Do Trawler Folks ever Return to Sailboats?

[Curmudgeon]

Depends on how much $$$ you have. I could easily see a trawler owner transition to a Bruckmann 50 (or a similar boat).

[Robin3]

After 50 years of sail (me) and 27 (her) we bought and moved on to live aboard a 47ft marine Trader Tradewinds trawler, but after just 4 months I had a bad stroke, fortunately survived and recovered but then 'she' decided the trawler might be too big to handle and we should trade down which we did to a 36ft sailboat. Our last sailboat, back in the Uk was a 41 footer (Jeanneau Sun Legende) and our latest one seems smallish by comparison at just 36ft. However we can go wherever we want with the new boat under power or sail or both and it is light enough to be easier to dock/undock, even can be bullied a little manually if needs be, and actually has less sail area when docking than the trawler in that scenario with any breeze. PLus we can motor nicely at 7kts all day on not a lot of diesel if we wish. We still have a nice owners aft staterooom with Queen bed, full airconditioning and a very decent galley. We have sacrificed some purist sailing points to go to an in-mast furling/reefing mainsail system, paired of course with a roller genoa, both of which will enable convenient and rapid deployment/undeployment for when travelling the ICW.

So it might be an unusual transformation but we are one couple that has gone back!

[downunder]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

wow i like this!

Not cheap for an 18yr old vessel.

Brady is better known in Australia for his powercats and according to some his sail cats are not the fastest. Nice looking vessels although.

BRADY Boats For Sale - boatpoint.com.au

Another sail cat of his.

[scotty c-m]

I've sailed (sailboats) all my life, and also worked on diesel powered boats both as a fisherman and on research vessels. My wife and I had a number of sailboats, and had a very nice Catalina 30 which we used extensivelly and basically raised our three sons aboard. When I was about 50 years old I had a bad neck injury; I was surfing and went head first into a reef. Ouch. I had a very close call, and the bottom line is that for some years I couldn't move my neck very well. We sold the Catalina and bought a 32 ft Seahorse trawler. We used it for 3 years. During this time we had a blast with the boat. It's easy to "drive", has great visability (look ... dolphins!!) and is very comfortable. Yet, one day, my wife looked at me and said, "I miss the sound of that moment when you turn the engine off, and the sails pull the boat ahead." Me too. My health was greatly improved so, what the heck. We sold the trawler and are now enjoying yet another sailboat - a Catalina 400. Ain't life grand.

[markpierce]

Yes, ain't it grand!