Hello, when it comes to maintenance expenses, I'm curious if those of you who own motorsailers find the maintenance expenses are significantly higher than those of a trawler? Our retirement dream is to have a winter liveaboard and cruise the east coast, Bahamas, Caribbean, and wherever else we choose. Although I am a sailor, and love nothing more than turning of the motor and sailing, I can see the value in having a trawler for liveaboard space, overall comfort, and ease of getting where we want to go.
I'm attracted to Island Packet SP Cruiser's because they seem to make a great pilothouse trawler with a comfortable layout and also the ability to sail when conditions are right. A mainsail to help stabilize the boat and also help with fuel efficiency could be nice as well.
But, as anyone who's owned a sailboat knows, sailing isn't exactly free. Maintaining all the rigging and sails is extremely expensive. Any fuel savings are lost just with the cost of replacing some jib sheets. The cost of a new block or two equals an engine tune-up. You could probably perform a major engine overhaul for the price of new sails.
Have you found the additional costs of maintaining the sails and rigging really negates the benefits of having a motorsailer vs strictly a trawler?
I'm attracted to Island Packet SP Cruiser's because they seem to make a great pilothouse trawler with a comfortable layout and also the ability to sail when conditions are right. A mainsail to help stabilize the boat and also help with fuel efficiency could be nice as well.
But, as anyone who's owned a sailboat knows, sailing isn't exactly free. Maintaining all the rigging and sails is extremely expensive. Any fuel savings are lost just with the cost of replacing some jib sheets. The cost of a new block or two equals an engine tune-up. You could probably perform a major engine overhaul for the price of new sails.
Have you found the additional costs of maintaining the sails and rigging really negates the benefits of having a motorsailer vs strictly a trawler?