actually get to do it.

I come from a power boat background, but have done enough sailing on those good days to feel the exhilaration.

The reality is, for any real cruising, you're making yourself far more uncomfortable than you need to be 90% of the time, just for those few glorious moments. And I've seen so many sailboats motoring along under bare poles in perfect wind conditions that I can only assume even that thrill wears off quickly when you're trying to get somewhere.

As a non-sailor, I can only conclude that sailing is for day trips, or long ocean crossings. At the mouth of every harbor you can see lots of sails on a good day. In transit between those harbors, it's very rare.

I understand. We sold our sailboat and bought a power cruiser three years ago. Although I love our power boat, I sure miss the sailboat some days.

I wish I was rich enough to have kept both. But, wife assured me that was not true!

Hi Tim,

I too love sailing.

I prefer small-boat sailing, however. Once over about 18-20ft the boat starts to loose its "feel" to me. I enjoy the effects of shifting weight and position have on the boat. The tiniest change in wind has an immediate feel.

If I have to be on a bigger boat, living aboard - I'd rather be comfortable in SCOUT.

Me too.

I grew up sailing and sailed on the offshore team in college.

I sail my Minto dinghy in fair weather, but I would really like a Laser and a Cape Dory Typhoon to keep me entertained.

Anything bigger, I'd rather someone else pay for it...

I carry a Hobie One 12' sailboat on Sandpiper. It's a lot of fun and thrills.

Prior to the Hobie, I had a Windrider trimaran like the one in the post above. It was not as much fun as the Hobie.

My first boat -13’ Sunfish sailboat...

Now wait a minute I thought show or discussing sailboats was against TF policy!!! LOL

Stink Pots everywhere revolt!!

The solution for us is a day-sailer. They’re relatively cheap and trailerable . . . there when we’re ready for a sailing fix and easy to put away when we’re ready to get back to comfortable boating.

Just a general comment: of all the things I could get into a pissing contest over, the idea of dissing sailboats because I like my trawler better (or vice versa) is at the rock bottom of my list. The operative word is “boat.”

angus99 said:

Just a general comment: of all the things I could get into a pissing contest over, the idea of dissing sailboats because I like my trawler better (or vice versa) is at the rock bottom of my list. The operative word is “boat.”

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I agree. Just having fun in Virus country. No insult intended.

Hey a thought, if you run out of TP you can always start ripping pieces of sail..... Just say'n

You remind me of the pre-DSLR cameras using film. Most of us older farts would wax poetic over film and how superior it was to digital. I remember seeing my Canon 10s sitting on the shelf, a tear rolling down from its eye because I didn't use it any more.

And I read in forums of others having so much fun going back to film. I went out and bought some really great colour and black and white rolls of negative film. Put them in my fridge to keep them fresher. They sat in my fridge for three years. Digital was just easier to use and learn from, make a mistake and you could instantly correct, wonder how the image turned out, you knew immediately.

And when I sailed, it was fun, hooked me for life on the water and great areas to visit. But sailing in Vancouver became repetitive. Little distance could be covered when out for a day sail, the same pretty much all the time.

I know the old saying - When you get on a power boat you are going somewhere, when you get on a sailboat, you are already there. But sometimes I wanted to go somewhere, not the same old somewhere.

I agree with others, go rent a sailboat for a week and get back to us after you have returned.

Alaskan Sea-Duction said:

I agree. Just having fun in Virus country. No insult intended.

Hey a thought, if you run out of TP you can always start ripping pieces of sail..... Just say'n

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Hey, ASD, my mini-rant wasn’t for you. I wrote it earlier this morning and it didn’t send due to a bad connection. When I finally got to better service, off it went. By then, you had posted. Sorry.

I like sailing! I love motoring!!

kokopelliTim said:

Well, even after years with trawlers, enjoying all that a trawler gives, and really having fun with my Prairie 29.....
I STILL love sailing and truly miss not having a sailboat.
There, I said it.

Tim

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Tim, I know exactly how you feel. We don't have a boat now, but recently, in place of watching the Melbourne formula one GP, for which our son and family were visiting, and which, as you all might know, was cancelled due to 'you know what', we decided for a bit of a hoot, to play a VHS tape of an edited down (from VHS Compact format), version of a sailing holiday we had shared, in the Bay of Islands, in NZ, when our sons were only 14 and 11 respectively. Well, it was a hoot, especially as the eldest now has 2 kids of similar ages himself, but man...it brought out such nostalgia, remembering how much fun the sailing was, I almost cried...

Peter B said:

Tim, I know exactly how you feel. We don't have a boat now, but recently, in place of watching the Melbourne formula one GP, for which our son and family were visiting, and which, as you all might know, was cancelled due to 'you know what', we decided for a bit of a hoot, to play a VHS tape of an edited down (from VHS Compact format), version of a sailing holiday we had shared, in the Bay of Islands, in NZ, when our sons were only 14 and 11 respectively. Well, it was a hoot, especially as the eldest now has 2 kids of similar ages himself, but man...it brought out such nostalgia, remembering how much fun the sailing was, I almost cried...

