Hello

Matt Black said:

My wife and I have always loved the water, had a small fishing boat years ago and sold it prior to an anticipated move to the PNW. The move never happened, we bought a canoe instead of another boat and we have spent the last 25 years paddling midwestern rivers and lakes.

My wife's father is originally from the northern coast of the Olympic peninsula, in fact, my wife was born there, but the family moved back to my MIL's homeplace in Kansas City while my wife was still an infant. However, (I promise this is relevant!) after my FIL retired my inlaws spent 6mo of each of the last 20 or so years living aboard their 28ft Tollycraft (yes, it was very close quarters!) in a marina back in WA state. They recently and very reluctantly, decided that caring for the boat had become too much for them and sold it.

After a week long visit to the marina last summer and their sale of the boat this summer the subject of boats kept popping up. Eventually my wife and I started discussing owning a boat, cruising, possibly even an eventual live aboard situation as something we would both enjoy. Especially since after learning about the Great Loop several years ago we both thought it sounded like a fun thing to do.

We are both 50, so while retirement is not imminent, it is beginning to peek over the horizon and with one kid in college and one not it's something I decided to start investigating.

Bad news is that while are able to hold a pretty good credit score we aren't particularly wealthy so any consideration of a hobby/lifestyle that offers a 100% guarantee of one way (outbound!) cash flow has to be examined pretty closely before we dive in.

The good news is that we are both healthy (KoW!) adventurous and like to travel. We don't require luxurious accommodations or brand new anything. Having owned and worked on /semi restored various old vehicles (cars, tractors, motorcycles, campers) I am pretty handy with 12v electrical systems and things mechanical. Between youtube, manuals and schematics I can usually bumble my way through repairs and upgrades. On rare occasions I even manage it on the first try.

So... Starting to research boats, discovered trawlers in particular and this seemed like a pretty good place to start learning the things I need to learn about in order to make an informed decision as to whether we may be able to make this work. Or not.

Of particular interest are the mundane expenses, insurance, mooring, hauling out (I just read a thread on insuring wooden boats and looked up to see the $20K 1971 32 GB I had been lusting after on YW flying straight out the window) and various other annual fees and expenses they don't tell you about in the brochure.

Anyway, I apologize for the extended play version of an intro and I'll go back to lurking and learning...

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kokopelliTim said:

I began with a kayak on Green River Lake in central KY.
Began sailing at LBL (western KY) while in grad school
Now...years later on the east coast in my second trawler and planning the Loop trip; and Im not rich by a long shot.

Look around LBL and the marinas, many loopers stay around there. Many trawlers in that area.

Good Luck!

Tim

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BandB said:

Wifey B: There are two resources you need to carefully look at. You already mentioned financing. The other is time. How much time per year do you have to boat?

Perhaps for the next few years the idea boating is on the Ohio River, staying fairly close to home, maybe if you get extremely adventurous to the Cumberland or the TN but you could do years of boating on the Ohio. Now the negative is only about 3 or 4 months a year are good. But perhaps you only have vacations for boating and summer weekends, in which case it matches fine.

Look at the costs and rules of marinas in your area and at the least boats you think you would enjoy, then decide. We boated happily for years on a relatively small lake until we moved to Fort Lauderdale.

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TWille said:

Welcome aboard -
As a very young person floated the Huzzah, Current, Courtois Creek, Meramec almost every year. Learned power and sail boating on the Mississippi.
After 40 years of Sailing turned to the Dark side earlier this year in prep for the loop.

The “layout” (equip, galley, engines etc) are different on every boat - look at some and decide what works for you -

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Pete Meisinger said:

Is there a question in there? If so it may be cost. Here is what I tell prospective trawler owners.

$500 a month covers pretty much everything, including fuel, dockage and storage. It will be at least twice that amount for the first couple years until you get the boat the way you want it.

Here is the "kicker" though. Any major breakdown or upgrade will approach half to three quarters of the value of the boat. The bad thing about major breakdowns is that the boat actually has $0 value until the repair is completed. When it is completed it will add little or nothing to the resale value.

disclaimers: These are 2020 dollars, this is for about a 36 foot trawler, this estimate is for central Wisconsin.

pete

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