Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptForce
A trawler as a solution for aging cruisers? .... maybe not. I don't need more space because I'm older. My sailboat has a lower freeboard than most trawlers. I can see all of the perimeter of my boat from the helm which is rare on most trawlers. I can motor, motor-sail or sail in the conditions that I choose. I do have five steps from my cabin to the cockpit, but nothing else. Maybe these steps are the only challenge, but most trawlers, not all, have this number of steps.
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we went to a trawler for home comforts as liveaboards, but have gone back to sail as I had a stroke, we moved ashore
sold the trawler and bought another sailboat (been sail
boating for over 50 years prior to the trawler. I loved our Trawler but had little real time cruising in it before my stroke, after which my wife said it was too big for casual/vacational use when we no longer lived full timeaboard. a 47ft 15-20 ton trawler is OK but does not respond well to manual force when
docking and undocking and it has considerable windage too compared to a sailboat that will respond to a push/shove, has lower windage with
sails down and has a
keel under the
water too to resist sideways drift. OK single
engine v twins applies with or without a bow thruster, but planning and practice and a low freeboard all help with
docking especially as we use a single centre springline with a measured line/loop system to aid docking. This line once 'on' allows us to keep the boat in place on the one line with the
engine in tickover ahead and
rudder angled to keep us alongside. so we then have plenty of relaxed time to put on the other lines. we do have a set of 3 steps in our homre slip
dock to make getting on and off easier, we could reverse in and get on/off via the wim platform as we did on the trawler, but I generally prefer bows in and dinghy/davits out. Our new
bimini &
dodger framework setup also has extra grab handrails fitted on both sides and rear of
dodger to assist getting into and out of the centre cockpit from the deck even if the boat is moving around a bit maybe as they do.
The other concession I made in going back (or forwards again) to sail was to buy a sailboat this time round that is fitted with in-mast
furling mainsail (my first such),as well as the more normal roller reefing/furling headsail, a system which we had used for nearly 20 years on our previous boat. Despite being more performance orientated in my previous sailboats preferring fully battened high tech mainsails with slab reefing and lazyjacks/stakpaks, the idea of pull string sail control from the cockpit appeals more for an easier life. I may regret the loss of light
wind performance but hey life is full of compromises and
diesel is
cheap enough for calm days