A Bit About Trawlers

When we first started looking at trawlers, we were unable to find much information on them out there to help us understand the different types. Most of the good information we got was from the trawler school we took in Biscayne Bay. Captain Bob of trawlerschoolcharters.com helped us out with a very detailed description of each type of trawler to help us make up our minds. Long afterward, I ran into this article on Passagemaker magazine that did a very good job of defining a trawler and explaining the difference between trawlers and motor yachts: How Do We Define A Trawler? 

So, for the uninitiated, here we go...

The Trunk Trawler

The basic, recreational, traditional trawler that everyone thinks of when you say the word "trawler" is a trunk trawler in the style of the Grand Banks. when viewed from the side, it has the "wedding cake" profile of layers decreasing in size. The house structure of the boat is moved farther forward so the foredeck is a bit smaller. You are able to walk all the way around the deck at the water level. In the interior, there is usually a V-berth and head in the bow, then a few steps up to the salon, galley, and lower helm station. A few steps down to the aft cabin which contains either one queen or two twin berths. 

Advantages: Great access to the deck for docking and loading provisions. Nice aft cabin. No ladders to the flybridge. Cabins on opposite ends of the boat which is great for guests. usually two heads, again great for guests.

Disadvantages: No shaded areas on deck except for the flybridge which is often very small. With my fair skin, this is a huge issue. I know you can rig temporary shade structures on the aft deck, but I haven't ever seen one I really liked.  It can also be hard to find one of these with the queen berth in the aft cabin, so if you're looking for a walk-around bed this may not be a good model for you. They also often have teak decks which are maintenance nightmares.

For more details, you can read Captain Bob's article on the trunk trawler here: Trunk Trawler

The Sundeck Trawler

One of the most common recreational trawlers out there is the sundeck model. The sundeck design moves the house structure back just a bit, which allows for a larger foredeck. Access to the salon is through a side entry, sometimes there is entry on both port and starboard.  There are adequate side decks on most of them, with a few steps up onto the sundeck at the stern. The sundeck may be open or it may be fully enclosed. There are then a few steps up to the flybridge. The interior volume is large. The aft cabin under the sundeck is usually a full-width cabin with either a walk-around queen or king berth, lots of storage, and a head. Up a few steps is the salon and lower helm. The galley on some is up in the salon, but on some of them it is a few steps down toward the bow, with a small dinette opposite it. Then there is a V-berth and head forward. Here is a link to the one near us that we made an offer on that was refused. It's still for sale, but he's asking way too much for it.  It was a nice boat, though. Golden Star 38

Advantages: Extremely spacious. Cabins are on opposite ends of the boat which is great for guests. Almost always two heads, again great for guests. A choice between galley up and galley down. The sundeck provides a well-shaded area to sit and often has a bar and small fridge.

Disadvantages: Very hard to access the stern for docking maneuvers, especially if the sundeck is enclosed. Steep ladder to get from the dinghy to the sundeck via the swim platform. Usually higher freeboard, making it harder to access the boat at the dock without portable steps.

Here's Captain Bob's article on the sundeck model: Sundeck Model

Pilot House Trawler

We loves us some pilot house trawlers, but unfortunately most of them fall way outside of our budget. A good example of one would be the Kady Krogen 39. We toured one a few years ago and there's something to be said for the ship-like quality of a pilot house boat. The KK39 had the Portuguese bridge forward of the house structure, something that would offer some safety while on deck underway. Pilot house models vary greatly in the interiors, a lot depending on whether it is a raised pilot house or a flush deck. Whatever the interior, these are serious cruising boats with oodles of comfort.

You can drool over Kady Krogen's wonderful collection of yachts here.

Or, you can drool over the Helmsman pilothouse yachts and passage makers here.

Advantages: A dedicated helm station that resembles those on ships. They are usually equipped with a settee and table, a massive amount of instrumentation, heat, air, rear-facing cameras...what's not to like?

Disadvantages: Cost. Sometimes visibility from the pilot house is not terrific to the rear, thus the need for rear-facing cameras. The hull design on some of them, the Kady Krogen in particular, is rounded and prone to rolling if there's no active stabilizers. Did I mention cost?

