Ever considered a trawler?

i've been looking at trawlers for about 7 months now. I've been on about 25 so far. Some like nordhaven are built like tanks. I really don't mind the slow speed, in fact I think I prefer it. It's a whole different kind of boating than my 280 so i'm trying to wrap my head around it. I like taking little weekend trips and these don't really fit that bill for me. For longer trips they would be great. There were a couple of hatteras' in my marina and they were almost never out on the weekends. The people just stayed in the marina, then they would leave for a month trip. Seems like that's the kind of boating they're made for. Don't know if I can give up the weekend runs just yet.
 
What Mike said above. Trawlers aren't weekend boats, or even one week boats. They're month or couple of months boats. If you have the time to spend several weeks away from home going place to place, a trawler makes sense. If you have to be back to work every Monday, wait for retirement.

Best regards,
Frank C
 
I looked at everything hard, real hard and picked a Lazzara.

Really, I wanted a Sonship and wanted to pick it up in the NW and do the Northwest passage thing. The admiral cancelled any thought of those maneuvers and so it is FL Bahamas and the East Coast in a good boat with tremendous support--which is exactly what i hear about the Nords.

As much as i wanted to make the Nordhavn the one, it was not to be. Speed was huge, draft was next and those are not the Nordhavns strength. Fortunately for me, fuel economy is not high up there.

The strength and beauty of the NOrd is crossing oceans and the support those people in Dana CA give to the owners. My wife and I are not bluwaterers. Fair weather boaters. Plus, one big strike against the trawlers are they are not your ideal Bahama cruising machines because of their draft. You need that stability in the middle of the atlantic and not anchored in the Abacos.

I pass the grand Banks, Selenes and Krogens all the time in Florida. I cannot imagine going that slow anywhere and I am happy as a clam burning 80 gph running 23k and seeing them play with the wake. I slow down to 1400 rpms to try to get some dolphins to play at the stern.

Just plan a day to the Solomons and run at 8 knots and see how totally miserable that will become. Then watch the bay change, see the weather come in and run from that at 8 knots. Boating is not fun at 8 knots, but let me try to tell all those who attend trawlerfest every year.

I chartered a trawler in keys and after a week of that, soprano that idea as in forget about it. chartered a mainship in the chesapeake and it went 15k and i felt like i was twice as happy.

if crossing oceans are in your future wouldnt do it in anything but a nord. if coastal cruising is more of your goal, then Fleming, Grand Banks, Sonship would be my choices.
 
I hate to say it. . . .but 8knots sounds like a good Catamaran sailing speed. And there is a crazy amount of space on those type of boats. On a 38' catamaran, you can have three couples aboard without bumping into each other.
 
I grew up sailing so I'm familiar with that world... Comparing a sailboat, cat or not, to a trawler stops at the speed. Something about being able to draw a straight line between point A and point B gives the trawler the edge... and I'll show you some scars on my right arm sometime from flipping a cat over many years ago... If I'm going to be in a sailboat, I want a monohull... but that's not a debate for this thread.

I've read the Nordhavn crossing editorials a few times. I would *love* to do something like that...
 
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Heck, I would love to live on one. It's a serious dream of mine to live and work on a boat putting some serious water under it. I still look at them every chance I get, crunch numbers, look at layouts and plan my escape. In the meantime, save my pennies and run around in my 280. I think right now i'm going to plunk down some $$ on a home down south, move up to a 38'ish size, then make the jump. Baby steps my GF keeps telling me, as in I want one. AAAHHHHHHHHHH.
 
You better be sure your GF is talking about a *boat* when she is saying "baby steps".
 
hmmmm, come to think of it... she did say that while she was knitting little booties.
 
