Anyone switched from Sailboat to Powerboat?

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by Stewie12

I have had both and a motor yacht with 2 engines, generators and more, takes more time and money to maintain than a simple sailboat.

Its disingenuous to compare a complex boat with a simple sailboat.

I have also had both and I can assure you that to get to a similar level of comfort, autonomy and passage time to what we have now, on a sailing vessel, would cost considerably more

[Exctyengr]

Been a sailor my whole life, looking with disdain at the "stink potters". As my wife and I aged, (now in my '80's) pulling on the strings got a little much as did reefing, anchoring with a manual windlass and so forth. Owning our classic 42' wooden ketch in SoCal was getting a bit much. So we sold the boat and swallowed the anchor. Funny thing.....I really missed being on the water and messing about with boats.
Then we discovered the PNW, been trawler cruising up there ever since.
Do I miss the sailboat, you bet! But the PNW especially up in BC is more trawler friendly. So now it's the Grand Banks for me.
Would be interested in learning your story

[bjp447]

I am mostly on a lake and have sailed for the last 40 years. # years ago I went to a small trawler because, my knees could not take the ups and downs, I am 73, and it was harder to maintain all the rigging and such. I also found that like most sailors, unless you are off shore you motor most of the time. On a lake it is lack of wind, on the salt, it can be current, time constrains, and winds or lack of. I like my trawler, more comfortable, inside steering, more room, I can hear the cd's with the engine on, AC/heat. I don't like it because - no scuppers - I constantly have to watch the bilge pumps, more maintenance and if you have one diesel having to worry about dependability. I don't worry about motoring because unless I was out, just to be sailing I spend just a little less time motoring with my sailboat vs my trawler. Both my boats were/are under 30 feet. Go bigger if you can!

[mvweebles]

First, if intent is to circumnavigate, an adequately equipped trawler is expensive. Sail makes a lot of sense.

As for fuel burn, many apples/oranges posts thus far. Displacement trawlers such as my Willard 36 will burn the same as a similarly sized and equipped sailboat running at same speed. My boat has a Perkins 4.236 75 hp diesel and burns a little over 1gph at 6 kts. Sisterships have gone from California to Hawaii and burned 330 gallons - about 0.9gph at around 6 kts, though favorable current.

There are a few serious cruises who have made long hauls in both sail and trawler. They report the overall costs are about the same when you factor in cost of sails and rigging. Steve Dashew, as expected, has a lengthy discussion including years of logs.

Stabilizers are a game changer for trawlers.

I do not agree that trawlers are about the destination. For me, I like life at jogging speed.

Sailors worry about having an engine. Good point and I will not dismiss it lightly. I will say that many sailboats have old, low power and low quality high rpm Diesels that are not well cared for, partially because access is often poor. Trawlers tend to have larger engine rooms that make maintenance much easier.

Finally, I will observe that for true cruisers who seek an independent and austere lifestyle afloat that leaves a clean wake, there is no reason a trawler cannot fulfill a similar platform as many sailboats. While there is nothing wrong with Tiara and Bayliner, there are simple and austere trawler alternatives that provide a very nature-centric cruising existence. I, for one, identify more with classic sail cruisers than powerboaters - I've never met Jim and Ann Cate, but they sound old school to me and are role models - sail or power. Though I must also observe that many current sail-cruisers are, in many ways, more akin to power cruisers than classic sail cruisers.

Long winded way to say cruising is a perspective. The platform is less important than how you adapt it for your desires.

Best success to the OP regardless of choice. My back deck is open for a beer or coffee regardless of how you reach it - sail or power.

Peter

[MV Caroline]

I agree with Peter on MVWEEBLES. By the way, willards are great boats and have tremendous range for small trawles. I hav looked at several Willard boats, but the ones in the size range I wanted are out of my budget. I.too, am a life-long sailor who has raced and cruised and messed about in boats since before I could walk. Now in mt seventies, I was looking for the best compromise for full time live aboard and long range cruising I could find. I bought a Skookum 53' trawler. The only Skookum 53 ever built as a motor trawler, she is still fully ballasted, carries a small steadying rig and is also hydralically stabilized. She has 47'+ waterline length and is easily driven. Her Main is a Cat 3304 94Hp diesel with tons of torque. Her best cruise is 1350 RPM at 8.2 kts through the water and burning 2.2 gph. Her theoretical range is conservatively 4,500 nautical miles.

Granted, I have had a huge refit project but the net result is still about half of what I would have put into a comparable newer trawler which probably would still have obsolete electronics and have some deferred maintenance too.

Caroline is comfortable and has all the amenities I wanted in a boat and room for guests in separate staterooms and heads.
Also a boat easy for an older man to handle solo.

[Boatguy30]

Originally Posted by Stewie12

I have had both and a motor yacht with 2 engines, generators and more, takes more time and money to maintain than a simple sailboat.

Most people aren't cruising "simple sailboats" these days. The OP suggests a cat. I'd reckon a set of 10 y/o Volvo saildrives will suck a lot more maintenance $$$ in the next 10 years than a 30 y/o set of Ford Lehman's.

Putting new sails and rigging on a cruising cat is 12-15k that's a lot of diesel at current oil prices.

[Captain Anthony]

Ahoy, I started with a Lightning, a one designee little racer, then up the ladder on sailboats. Then came marriage and children, we switched to the Searay brand. we went to a 30 Sundancer and most recently a Searay 37 Sundancer . When the kids lost interest, about age 17 for my son and age 15 for my daughter, we sold her. A few years later a buddy and I purchases a Hunter 27 to knock around the Great South Bay. I wound up getting most ASA certificated,a Masters License and in September, 2018, after a few years of health issues, I purchased my Tartan 37. Additionally, I have a 1996 Regulator 26 for when the wind is below 5 knots and more than 20 knots. I don't have the time to fish her, just run around and enjoy.

