Dark side pull

[rgano]

Come to the dark side. We have cookies!

 

[HopCar]

I don’t know why changing to a powerboat is considered moving to the dark side. I hate sailing.

 

[Don L]

yeah, I believe on another thread it was shown that the dark side has a humor problem

 

[psneeld]

For a few it goes way past humor....

 

[boomerang]

If you keep hearing the same joke over and over and over , it's not funny anymore. Or witty. Or cute. It's just old.

 

[Don L]

see

 

[rslifkin]

I learned to not worry about the ribbing from sailors a while ago. We hang out with the sailor crowd more than the other powerboaters in our home waters anyway as we fit in better there (most of the powerboaters are just party animals, very few cruisers or anything). And I sail on other people's boats anyway. So now they just refer to me as "a sailor that happens to own a powerboat".

 

[rgano]

As long as they call me a stink potter with a smile on their face after I smiled and called them rag boaters. all's well. After that friendly exchange, I pull out a long-ago article that shows rag boaters overall spend 80% of their time underway under power and/or what they like to call "motor sailing" sailing. Perish the thought they'd call it stink pot sailing. hahahaha

 

[mvweebles]

As we have been meandering south, we've met a lot of people. The first leg of our trip with the sail-heavy Baja Ha Ha (we were one of 5 powerboats in a fleet of 104) so was a bit cliquish but still very worthwhile.

Since then we've just cruised along, sometimes with friends we've made (@slowgoesit for a while ). With exception of one couple who seemed a bit sail-snooty, no one seems to care what flavor of boat you're on. No jokes, nothing. There is too much other stuff to talk about - where have you been, where are you headed, you get the idea.

That said, I have detected some embedded cliquishness along economic lines - more prevelant amongst power than sail.

I guess some folks just find a reason to be smooty.

Peter

 

[Don L]

That said, I have detected some embedded cliquishness along economic lines - more prevelant amongst power than sail.

Some always only bring only the crap alcohol to the party

 

[rslifkin]

Since then we've just cruised along, sometimes with friends we've made (@slowgoesit for a while ). With exception of one couple who seemed a bit sail-snooty, no one seems to care what flavor of boat you're on. No jokes, nothing. There is too much other stuff to talk about - where have you been, where are you headed, you get the idea.

I think once you get to the point of significant travel, away from the weekend party crowd and day sailors, etc. the attitude changes. Everyone is there doing pretty much the same thing for a lot of the same reasons, even if you're on very different boats and came from very different backgrounds.

 

[psneeld]

I think once you get to the point of significant travel, away from the weekend party crowd and day sailors, etc. the attitude changes. Everyone is there doing pretty much the same thing for a lot of the same reasons, even if you're on very different boats and came from very different backgrounds.

I was just about to say about the same thing....

Cruisers are cruisers for the most part and share many common thoughts.

 

[ronobrien]

It has been 13.5 months since the collision that ended 7.5 years of full time sailboat cruising for my wife and I. We have a dirt dwelling now, but the other day I saw cracks developing in my wife's crash PTSD. She is starting to get the cruising bug again, but is not going back to full time live aboard or to a sailboat. It may be because it was so freaking cold in Jacksonville Fl this winter and Facebook took pleasure of showing me posts from The Bahamas etc. So we are looking at 3-4 months a year cruising mostly in Florida Keys and Bahamas. That means we cruise areas that in general we have been before many times, which is OK as there are lots of places we couldn't go on our 6'4" draft sailboat. So ..............

I feel the pull of the dark side to a mid 30s foot old trawler type of POWER boat (the shame). Two things are my major concern; 1-The cost to store the boat when not in use. 2- The lost opportunity or what I could do with the money instead.

But I have till next Fall at the earliest to figure out out IF The General decides she want to go back to being an Admiral part time.

So be warned I may be asking stupid trawler type boat questions again.

After a lifetime of sail I went to the dark side a few years back and paid the price in harassment from my sailing buddies. I think you get more creature comfort for the size boat than sail. You can get there in more or less a straight line. You don't have to wait for bridges on the ICW. I also asked my buddies how much we used to sail and how much did we motor for various reasons. They admitted that we only sailed about 20% of the time. When the sailing conditions were right it was glorious, but I feel that the trawler has more utility and I don't have all the time to wait for conditions these days. No running around the deck, climbing masts, freeing up sheaves, setting/dousing sails. That is my best justification for making the switch. Best wishes.