Four Suns said:
So... Has anyone here ever really considered a displacement hull type boat instead of a planning hull boat? Something like:

http://www.nordhavn.com/glance/57_glance.php4

With the cost of fuel going through the roof, I wonder if trawlers will become more popular... Nordhavn is a nice boat... could live on that thing. Would have to get used to the 9 knot speed though. I've never even been on one but it would seem the running would be less stressful that running at 24 knots... Thoughts?
Click to expand...
History repeats itself. The fuel crisis of the 70's made these boats popular. Maybe that's why we're seeing a comeback of the disco ball interiors. I like trawlers. We'll probably see more at the docks.
 
comsnark said:
I hate to say it. . . .but 8knots sounds like a good Catamaran sailing speed. And there is a crazy amount of space on those type of boats. On a 38' catamaran, you can have three couples aboard without bumping into each other.
Click to expand...
Do you have to pay for 2 slips with a catamaran beause it is too wide for a standard beam slip?
 
Here is a link to the Bruce Roberts website, My parents boat is the green one in the middle of the page. Check out the picture of them launching it off a trailer, it weighs 60 tons. I have a picture of two semi's hooked together during the launch, the second one is submerged up to the doors. Read the note to the right, they ran it down in 15-19 footers... This beast is steel not FG like the Nords. You don't have to run from a storm at 8 knots when you weigh 60 tons and are stabilized! :thumbsup:

http://www.bruceroberts.com/public/HTML/TY60.htm
 
quality time said:
Here is a link to the Bruce Roberts website, My parents boat is the green one in the middle of the page. Check out the picture of them launching it off a trailer, it weighs 60 tons. I have a picture of two semi's hooked together during the launch, the second one is submerged up to the doors. Read the note to the right, they ran it down in 15-19 footers... This beast is steel not FG like the Nords. You don't have to run from a storm at 8 knots when you weigh 60 tons and are stabilized! :thumbsup:

http://www.bruceroberts.com/public/HTML/TY60.htm
Click to expand...

The Edmond Fitzgerald was 729 feet and 26,000 tons and went down in a storm.

Minimum HP option is 250? Hard to imagine.
What would it take to get it up on plane on hydrofoils?
 
I think that now that we are in the age of electronic diesels that pure "trawlers" are gonna all but disappear. Why would you want to be limited to 8 or 9 knots- when you can crank 'em open when you need to and do 23-26 knots?

Here's my retirement :
http://www.marlowexplorer.com/65c-70e.htm

Wanna leisurely cruise? No prob- 8.3 knots at 9 gph!
Get to port in a hurry to beat a weather front- crank her up to 23 knots!

Modern diesels, paired with the right hull will give the best of both worlds. No need to settle for blowboat speeds anymore.

And don't forget- those Nordhavns draw SEVEN FEET. Not a good choice for coastal cruising, or the Bahamas. They're Passagemakers.
 
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Hey I still love the Nordhavns but pardon my ignorance.. as this is not the last time you'll see it.. but where does the "blue water" fit in? is it just a fancy house boat or does it have any moxy for cruising? Is that Marlow a true displacement hull or semi-displacement or semi-planing?? seems like pushing that much water that fast would not be to terribly economic? Again, pardon the stupidity but i'm just currious
 
The wife and I are very taken with the Nordic Tug 42, much to Skip's dismay. :) There is an excellent chance we will end up in something like that when we retire - and maybe sooner.

Gary, you should come to Trawler Fest this fall in Solomons, or catch it at one of the other locations during the year. They had something like 40-50 trawlers here last year, all sizes and styles.

BTW, one big plus for us on the Nordic Tug is the fact that they are American made. That matters to us.

-CJ
 
Yes, we absolutely have thought/dreamed of a trawler. Living space and distance per $ seem to be our goal. Unfortunately, they cost more and don't really seem to be that much more cost effective per mile (non-scientific analysis).

We climed all over a Fleming 55 2 years ago and absolutely loved it. However, my dreams were shaterred when I read a review and the mileage was not very good. There is no way to move a bigger boat without more fuel.

I suspect the smaller trawlers are a different story. Especially the 34' single engine ones. But if that is the alternative (they are small), I'll stay with my 380AC.
 
Isn't something like a Carver 42 Motoryacht also a displacement hull? I seem to remember Carvers fitting into that category.

Doug
 
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