FQuest 51 wrote seeking good souls to give him some hands on experience before he buys his first trawler. I totally agree with him and others who have commented on the same subject. After 55 years of sailing, I decided a year ago to switch, having been convinced that "Old sailors never die; they just go to trawlers". I, too, had no trawler experience, and really had no friends who had trawlers. Living in south Florida, I had plenty of friends with sport fishermen, and had lots of day cruises with them. But, they are a far cry from trawlers. With only my sailing experience to go on, and having a 40' Bristol to sell or trade, I started looking for trawlers in the 35' to 40' range. I worked on one dealer for nearly a year to buy his 35' Grand Banks, taking my Bristol in trade, but to no avail. My wife, for comfort reasons, was leaning more toward a 42 footer. Then, on a trip to Charleston, we found the boat of our dreams, a 46' Sea Ranger. We couldn't believe we would go that big, but have never regretted the decision. Now, back to the southern hospitality aboard trawlers. We are taking a new neighbor, who is just now contemplating a change from sail to trawler, out tomorrow - all day - to get hands on experience with our boat. Georgs has the right idea at TrawlerFests, asking trawler owners to open their boats to visits by registered guests. I'm sure this could (or does) develop some offers to would-be trawler owners to travel with them and experience the thrills of a trawler. Whether by sail or by trawler, my wife and I have always welcomed people aboard, and would be receptive to offer them some trawler experience. So, wannabes, there are opportunities to experience trawler travel before you bite the bullet, or before becoming captive to a particular dealer's demo.