Hi, I am 55yo and have been boating now (sad but true for 40 years) From a sailing perspective powerboats/trawlers are easy-from a ladies perspective, gee they don't have to climb the mast or crawl out on the bow and furl the sail, the thing isn't tipping over all the time, Happy girl, happy skipper, So its like driving a bus, she says, The greatest advantage is not dodging around all the stays, shrouds, lines, house, booms et al. as you anchor, dock, fend off, get bored and need to walk about This Trawler site is not full of females if you will note from the names of commenters, just gearhead guys with nothing better to do than argue about nothing as they sit at the dock and justify their current perspective on right or wrong. I have been up and down the ICW now perhaps 7-8 times in the last 15 years and its amazing how many single males are alone on there boats, so keep the girls happy, Flush decks are great, 2ft wide walkways are great, non skid that hurts bare feet is great, being intimate with every crevice and system on your boat is sane. 6-71s are great but noisy, not sitting in the rain and sun is great but the perspective from a flybridge as opposed to the perspective from a cockpit of a sailboat makes you think about what could be in a tuna tower or crowsnest, This whole thing about boats is doing not talking about it Mike Euritt <sixteenfeet@sbcglobal.net> wrote: Kevin, your brief post addresses every question I am starting to understand as I shop for my first power boat. By way of introduction, I live near San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay to be precise, shoals and short steep chop. I've some sailing experience, owned a wooden 30' x 10' beam centerboard double ender, and while owning it for 5 years, re-rigged hand spliced/served all done myself after acquiring instruction from the folks at the Maritime Museum in SF. This is my first interest in power because the new woman in my life says sailing is too much work.so. I've been able to find precious few power boats that seem sea worthy. What I want, I can find in the old wood fishing boats, deep, 4-5' draft, heavy and single diesel along the lines of a Detroit 6-71. You mentioned Grand Banks and they look great until I see the undersides, then I start to questions their worth in these harsh conditions. Then there is the three and four story boats, I don't think I'd want to be in them tied to a dock. A Pilothouse, single steering station with doors on either side for access to midships and docklines is what my fantasy is, a Protegees Bridge seems very neat and the deck should not be flush, we have small dogs that we'd like to keep a bit safer. Is there anyone building such a boat, or do I just narrow my search to old work boats? Also, is there a rule of thumb I should be aware of. I've heard something about a beam to length ratio, I think it is 1:3, but is there anything else like must weigh a certain amount (%) to provide for a more sea kindly ride? Thanks for your time in reading this. Mike Kevin Kearney <lotusman1951@yahoo.com> wrote: If we are taking displacement boats/passagemakers there are fundemental goods and bads, If you want to make arguements as to why a Marine Trader/Grand Banks or any so called semi-displacement boat is a perfect passagemaker, then take it offshore and surf., its a once in a lifetime experience-do it once and never again. Good is in the hull, Hit something and you will want steel, set it in fire, you will want steel, take small arms fire, steel,/kevlar Bulb Bows, increase waterline lenght and speed/efficiency,more importantly reduce pitching. Round Sterns/big rudders-don't immedialty broach like flat sterns in following seas. Air Height, windage/friction/roll-seasickness,tossed passangers,fear Depth, 20ft offshore would be nice, 18 inches at anchorage, Any more than 5ft for eastern US / Bahamas coastal cruising is a pain. Sooner or later we find those moments of terror seperated from the hours of boredom. If your focus is a stand up engine room ,queen aft bed, speed, varnished flat transom, then you will do better tied up to the dock. If a boat isn't right to start with it will never be right, The compromises that marketers make to sell a product should never be confused with what is right at sea. Kevin Trawler Jolie Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/listinfo/trawlers-and-trawlering To unsubscribe or modify your subscription options (get password, change email address, etc) go to: http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/options/trawlers-and-trawlering Trawlers & Trawlering and T&T are trademarks of Water World Productions. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

Kevin Kearney wrote: > This Trawler site is ..... just gearhead guys with nothing better to do than > argue about nothing as they sit at the dock and justify their current > perspective on right or wrong. Kevin, Kevin, Kevin...you are, IMHO, missing the beauty and utility of this wonderful list. We LOVE the gearhead guys!!! The knowledge they so readily share with those of us who are not inclined to mess with the systems is PRICELESS! Their advice and counsel get me back on the water quicker. I LOVE THOSE GUYS! There are boaters and hobbyists. Both have knowledge to share... Final note: Subject lines are important...and allow many of us to skim the list quickly for items of interest. But many do not use Subject lines correctly. For instance, a recent subject line was: Why Do They Do That? Not very informative. A better line would have been: 250v on 32 footer...why? There I go, micro-managing again.... Bob ________________ Robert Calhoun Smith Jr M/V MARY KATHRYN Hatteras 58 LRC South River Annapolis, MD, USA