After deciding to simply our lives and prepare for an early retirement adventure of cruising the east coast, Irm and I started the process of downsizing our home; streamlining our years of stuff (i.e. - throwing accumulated junk out!); and finding a boat that would suit our cruising, safety & comfort requirements.
We quickly decided to make the switch from sailing (after 25 years of sailboat ownership) to power and refined that decision to focus on acquiring a trawler. The obvious benefits in seeking a trawler included economy of operation; seaworthiness; storage capacity; and creature comforts. Since we were a few years away from our planned escape, we (I) also decided that the acquisition of a structurally sound boat that needed refreshing might present an excellent opportunity to obtain our dream boat at an economical price; put some sweat equity in it to get it up to the standards we desired; and through the restoration process, learn how to maintain the systems on our boat.
With this goal in mind, we went to Trawler Fest in Solomons Island, Maryland to speak to owners and professionals seeking their recommendations and to look at various trawlers that were at the event. Dealers were present with new trawler models to board and we made the most of our time on these boats identifying the "state-of-the-art" thinking in trawler design and the systems that make them work. We also walked away with a number of ideas on how the interior designers are providing more creature comforts for the owners.
For us, the most interesting and informative part of Trawler Fest is their "trawler crawl." The event coordinators encourage trawler owners to bring their boats to the event and open them up to the attendees. Here we had the opportunity to speak first hand to owners of these boats; learn what they have done to customize their boats; their traveling experiences; and their assessment of the model boat they own.
After an wonderful, exhaustive, mind numbing time going through all of these boats, the very last boat we chanced upon was a Pilgrim tug named "Salty Dawg." As soon as we came on board, it was quite obvious that this Pilgrim was quickly capturing our imagination and, above all other boats at the event (new or used), this was the one we could see ourselves cruising in.
Designed by Ted Gozzard, this boat had the right combination of extremely good looks; a wonderful interior layout designed around the needs of a single couple; great access to all of the mechanical systems; and very economical to run (it sips about a gallon & a half of diesel per hour running at 7 knots).
So unless something else changed our mind, the game was afoot and we were in search for a Pilgrim 40 to purchase!
We quickly decided to make the switch from sailing (after 25 years of sailboat ownership) to power and refined that decision to focus on acquiring a trawler. The obvious benefits in seeking a trawler included economy of operation; seaworthiness; storage capacity; and creature comforts. Since we were a few years away from our planned escape, we (I) also decided that the acquisition of a structurally sound boat that needed refreshing might present an excellent opportunity to obtain our dream boat at an economical price; put some sweat equity in it to get it up to the standards we desired; and through the restoration process, learn how to maintain the systems on our boat.
With this goal in mind, we went to Trawler Fest in Solomons Island, Maryland to speak to owners and professionals seeking their recommendations and to look at various trawlers that were at the event. Dealers were present with new trawler models to board and we made the most of our time on these boats identifying the "state-of-the-art" thinking in trawler design and the systems that make them work. We also walked away with a number of ideas on how the interior designers are providing more creature comforts for the owners.
For us, the most interesting and informative part of Trawler Fest is their "trawler crawl." The event coordinators encourage trawler owners to bring their boats to the event and open them up to the attendees. Here we had the opportunity to speak first hand to owners of these boats; learn what they have done to customize their boats; their traveling experiences; and their assessment of the model boat they own.
After an wonderful, exhaustive, mind numbing time going through all of these boats, the very last boat we chanced upon was a Pilgrim tug named "Salty Dawg." As soon as we came on board, it was quite obvious that this Pilgrim was quickly capturing our imagination and, above all other boats at the event (new or used), this was the one we could see ourselves cruising in.
Designed by Ted Gozzard, this boat had the right combination of extremely good looks; a wonderful interior layout designed around the needs of a single couple; great access to all of the mechanical systems; and very economical to run (it sips about a gallon & a half of diesel per hour running at 7 knots).
So unless something else changed our mind, the game was afoot and we were in search for a Pilgrim 40 to purchase!
