We love our presenters at Trawlerfest
and you will too!

Introducing 2 of our most honorable expert veteran presenters:
longtime cruisers Jeff Merrill and Steve Zimmerman.

Jeff Merrill has been presenting at Trawler Fest for nearly 20 years.  He grew up racing sailboats and built ocean capable sailboats at Pacific Seacraft before joining the team at Nordhavn and representing their trawlers for over 14 years.  Jeff has thousands of miles underway on a wide variety of trawlers, most of them offshore doing training with clients. Jeff is the instructor for the Boaters University online course “Offshore Cruising, Preparing Craft and Crew”.

Join Jeff for his enthusiastic and entertaining live presentations on Friday, Nov 13 at 3:00 pm for Offshore Essentials and on Saturday, Nov 14 at 1:00 pm for Dial-In Your Trawler!

Don’t forget to get your 25% discount by entering JMYS.

The show must go on!

Boat shows in 2020 are just not going to happen. After a successful March event in Stuart, FL, PassageMaker postponed the Seattle TrawlerFest and Baltimore TrawlerFest earlier this year, even suggested new dates, but alas, it just isn’t meant to be.

JMYS enjoys everything about TrawlerFest. We had a wonderful pre-pandemic event in Stuart, FL with two boats on display (a Kadey-Krogen 48 and Selene 56) and a full schedule of seminars.   With all of the upheaval, this is the year that can’t end quickly enough and getting crowds of people together for an event just isn’t smart or practical.  We respect and support PassageMaker’s decision to cancel Seattle and Baltimore this year.

Jeff has been presenting for nearly 20 years and looks forward to sharing his trawler knowledge AND meeting new and seasoned trawler buyers and sellers.  They are low-key, fun events to attend.

It’s not all bad news, the creative team behind the scenes, decided to hold a year-end “virtual event” so in lieu of TrawlerFest Baltimore and Seattle 2020, PassageMaker magazine has created TrawlerFest LIVE, an online summit taking place November 12-14.  There will not be any boats in the water to crawl around on or vendors in the tents to talk to, but the ever-popular educational seminar suite is going from in person to watch from home. A select group of trawler industry professionals will be broadcasting their seminars online, live via Zoom.

JMYS is so excited to participate that we have signed on as a sponsor.

One of the best parts of the trawler lifestyle is the community of fellow cruisers which welcomes you with open arms and warm smiles.  For Krogen owners in and around the Stuart area, Tuesday mornings means breakfast at Mulligans.  On March 2, 2020 Larry Friedman of Jeff Merrill Yacht Sales had the pleasure to host one of the last breakfasts of the 2020 season.

The Krogen owners in the Stuart, FL area community have a unique camaraderie that has become tightly bound through these informal gatherings enjoying a morning meal.  A time to relax, share stories and talk trawlers, it’s a weekly tradition that has been going on for years.

Staying connected with the cruising community is a core principal of JMYS said Larry.   “It’s not enough to ask for people’s business when they are selling or buying a trawler.  It is maintaining a presence which includes resources and continued support for cruisers during the entire ownership process that matters”.

This ongoing commitment to truly care and stay in touch with our clients is one of the many reasons JMYS has become a leading force in trawler sales since 2014. In addition to JMYS covering the breakfast tab, each attendee received a waterproof JMYS neck strap wallet to keep things dry on future dinghy excursions.  JMYS believes that friendships formed through owners’ groups significantly contributes to the overall enjoyment of cruising and we look forward to remaining connected with Krogen owners and staying involved through casual events like this for many seasons to come.

We have two former Kadey-Krogen owners on the JMYS team who are knowledgeable, experienced and exceptionally prepared to offer advice in this specialized market.  Please reach out directly to Larry Friedman and Christopher Bruce if you would like to connect and talk about trawlers.

We had first learned about CUBAR back in 2017, and from the very start it sounded like this was something that we wanted to do, even though we didn’t own a boat yet!

Not having done any long-distance trips or any trips into foreign waters, joining the CUBAR rally seemed like a fun and safe way to travel to a distant place.

 2019 was going to be the year! Having owned our Selene 55 Bella Luna for 2 years, we felt like we were ready. We have enjoyed exploring the Southern California coast and the California Channel Islands, so it was time for the next big thing. A 1000-mile voyage to Baja and the Sea of Cortez sounded ideal.

Getting Ready

The spring and summer of 2019 were full of planning and preparations. I started going through every system on our boat. By the end of the summer I felt like I could work at Jet-Tern Marine building new Selene trawlers! We started the spring with a scheduled haul out for bottom paint and the stabilizer service. To our shock and surprise, we found out that our propeller shaft was corroded badly and ready to snap. After a $30,000 boat yard bill and a shiny new propeller shaft, Bella Luna was back in the water and ready for the next phase.

Next came the electronics and navigation equipment upgrades. Bella Luna had 3 previous owners and over the years, a number of upgrades have been done to her. Unfortunately, as new equipment was installed, a lot of the old wires, cables, power supplies, etc. had been left behind creating a big wiring mess in the pilot house. With the help of my electrician, I spent a week onboard cleaning up the old mess and installing the upgrades. The result was a very clean, simplified installation that is mapped out and easy to troubleshoot.

As the summer went along not a system was untouched. From rebuilding the master head toilet, overhauling the water maker, rebuilding the fuel injection pump on the generator, to replacing every single hose and clamp on the main engine; I felt like I had checked every single system onboard. I tried to do most of the work myself, in order to be more familiar with the various mission critical systems onboard.

Another important part of the preparations was acquiring all the various spare parts and maintenance supplies. The goal was to be as self-sufficient as possible, to be able to do all of the general maintenance ourselves so we were ready and able to handle most breakdowns. I must say that all of the hard work paid off, because our journey went as planned without any major mechanical problems.

