Trawler Life

[gonesail]

there must be a million grand banks trawlers for sale in yachtworld .. looks like many of them are fuel hogs

[C.E. Grundler]

Originally Posted by u4ea32

Also note that the speed issue (the desire to run at 15 or 30 knots) is a red herring: people with boats that go that fast don't in fact use them. The marinas are filled with such boats on the most beautiful weekends of the year. Meanwhile, the distant anchorages are filled with boats that go quite slowly.

So true. The faster the boats, the more they sit at the dock. I'll take single screw full displacement over speed any day. My 32' Cheoy Lee trawler with a 80 hp 4 cylinder Lehman cruises at a comfortable 7 knots on 1.5 gallon per hour, and she's handled some horrendous conditions with ease and grace.

[cat man do]

The boat in my sig gets 1 nm/l at 7 knots


also dont forget to take into account

The cost of fuel sounds expensive. But remember, we didn’t have to buy and instal sails and rigging, nor do we have the ongoing expense of maintenance and replacement (every 10 years for long distance cruisers, according to some experts). One of our friends had a quote of $70,000 ($US50,000) for sails and rig on a sail boat of equivalent size to Lifeline and with an engine not much smaller. You can buy a lot of diesel for that.

[SharAndy]

The DeFever trawlers were not mentioned....a great value for the money; costs less than the Krogen's, Selene's & Nordhaven. They are a true blue water boat....I would not cruise in a Mainship.....as a DeFever owner who has cruised from Canada to Bahamas & now in Puerto Rico on way to Grenada, no problems...comfortable, safe, grandkids LOVE it. Fuel, however, certainly jumped in price this year. At 1500 RPMs we go 9 knots on a good day, burning less than 2 gallons an hour with twin J.Deere 300's. I am a former sailor & old enough to not want to go back. I like my wide, fat trawler w my creature comforts.

[u4ea32]

Having been looking at old used boats for some time now, I keep finding that there is always a reason for a given boat to be relatively inexpensive.

[Potuguese]

Hello Yarokil:
I am building my own trawler, but, if was a US resident, i would have chosen a G. Buheler Diesel Duck. They are reliable, secure and impressively economical to purchase and to maintain. Check on http://dieselducks.com/
I would say that ducks are the best sail/motor transition boats, amongst many other advantages
Good Luck!

[HopCar]

I suggest you charter a few before you buy. That will give you a chance to figure out what features are important to you. My wife and I chartered a Grand Banks 36 in the Keys many years ago. It had a single Lehman and was quite cheap to run.