With the first quarter swirling in our wake, it’s time to look ahead and peer through the bow pulpit. For many of us it is all about finding the time – we know we want to take off and go cruising.

You plan to have your own trawler at some point in your life. This is never an impulse purchase and there is a lot to prepare for. What do you need to know? When is the right time?

One of the advantages of cruising in a trawler is that you have more predictable timing – a steady pace makes forward progress and while running at trawler speeds, time slows, but never stands still.

Trawler owners and want-to-be trawler cruisers actually have a lot in common. For buyers, the search involves many steps to find the right boat.

The market of available trawlers is opening up with more quality boats coming on the market and prices shifting slightly lower as supply and demand issues are balancing.

When you spend a lot of time underway, sooner or later you will encounter turbulent waters where the swell, chop, wind, waves and current all come together from different directions to create a bumpy, uncomfortable ride.

It’s that time of year when your boating desire rises like the weather temperature. Thoughts of getting away to go cruising are more realistically achievable. Trawler buyers are scouring the internet to find a boat to buy before it is sold out from underneath them.

When you spend a lot of time underway, sooner or later you will encounter turbulent waters where the swell, chop, wind, waves and current all come together from different directions to create a bumpy, uncomfortable ride.

Offshore, out of sight of land, you are surrounded by the horizon in every direction.  If you are not in a rush to reach your destination, time slows and you enjoy the journey.

If you are moving in the right direction, you are making headway. Over the last year we have witnessed an unprecedented desire for people to buy a trawler and take off cruising. The rushed timing and sparse availability has strained trawler brokers and created a fast paced environment propelled by a swelling wave of buyers eager to enter into transactions.