I made the switch from sail to trawler with a 40 year career in between. Decided I was too old and my wife too small to take on a 40
sloop, even though now I find that there have been whopping changes making sailboats easier to crew. When I looked at trawlers that I could afford, meaning the
Grand Banks etc. 36-42' sort, I didn't find anything I was ready to take off shore. There were too many compromises on
hull shape to get more
interior space, too many seacocks in out of the way places where I'd never get to a popped one in time, and big flimsy windows that would never survive a wave breaking broach. I ended up building my own instead. If you're making the switch, I do hope that you'll keep in mind the difference in seaworthiness of the boats you are looking at versus what you had. You can take a 40'
monohull with a lead keel into just about anything. Not so with trawlers.