Trawlers a Larger Segment of Fort Lauderdale Boat Show

Trawlers have all the conveniences of home and can cruise for thousands of miles nonstop, giving their owners freedom and comfort at sea. But they’re not exactly cheap.

Scott and Mary Flanders of Fort Lauderdale have circumnavigated the globe and crossed the Atlantic three times since moving aboard their 46-foot trawler 10 years ago. Chris Wheeler recently sold his home in Palm Beach County to spend months at a time on his new 67-footer. Fort Lauderdale physician Kal Blumberg parks his trawler behind his house, planning to do some long-range cruising with wife Anita and 19-month-old daughter Eileen when his surgical schedule permits.

All say they are hooked on the trawler lifestyle — slow, self-sufficient, live-aboard cruising on safe, stable boats built with classic lines and equipped with all the comforts of home.

The boats and the lifestyle surrounding them will be showcased at Trawler Port — a new display opening at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show Thursday through Monday. Show goers can peruse more than 50 trawlers up to 90 feet long at floating docks B-C at Bahia Mar Yachting Center and attend educational seminars sponsored by Passagemaker magazine.

“We are delighted to have a stronger Trawler Port presence,” magazine publisher/general manager Rob Dorfmeyer said. “It’s a niche that has gained some traction and is poised to be a significant segment of the marine market.”

According to industry experts, trawlers range in size from 30 to 90 feet. They may have three designs: a planing hull for going fast on top of the waves; semi-displacement — slower going with more of the hull in the water; or full displacement, a wider hull that sits deeper in the water, goes slower and is most fuel efficient.

Even with different hull types that cruise from a turtle-like six knots to more than 20 knots, what defines a trawler is its look, according to Bob Denison, president of Denison Yachts in Fort Lauderdale.

“A fuel-efficient motor yacht with very classic, traditional, ship-like lines,” Denison said. “It wouldn’t be out of place if you had a time machine and went back to 1960 — romantic, nostalgic. There’s a lot of living space.”

Trawlers vary widely in price, depending on size, engine package and options — anywhere from $350,000 for a boat of 30 to 40 feet to $5 million for an 80-footer. The average expenditure for a fully-equipped boat is just under $600,000, according to Dorfmeyer.

The biggest draw for trawler owners, industry leaders say, is being able to run the boat alone or with just one other person for sometimes thousands of miles without having to refuel or re-provision. Boats are equipped with generators, air conditioners, water makers, refrigerator/freezers, ovens and dishwashers.

“It’s got everything you would have in a normal home,” Scott Flanders said of his 46-foot Nordhavn named Egret.

Trawlers represent a small percentage of the new powerboat market in the U.S., according to Ellen Hopkins of the National Marine Manufacturers Association. Last year, the slow-but-steady motor yachts accounted for only 0.6 percent of inboard cruiser sales, compared to 7.9 percent the previous year. But to put those figures in perspective, only 2,330 new inboard cruisers were sold in 2010, down from 3,000 in 2009 — a reflection of the sluggish economy. Trawlers made up a fraction of those totals.

But Andrew Parkinson of Denison Yachts says the market has been showing signs of life for the past year — with mainly two kinds of buyers.

“Sailboaters who don’t want to handle the lines anymore — that’s the older end of the market,” he said. “There’s a trend for more young families for trawlers that can go 20 knots. They’re in cruising clubs and want to keep up with the fleet, but they still want comfort and stability.”

Another thing about trawler owners, according to Colleen Deverteuil, manager of Outer Reef Yachts, is that they typically are experienced boaters who use their vessels more than other boat owners do.

“My owners will spend 6 to 10 months on their boat. They like moving around. They like the boating lifestyle,” Deverteuil said. “It’s grandparents, parents and grandchildren using the boat at the same time.”

Chris Wheeler bought his 67-foot Outer Reef a little more than a year ago and named it Private Idaho. A single baby-boomer who retired five years ago as CEO of a real estate development company, Wheeler’s been boating since his teens and previously owned several vessels up to 62 feet long. Over the years, he realized he liked living aboard a boat as much as he liked being on the water, so he sold his home in Gulf Stream in Palm Beach County. He recently spent 2 ½ months cruising the Bahamas, a month in the Keys and a couple weeks on Florida’s west coast.

“You’re absolutely self-sufficient for months at a time,” he said. “The entire time I was in the Bahamas, I was never tied up to a dock. The nice thing about modern trawlers is you can configure them so many things are automated. I run the boat single-handed about 80 percent of the time.”

Kal Blumberg would like to be able to spend that much time cruising with his family aboard the 46-foot Nordhavn they bought last February. For now, he and wife Anita have to be satisfied with shorter trips scheduled around his busy orthopedic surgery practice. But they talk a lot about taking off before daughter Eileen reaches school age.

“With a 19-month-old, they’re not playing soccer three times a week,” Blumberg said. “We’ve considered home-schooling the first few years.”

The boat is the same size and model as that of their friends, the Flanderses, with similar comforts. Their tender is a Hells Bay flats boat that Blumberg uses to go fishing.

“The biggest thing for us compared to other boating we’ve done is, it’s slow,” Blumberg said of the trawler.

“It’s quiet and enjoyable and much less stress in day-to-day life when you’re on the boat. Very relaxing.”