Sailboat or trawler?

[Training Wheels]

It seems simple to me. If you like to sail, get a sailboat. Sailing can be a lot of work, you have to enjoy it. If you don't, get a true trawler. Nothing wrong with that, it's whatever YOU want.

[SaltyMonkey]

I think a trawler is perfect for the kind of journey the OP wants to conduct. Offshore is NOT equal to ocean crossing capable though. I would look for a nice slow going trawler, stick to the good names. Again for the kind of offshore-slow going tankage trawler, something that say takes you from Norfolk to Boston non stop is going to be hard to find under 100k. you might find one but it will be full of fish guts.

The hattaras will suck your tanks and your wallet dry.

[sailpower]

Salty should do his research on the Hatteras LRC's which are totally different than Hatteras motor yachts.

Try clicking on some of the links that I provided and learn something. Hint, LRC stands for Long Range Cruiser.

BTW the OP stated that he wants to go down the west coast of USA to the Carib.

That's Bluewater to me.

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[Chriscook]

The Hatteras do seem like a good boat but like you say I may not find one in my price range. Thanks everyone for your comments , I know the East coast would be the preferable route but the west coast is the only place I can liveaboard due to the weather.

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[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by sailpower

Salty should do his research on the Hatteras LRC's which are totally different than Hatteras motor yachts.

Try clicking on some of the links that I provided and learn something. Hint, LRC stands for Long Range Cruiser.

BTW the OP stated that he wants to go down the west coast of USA to the Carib.

That's Bluewater to me.

Sent from my VS990 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

I DID click on the links. That's when I read all that nasty stuff about the GPH tank sucking and I though it was Waaaaaaaaaaaay too much for a 7kph cruising speed. You can do better. Hattaras, according to a number of sites I looked, doesn't play fair with gas.

Bluewater isn't Ocean crossing and that's the point. Bluewater does open up things to say 1200 miles. But to cross oceans you're talking Nordhavn, Kadey-Krogen, Selene material $$$$$$$$$$.

[Kokanee]

Yes - trawlers comes in many configurations. Choose wisely.

If you go this way I'd suggest a trawler with a full displacement hull. Many are semi-displacement which are faster (10-20 knots) with larger engine(s), but they have a lower cruising range and are generally less seaworthy.

The biggest negative of most trawlers during offshore voyages is usually they lack any type of of stabilizer system. A few have paravanes; and some of the blue water trawlers have active fin or gyro stabilizers. But - They are hard to find in your price range.

Id suggest something like a Willard 40 with paravanes as a great boat for this trip.

Another thought for a suitable boat would be a good motorsailer; which have many of the benefits of both a trawler and a sailboat. Perhaps a Fisher 37 or similar.

[Kenomac]

Everyone has missed the most obvious difference. If you plan on spending much of your time in an anchorage, forget the trawler, the side to side rocking motion is nauseating, uncomfortable and never stops unless you have expensive stabilizers.

For day trips or living in a marina, they can't be beat.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Kokanee

Another thought for a suitable boat would be a good motorsailer; which have many of the benefits drawbacks of both a trawler and a sailboat.

There, fixed it for you
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[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Everyone has missed the most obvious difference. If you plan on spending much of your time in an anchorage, forget the trawler, the side to side rocking motion is nauseating, uncomfortable and never stops unless you have expensive stabilizers.

For day trips or living in a marina, they can't be beat.

Same can be said for monohull yachts.
I see plenty of them rolling their guts out in anchorages I am in yet I do not.
PS - I dont have stabilisers of any sort yet and if I did, they would be inexpensive flopper stopper style costing under $1000 and a bit of creativity.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Same can be said for monohull yachts.
I see plenty of them rolling their guts out in anchorages I am in yet I do not.
PS - I dont have stabilisers of any sort and if I did, they would be inexpensive flopper stopper style costing under $1000.

The OP has been warned, now I would suggest the OP go see for himself prior to purchase. I've been on many trawlers, catamarans and of course our monohull in many anchorages.

[Zephyrcat229]

+1 for kenomac's points, he's spot on with the rolly pukey action in trawlers.

Also If I were you, I would consider buying a boat closer to your cruising grounds, you can always do the cross the border for X-days and return if length of stay is a concern.
As someone else on here pointed out, west coast sailing (N America) is really very nearly water sailing">blue water sailing.

FWIW I'm also landlocked at the moment, and heading to either S Florida, or the Adriatic/Aegean to go boat shopping whenst I Leave the Inland Northwest..

Anywho, best of luck with your plans!

[valhalla360]

For the trip the OP is asking about you don't even need a long range trawler. Something that will get 300-500mile usable range can make the hops required.


With the exception of a few key jumps, most of this is short hops that "typical" cruisers will try to do in a day or at most an overnight, so there will be a tendency to crank up the motor on a sailboat to get in on schedule (yeah, naughty word for cruiser but it's what most people do). Round the world is a different animal from what the OP asked about. I would expect a high percentage of the miles to be under power regardless of boat type. ($40k for fuel is just silly. We went 1.5 times around the Great Loop mostly under power and didn't spend 1/10th of that on fuel.


Even if a twin engine boat can get close to what a dedicated slow single engine trawler can get in terms of MPG (it won't beat a dedicated single engine trawler at the same speed), you have to resist advancing that throttle and the bigger your power plants, the harder it is to resist.


I do agree that you should check how the boat rides at anchor. Some are rolly-polly others are not worse than a typical monohull sailboat.


An alternative to look into is a catamaran platform which solves the rolling issue and provides an excellent platform for living.

[capt jgw]

On a sailboat, of you use the sails a lot, you will have to replace them sooner. At several thousand dollars a pop, that would buy a lot of fuel. So fuel cost is not really an issue. A trawler will likely cost more and have a lot more living room, but a sailboat may be more fun for you. Or maybe not. It's a very personal decision that only you can make. A lot of sailors do move to trawlers as they get older and are less able to handle the sails.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

The OP has been warned, now I would suggest the OP go see for himself prior to purchase. I've been on many trawlers, catamarans and of course our monohull in many anchorages.

Good for you and so have I.
Multihull beats all for roll beating
Trawler beats most for comforts
Monohull just rolls and rolls and rolls

Of course their are many types of monohull yachts, trawlers and multihulls and they all behave differently.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Good for you and so have I.
Multihull beats all for roll beating
Trawler beats most for comforts
Monohull just rolls and rolls and rolls

Of course their are many types of monohull yachts, trawlers and multihulls and they all behave differently.

Monohulls don't roll over here in Sardinia, Croatia, Greece and Montenegro. Lots of places to hide and stay out of the roll. The trawlers around here still seem to roll, I don't understand why.

I guess it just depends on where the OP chooses to cruise.