We are new to trawlers, having traded our Bristol 40 Cutter just a year ago toward a Sea Ranger 46, which is a semi-displacement hull. White Squall, which is what she was named is a large, comfortable, sun-deck trawler. We have had great use of White Squall in Florida waters this past year, since bringing it down from Charleston last July. South Florida does not have the sailing charm that we enjoyed in New England. There are no weekend gunk-holes; its either the Bahamas or the Keys, and either of those is a two or three week commitment. With the trawler, we are able to entertain on the huge enclosed sun deck at our home or while cruising. The spaces below are heaven during this hot summer, being totally air conditioned either with shore power or with our 8 kw Westerbeke (the same, but a bit smaller than what powered our Bristol). We were in the Gulf last January and February during their stormy and cold season, and were equally comfortable with the reverse cycle a/c's and 5 resistance heaters built in for New England winters. Although we had many years of enjoyment aboard our Bristol cutter, including three years in Belize, C.A., we are most satisfied with our transition and would not go back to sailing except for an expected one more charter in the Virgin Islands. Incidentally, I had had 55 years of sailing before converting. As the old saying goes, "Old sailors never die, they just go to trawlers." Howard W. Evirs, Jr. North Palm Beach, FL P. S. I'd like to exchange my Bristol fuel bills with my White Sqaull ones; we used more fuel bringing the boat from Charleston to North Palm Beach than we used in the fifteen years we owned the Bristol. On Tue, 28 Jul 1998 18:15:10 -0500 Marsha Kirby <jhmhip@flash.net> writes: >Hi everybody - my name is John Marino and I am a new subscriber and >also >in the market for a trawler after selling our sailboat. Since we favor >the sundeck models we have seen alot of boats that we like that have >"modified-v" hulls. I would really appreciate any suggestions/input >from any of you as to whether we should even consider these. We are >very concerned with the performance/off shore >capabiliities/deficiencies/etc. We will be using the boat mainly in >the >Gulf of Mexico. Thanks for your comments! > _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]