Hey Maties,
How fun to be thinking of joining the trawler forum. I'm a sailor trying to give up my wings. I've always admired the trawlers on the water when underway. Now I'm contemplating moving from sail to motor. I thought I'd ask for your input before cutting my wings off. Were any of you former sailors? If so, how was the transition? If anyone would like to share their experiences I'd be grateful. Much appreciated. Just so you know, I haven't given up the dream yet, just thinking about it...
As the old Chinese proverb goes;
One moment of patience
May ward off great disaster
One moment of impatience
may ruin a whole life.
I’ve owned five sailboats and two powerboats. My first boat was a 14ft Boston Whaler with a 40 hp Evinrude. I loved screaming across the water like a banshee in that thing. Something about guys and the "need for speed".
Then I went out for a sail with a friend on his Cape Dory 25 (which I bought from him several years later) in Boston Harbor and was completely hooked. It didn’t hurt that all the magnificent “tall” ships were in the harbor for the Bicentennial.
When I got home, I immediately sold the Whaler and bought an O’Day Daysailor and taught myself how to sail. Three sailboats and many years later, I found myself sailing on San Francisco Bay on a Catalina 27. I kept the boat in Emeryville and drove down almost every weekend from Sacramento. I sailed there for over 15 years and loved every minute of it. San Francisco is definitely one of the most beautiful and most challenging boating waters in the country. We even did a couple of races up the "Delta".
A good friend of mine had a Freedom 36 (freestanding carbon fiber mast - no stays or shrouds) that we sailed up to Bodega Bay and down to Monterey. We even made the run out to the Farallons a couple of times.
After the big Loma Prieta earthshake of ’89, with all the collapsed freeways repair work, it became too much of a hassle to drive down to the Bay to take the boat out. So I sold the Cat 27 and bought a Capri 22 which I cruised and raced on the inland lakes. I also trailered it up to the San Juan Islands with my son and cruised those great waters for three weeks including a trip across Haro Strait to Victoria. It was up there that I saw all these cool trawlers cruising around and decided that when I retired that would probably be the way I wanted to go.
I also chartered sailboats in BVI several times. Absolute Nirvana.
So when it was time to retire, I had a hard time coming to grips that I was going to give up sailing. But seeing as I was going to live on the boat,for me it just made a lot more sense to go with a cruiser (trawler). I had actually contemplated keeping the sailboat and storing it until I was ready to use it again. My son pointed out that seeing as I was moving cross country, that plan wouldn’t really be practical.
So I gave my son the sailboat, bought a cruiser (trawler), and moved to South Carolina. I’m really glad now that I did it that way. Besides not having to deal with all the logistics and expenses of owning two boats, I did find a silver lining. There are quite a few sailboats in my marina, and as you know when the weather’s nice, on any given weekend, you can almost always find someone with a sailboat that needs a crew to go out for the day. If you get to know these folks, and you demonstrate some reasonable sailing skills, you will probably be asked to go out on a regular basis (buying lunch helps too).
I went out on a Hunter 34 yesterday. Nice breeze, calm ocean, good friends, a great day to be on the water. I certainly got my sailing “fix” for a while.
So, if sailing is in your blood like it is in mine, you can have the best of both worlds. Just do the old “dock walk”.
And don’t forget to return the courtesy and invite them out on your boat.
KJ