I'm considering selling my 42' sailboat and buying a similar sized trawler.
Budget: 175k max, much prefer 150k range
Cruising: Mostly river and lake, but will want to take a few trips in the Gulf of Mexico down to Key West and maybe Bahamas from Florida panhandle. I've made this trip a few times on my Hunter 420 crossing from Apalachicola to Key West, Tarpon Springs or Tampa. The Hunter certainly isn't a blue water boat, but can make that kind of crossing easily. 6' seas are no problem for my current boat, but wonder how uncomfortable they would be in a trawler. I wouldn't try to straight shot on a trawler, but would go from Apalachicola to Tarpon.
Size: looking at 40' or so, prefer 2 cabins.
Engines: definitely want twin for safety reasons
Manufacturers: I'd like to stay 2000 or newer, but this seems to limit me to Mainship and I wonder how they would perform in the Gulf relative to a displacement trawler like a Grand Banks.
Anyone take similar trips in Mainships? How was it?
What do you think about the tradeoff between a newer Mainship and an older higher end trawler? Looks like 2000 vintage Mainships go for about same as 80s Grand Banks models.
Any feedback would be appreciated.
Budget: 175k max, much prefer 150k range
Cruising: Mostly river and lake, but will want to take a few trips in the Gulf of Mexico down to Key West and maybe Bahamas from Florida panhandle. I've made this trip a few times on my Hunter 420 crossing from Apalachicola to Key West, Tarpon Springs or Tampa. The Hunter certainly isn't a blue water boat, but can make that kind of crossing easily. 6' seas are no problem for my current boat, but wonder how uncomfortable they would be in a trawler. I wouldn't try to straight shot on a trawler, but would go from Apalachicola to Tarpon.
Size: looking at 40' or so, prefer 2 cabins.
Engines: definitely want twin for safety reasons
Manufacturers: I'd like to stay 2000 or newer, but this seems to limit me to Mainship and I wonder how they would perform in the Gulf relative to a displacement trawler like a Grand Banks.
Anyone take similar trips in Mainships? How was it?
What do you think about the tradeoff between a newer Mainship and an older higher end trawler? Looks like 2000 vintage Mainships go for about same as 80s Grand Banks models.
Any feedback would be appreciated.