Sure, David. I made that switch because of my age and my wife's size and inexperience. I went looking for trawlers and really liked the space relative to a 40' monohull sloop. But then I found big compromises in hull shape, window size, and through-hulls. ICW, yes, open water, no.

I decided to build my own. It was a bad decision - I should have bought a commercial hull and reworked it. But, it's a Class A, 80 knot on the beam, two seacocks (blackwater and everything else), piped C02 firefighting, discharges except black water above the waterline.

So, I think trawlers are the way to step down from sailing, but it's tough to find the seaworthiness that you are used to. They are economical - mine does two miles nautical per gallon diesel, 7.5 knots in the direction I want to go, despite an antique engine and weighing 33 tons. We lived in ours for 2 1/2 years, and it's our hurricane refuge, because it has everything, including it's own watermaker.



Best wishes, --Tim.