 

[slowgoesit]

My personal experience is for most "Sail" boaters, they're still trying to figure out why that big white shade awning is mounted on a VERTICAL support, as it isn't too effective for providing shade.
My wife and I call them "Stick Boats", because we seldom see sails actually, well, being used as SAILS!
So really, the vast majority of "Sailboaters" are really just Power Boaters with really small fuel tanks (not counting all the yellow diesel containers strapped to the rails!
Plus the fact that if we are forced to take a slip in a marina, for the same price/foot paid, we, as stink potters, have a lot more space!

On a more serious perspective. Whether sail, or power, we've found in our wanderings that it really doesn't matter why type of boat you have, sail or power, what size, (a 22' trailerable, or a 75' Yachette) most boaters are pretty much the same . . . and equally welcoming and willing to lend a hand, or just shoot the . . breeze, except for the snobby, my make boat is better than all the rest types . . . whose brands will remain nameless . . .

 

[Moonfish]

We transitioned from sail to power and did not necessarily agree with referring to it as the going to the "dark side." Our boat lets in way more light than even our pilothouse sailboat ever did. Which is why we call it the "light side". And as we do 7 economical knots underway (<2gph), we still say we "cruise on a sailor's mentality."

Point is, if you do switch to power you needn't completely change your cruising identity or habits (unless you want to cross an ocean). Yes, there will be changes, but there's so much enjoyment to be had the positives far outweigh the negatives.

 

[Ithaka7]

I went from 5 years on a sailboat to part time cruising on a motorboat. For me, I am having a much better quality of life and interactions with friends on the powerboat. Just more social, more fun, easier to move around and cover great distances. I believe for your proposed area, you will be better of with a planing boat not a displacement trawler and you can have those for next to nothing. If you are planning on only 4-months cruising per year, there is no need for a big initial investment.

The more difficult question is storage in the off season. In my part of the world, the marinas are cheap (say Eur 500/month for a 50 ft boat in Sozopol) but you can do even better by leaving the boat on a Greek island full year round. Especially if you are good with maintenance (as we all know you are), you can do most of the stuff there. Would you consider leaving your boat somewhere in the Caribbean for the off season? I understand the security and hurricane concerns but it should be manageable. Even if you factor in a flight there once a month.

 

[della li]

It has been 13.5 months since the collision that ended 7.5 years of full time sailboat cruising for my wife and I. We have a dirt dwelling now, but the other day I saw cracks developing in my wife's crash PTSD. She is starting to get the cruising bug again, but is not going back to full time live aboard or to a sailboat. It may be because it was so freaking cold in Jacksonville Fl this winter and Facebook took pleasure of showing me posts from The Bahamas etc. So we are looking at 3-4 months a year cruising mostly in Florida Keys and Bahamas. That means we cruise areas that in general we have been before many times, which is OK as there are lots of places we couldn't go on our 6'4" draft sailboat. So ..............

I feel the pull of the dark side to a mid 30s foot old trawler type of POWER boat (the shame). Two things are my major concern; 1-The cost to store the boat when not in use. 2- The lost opportunity or what I could do with the money instead.

But I have till next Fall at the earliest to figure out out IF The General decides she want to go back to being an Admiral part time.

So be warned I may be asking stupid trawler type boat questions again.

You could always air bb your trawler when not in use if you find a marina that will allow. BTW, I've already been asking a lot of those type questions....

 

[Don L]

I don't what to be a land owner renting out, my spine crawls thinking of be a boat owner renting out. But I had not considered that.

 

[Phil Fill]

Back in my time sailing was the dark side. How did power become the dark side. Leave it to the younger generation to mess things up.

Land cruising is lot cheaper and easier than either power or sail.

 

[SteveK]

As long as they call me a stink potter with a smile on their face after I smiled and called them rag boaters. all's well. After that friendly exchange, I pull out a long-ago article that shows rag boaters overall spend 80% of their time underway under power and/or what they like to call "motor sailing" sailing. Perish the thought they'd call it stink pot sailing. hahahaha

Rich, is that an east coast saying "rag boaters"? Out my way it is "rag hangers". And I were one too.
I also like the term "Stick boater" mentioned by Scot.
As others have said boaters are boaters big-small-sail-power

 

[Jklotz]

If you like to be wet, cold, have no view of the outside, be cramped, travel at 3 knots and spend days or even weeks waiting on favorable winds, who am I to judge? Do what makes you happy!