Here's Captain Bob's article on the Pilot House Trawlers

The Passagemaker

The passagemaker trawlers are just beefed up versions of the pilot house trawlers. In this class are the expedition trawlers, and the serious ocean-crossing trawlers. This would be a lottery boat for us...

Advantages: Copious amounts of room. Very sea-kindly with active stabilizers. What's not to like?

Disadvantages: Cost, both to purchase and to operate on a yearly basis. 

Here's Captain Bob's article on Passagemaker Trawlers

And lastly, the boat which we ended up on, The Sedan Model

The sedan models are really common amongst the aging cruisers, a group we find ourselves firmly entrenched in this time around. One of the most common sedans for the budget cruiser is the Marine Trader Sedan pictured here in the Europa version. The foredeck can be larger with the house structure moved a little further aft. There are walk-around decks the whole way around the boat, and a cockpit area at the stern with a walk-thru to the swim platform on the same level. In one version of the sedan model, the Europa, the side decks are covered. The salon, galley, and lower helm station are all on one level with the aft deck, accessed through sliding glass doors. There are only a few stairs in the interior, used to go forward to the V-berth, pullman or bunk cabin, and single head. If you get into the larger models (48' or so and larger) you usually have two heads. Access to the deck is on one side or the other and the rear.

Advantages: Fewer steps to deal with as the joints age. Very good access for docking from both the stern and the bow. Very good access from the dinghy to the swim platform. 

Disadvantages: The flybridge is accessed via a ladder and a hatch. This is the main disadvantage on this style of boat.

Here's Captain Bob's article on the Sedan Model Trawler

The Takeway

So why did we choose this boat? First, let it be said that, early on, we made an offer on the Golden Star 38 sundeck model, and if it had been accepted we would have happily lived on that boat. There were many advantages to ending up on that boat: It was only a half hour from our house, it had 2 heads, it was shorter so less costly at a dock, it had huge volumes of storage. The big disadvantages were the fact that he was asking too much money for it and insurance wouldn't insure it for what he was asking, it had no air conditioning, it had no autopilot, and it had Volvo engines. While Volvo engines are known to be reliable, the parts for them are very hard to come by and are very expensive. But one of the things we asked ourselves while we were in the trawler school sitting on that sundeck 10 feet off the water was whether or not we would feel disconnected from the water. After living on Kintala full-time for six years where you could almost drag your hand in the water while sitting in the cockpit, we were worried that being that high up might make us lose that connection. It also occurred to us that most of the friends we made while cruising were made when people saw us sitting in the cockpit playing ukes or reading and they would stop by in their dinghy on the way to town. Would that happen if we were up on the sundeck, especially one fully enclosed? Probably not. Since the cruising community was the best single part of cruising, this was an important factor for us.

Every boat is some sort of compromise, but First Light ticked nearly every one of the boxes on our list. It was newer, so it would be a little easier to get insurance for (More coming on that in a future post.) It had a walk-around queen berth (a deal-breaker for me,) a really nice galley up with a full-sized fridge, very wide, safe side decks with good handholds, a shaded cockpit to relax in at anchor, an electric windlass, solar panels, settees in the flybridge long enough to sleep on, a very good dinghy, a big enough generator, and reliable Cummins engines housed in a decent engine room. The one disadvantage that caused some concern was the near-vertical ladder to the flybridge, but if we still own the boat when we can no longer climb it, we can always run the boat from the lower helm (or get one of our grandkids to come helm the boat to take DeMa and Grampy T out.)

The good thing about there being so many types of trawlers is that there are so many types of sailors who live on them. What works for us may not work for you. So if you're considering a trawler journey, try to think about the things that are important to you. How will you want to live? More on the hook, or more at a dock? How much will you want to travel? To where? What's your budget like? Each of these things will begin to form the answer to your "What type of trawler is best for us?" question. While no boat is a perfect match for all your wishlist, First Light is as close as there was for these two cruisers.

Ed Note: There are articles coming on the whole buying experience including surveys, as well as the whole insuring process.