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You were launching and retrieving that size/weight boat and trailer with an ol' fairly lightweight 2 wheel drive car?? How's that work out for ya? Well I hope!

Art said:

You were launching and retrieving that size/weight boat and trailer with an ol' fairly lightweight 2 wheel drive car?? How's that work out for ya? Well I hope!

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Yes, Art. We towed that thing, 2 tonnes all up, in and out of many boat ramps and all over the North Island of NZ, with just that Ford Fairmont Ghia, which had a limited slip diff, and I had air adjustable shocks added. The trailer just had over-ride type brakes, and only on the front wheels of the tandem set-up, yet we never had a scary moment, and there were a lot of quite steep sections encountered.

When we brought it over to Australia, under their incredibly anal regulations re towing, even though you have to look hard for a steep road, I was immediately advised it would have to have powered brakes to all four wheels to pass the roadworthy, and I had to get a special permit to tow it to the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron precinct, where we just kept it rigged and ready to go, but never towed it anywhere as a consequence.

I think in many ways the authorities have gone a a bit overboard in these regulations. For example, I maintained then, and still do, that having the rear wheels of the trailer tandem free-wheeling was good insurance against a jack-knife, as it would keep the rig tracking true, even if, for some reason, you locked the brakes. The over-ride mechanism worked fine, and the car brakes never over-heated. It just took some commonsense to stay safe is all. By taking it slow, up and down, pulling over frequently to allow other traffic to pass. Got no end of thank you toots..! I guess, sadly, in this day and age, that's a commodity becoming a bit rare for many. Maybe it's an 'art', Art..?

I love sailing, but for long trips a typical trawler, length compared, will be more comfortable and liveable. A trawler will typically have a wider beam and more living area. If you are crossing big open water the stability of a big heavy keel would be preferred for safety, IMHO.

When I discussed my plans to do an inside passage trip with a long time sailing friend he said hands down a trawler was the best choice. YMMV.

I honestly thought I would miss sailing when I made the switch. I made it 21 years ago at the ripe old age of 33. I really don't miss it. I realize it is the most sensible boat or ocean passagemaking. But man, the comfort of a powerboat is hard to beat.

angus99 said:

Hey, ASD, my mini-rant wasn’t for you. I wrote it earlier this morning and it didn’t send due to a bad connection. When I finally got to better service, off it went. By then, you had posted. Sorry.

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No worries LOL To tell the truth: I have never been on a sail boat let alone one with sails up!!!

I still own a sailboat. In fact, a bigger sailboat than the trawler. They really aren't the same sport (or past time, or whatever) at all. There is nothing a trawler can do remotely equivalent to the feeling of heeling over and charging upwind as the motor goes silent. The trawler is more like driving a Class A motorhome on I80.

A big part of usability and comfort depends on where you live (and sail). I had a sailboat on SF Bay for 15 years, ran the motor about 40 hours in those 15 years, filled the fuel tank once while I owned it. Almost like the trades here, dependable wind every day in season and no rain to hide from. Conversely, a sailboat in the PNW is not quite useless, but close. That's where I keep the trawler. Even then occasionally (very occasionally) I regret the ability to run easily and safely outside of Vancouver Island, or outside of the Inside Passage. The talk of comfort on the trawler is conditioned on sheltered water or flat calm. With 26 knots on the Van Isle west coast, I'm MUCH more comfortable on the sailboat (while traveling quite a bit faster).

Find a friend with a sailboat. Ask him to take you out sailing when its 38 degrees and raining. (You may have to do all the work, as he will be sheltered below where its warm and dry.) Do this once every 4 years or as needed. This should keep this silly afliction under control.

Benthic2 said:

Find a friend with a sailboat. Ask him to take you out sailing when its 38 degrees and raining. (You may have to do all the work, as he will be sheltered below where its warm and dry.) Do this once every 4 years or as needed. This should keep this silly afliction under control.

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Or have your friend take you out on a good day and enjoy being afflicted.

Just another example of all boats are a compromise and many, many subsets of sailing or motoring.

For cruising and live aboard you simply cannot beat a trawler. For boating fun you can cannot beat a small daysailer. Nothing better than sailing around an anchorage at cocktail time. Simply buy a trawler large enough to carry your day sailer. Yes you still need a good powered dinghy so get a really nice trawler! Easy solution!

For every boat and it's possible uses there are countless opinions...none that will ever convince someone else with a different vision or excitement/comfort level.

Thank you for all for listening to my confession and allowing me to no longer feel alone in my desires to sail.

Yet, my trawler takes all my time, energy and money at this point and getting a daysailor would take more energy than it might be worth....might have been able to do this when I was younger, but I can barely keep up with my boat and sometimes take her out to enjoy.

Maybe one day I might stretch beyond my limits again and cross the boundaries to buy a small sail boat.

But I do love and enjoy a trawler and wish that i had gone to a trawler sooner than i did.

Onward.