[mikereed100]

You don't mention what you plan to do with your new boat or how much money you are planning to spen, and that will be key. If you want to do some long distance cruising with some ocean passages, then you will be limited to very expensive powerboats along the lines of a Nordhaven or similar. On the other hand, I can think of several amazing cruising grounds with "challenging" sailing conditions where a relatively inexpensive trawler could make sense. SE Asia, SE Alaska, BC, the Sea of Cortez and even Patagonia come to mind. Getting the boat to any of these areas could be a challenge.

We are commuter cruisers and have bought a trawler so that we have someplace to live when we return home to work that still allows us to cruise the Channel Islands off California. The space and amenities on the trawler are awesome, but as a sea boat it sucks. A 3 hour passage is about all we can handle until the noise, smell and rolling have us pining for landfall. Flat water would eliminate the rolling, but the smell and noise remain.

[Dooglas]

"Anyone switched from Sailboat to Powerboat?" You're kidding, right?

Companies such as Grand Banks have built most of their business around sailors making the transition to cruising power boats. And I am one of them who has made that transition. I would take issue with the idea that people go from sailboats to trawlers to save money however. Cruising trawlers are simply roomier and more comfortable for their length, as well as easier to handle underway and docking.

[geoleo]

Im 83. 3 years ago I bought a Trawler after owning 9 sailboats over 50 years. Last Jan I sold it and bought another sailboat- a 34ft Gemini . I love it. Trawlering was BORING> Maintenance was same. SAIL HO!!!

[DanCan]

Originally Posted by geoleo

Im 83. 3 years ago I bought a Trawler after owning 9 sailboats over 50 years. Last Jan I sold it and bought another sailboat- a 34ft Gemini . I love it. Trawlering was BORING> Maintenance was same. SAIL HO!!!

Bloody awesome! You cheered up my afternoon!

[mvweebles]

I'll Hazard a guess that at least 4 of 5 people who switch, go from sail to trawler, 1 of 5 go the other direction. A good part of it is the sheer convenience - as people age, they have more money and want (and can afford) more creature comforts. Many Sailors add a ton of stuff to their boats and end up with pretty complicated vessels that are far from the pure sailing experience. A radar/solar arch is a pretty good "tell" that a sailboat is loaded.

This comes down to a lifestyle decision. If you want a simple, independent life that you can afford and willing to supplement with elbow grease, there are more sailboat options than trawler options. But there are trawler options. And the sailboat options often require a ton of money and effort thrown at them.

If you really, really like to sail, then the choice is obvious. If your goal is to cruise economically and safely, a displacement trawler is a serious option.

As a final note, in 2004 when I was a full time delivery skipper, I brought a Nordhavn 57 from LA to Ft Lauderdale in 25 daya. Averaged around 9kts and burned 6 gph. Damn economical - fuel was not the most expensive line item in the delivery.

Another data point. I did the Baja Ha Ha on a friend's Willard 40. There were 160 boats in the fleet, average was around 40-feet. Because we can point directly to way points, our 7kt speed allowed us to consistently be one of the first ten boats into the anchorage. We arrived dry, rested, and comfortable. There's a safety factor there that's tough to ignore.

If your goal is to cruise, all options are on the table. If your goal is to sail, we'll either buy a trawler with enough deck space to store a Laser or buy a sailboat and weather gear">foul weather gear.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by mikereed100

The space and amenities on the trawler are awesome, but as a sea boat it sucks. A 3 hour passage is about all we can handle until the noise, smell and rolling have us pining for landfall. Flat water would eliminate the rolling, but the smell and noise remain.

Diesel smell and noise was a real concern for me as I did get quite ill on a yacht that split its fuel tank on a horror delivery to Sydney back in the day.

But, glad to say, Zero smell and negligible noise on ours.
In fact I reckon our Yamaha 9.9 4 strokes on our last catamaran made more racket than the 855 Cummins burbling away @ 1150rpm way down there in the well insulated ER.

[IMACSS]

Owned many runabouts before SWITCHING to sailboats (both trailer sailers) and after nearly 20 years SWITCHED back but this time, to a 34-foot Clipper (pocket-trawler design). Struggled with one engine getting her back into the marina so installed a thruster and now feel that I can go places by myself which I did quite a bit of when sailing. I am very respectful of the ocean but fortunately I live only 10 minutes from Australia's largest coastal saltwater lagoon (Lake Macquarie - 110 square kilometres (42.5 sq miles) which is connected to the Tasman Sea by a short channel). After almost 50 years here I still have not visited all that the lake has to offer. In reality, if I was more interested in coastal cruising then I would have to consider switching back to a bigger sailboat.


My trawler is only 9 feet longer than my last sailboat but seems to have about 20 times more room. It has bunks for 8 (6 more than needed), 2 electric heads, 1 freezer and 3 fridges, cooktop and oven, electric anchor, a huge Lehman engine that pushes her along at 6.5 knots (1500 rpm and 5 litres/Hr) and I can do my exercises by walking right around the deck or climbing 2 x 3 steps to the Flybridge and back down. It has thick carpet below and lots of other creature comforts that I really do enjoy. She does roll more than the sailboat and is “comfortably” noisier than the wind. ☺
I do miss sailing but I enjoy the independence just as much, AND I am still on the water at 71.
A BIT strange but I do enjoy the maintenance and there is always something to do in that department.
All the best in making your decision.

[Hoodsail]

No greater sacrilege can occur....there is a reason they are called "stink-pots"....but live and let live, I suppose...