Finally Going South

Our first leg of the trip from Channel Islands Harbor to Dana Point was as good as it gets. Flat seas and warm California sunshine all the way.

The second day – Dana Point to San Diego- was the worst day of the entire journey! Strong head winds combined with very steep, short period seas, slowed us to running at 6-7 knots most of the day. We even managed to break some of the “Unbreakable” dishes in the galley!

We were glad to get the worst behind us and the rest of the trip was “smooth sailing”.

Our stay in San Diego was full of last-minute preparations, provisioning and filling up our fuel tanks. With 1500 gallons onboard, we were one of the few lucky boats in our group that can go down to the Sea of Cortez and back, without having to refuel.

The CUBAR sendoff party at San Diego Yacht Club was a lot of fun and it was where we met a ton of new friends for the first time.

During the party we were informed of an incoming Santa Ana wind event. It was suggested that we might consider leaving that night instead of waiting for the scheduled departure the next day.

We decided to depart that night with a small group of other boats. Leaving San Diego harbor in the dark and having to deal with boat traffic in an unfamiliar harbor was pretty nerve wracking.

We managed to leave without any problems and proceeded south for Ensenada. This was our very first overnight passage, ever. The investment that we made in new radar and navigation equipment paid off, as it gave us the comfort level to be able to navigate in the darkness for the very first time. Our journey south that night went very smooth, the horizon was full of lights on the US/Mexico border and the air was filled with the smell of smoke from distant fires in Mexico.

We arrived in the Ensenada harbor early the following morning. It was too early, since the Marina Coral office was still closed, so we had to circle the harbor for an hour before we could get our slip assignments and enter the marina.

 Welcome to Mexico

Our decision to leave the previous night turned out to be a good one. The boats leaving San Diego that morning were hit with some vicious Santa Ana winds; some turned back and departed later. Coral Marina helped us with checking in to Mexico, and everything went smoothly. Ensenada was our last stop in “Civilization” until we reached Cabo about a week later, so we stocked our provisions with anything that we had missed earlier and made sure we had our bar stocked with good Tequila for the long journey south!

Our stay in Ensenada happened to coincide with Halloween and also the Day of The Dead – El Día de los Muertos. My wife Deanna loves to dress up for Halloween, so she made sure our crew came prepared with Pirate costumes. On Day of The Dead the entire crew had their faces painted by professional makeup artists in the local Mexican tradition.  That evening with our faces painted and our costumes on, we proceeded to have some fun in town before we departed for Turtle Bay, late that night.

Baja Here We Come

With our faces still painted, we departed late at night. This was to be our longest non-stop leg of the trip – 280 nautical miles totaling 35 hours underway. We left civilization behind us and quickly fell into our routine. The hourly engine room checks and watch crew rotations make the time go by fast. The fishermen in our crew were getting pumped up with the possibility of catching Yellowfin Tuna, Dorado and maybe even Marlin!

Heading south of Ensenada you enter the real Baja; the coastline looks wild and spectacular. As you get closer to Turtle Bay the water gets warmer and we finally caught our first fish – Yellowfin. Our crew celebrated and we caught many more fish before we entered the bay.

 Turtle Bay is a large protected bay with a rustic fishing town on its shore. Some of the boats in our flotilla had to refuel here. With a successful 35-hour passage behind us and many fish caught along the way we relaxed a bit and felt like we’d developed into more experienced cruisers. While anchored in the bay, we hosted many fellow Cubaristas onboard, for wine and fresh sushi. This is one of those things that make trips like these special, meeting new friends in faraway places while all soaking in and appreciating the amazing surroundings we are fortunate to be visiting.

After a couple of days on the hook in Turtle Bay, we departed for the second longest leg of our trip – 235 nautical miles and 30 hours run time to Bahia Santa Maria followed by Magdalena Bay. As we got closer to Magdalena Bay, we finally felt a sense that we were getting closer to a warmer climate. The water temperature started rising and the fishing got a lot better. We started reeling in all the fish that we came here to catch. Dorado is the most beautiful fish and great to eat. We even caught and released two Marlin!

Magdalena Bay is a huge natural harbor, an annual destination for migrating whales. The little fishing village on its banks is even more remote and rustic than Turtle Bay. We experienced some of the most incredible colors during each sunrise in this beautiful bay. We visited with fellow Cubaristas on their boats and hosted more get-togethers onboard while sharing much of the fresh fish we caught on the way. With all of the celebrating, we unfortunately ran out of beer and the small store onshore was sold out. The local fishermen came to our rescue and offered to take their panga across the bay to bring more supplies, a couple of hours round trip. Now that’s what we call customer service!

After our stay in Magdalena Bay, the flotilla departed for San Jose Del Cabo; our final overnight passage – 190 nautical miles taking 24 hours. Fishing along this part of the coast was the best so far. We were blessed with an amazing sunset and caught more Dorado. Chef Alex prepared his best Dorado dish yet and we slowly made our way to Lands’ End. As we travelled through the night we slowed down, trying to time our arrival at the tip of Baja Peninsula – Lands’ End, right at sunrise.

Our timing worked out perfectly!  Just as we arrived on the west side of Lands’ End, we enjoyed watching the sun rising on the eastern horizon. WOW, what a special sight and we couldn’t have timed it any better!

Good Morning Cabo

As we made the turn, around Lands’ End, we decided to take a small detour, before we headed for San Jose Del Cabo.

We were joined by our friends onboard Tennie Ann, a Grand Alaskan 64, and anchored our boats a short distance from shore at Medano Beach in Cabo. After completing most of our journey, we felt that this was the most opportune time to celebrate with Margaritas onshore. Deanna, and our friend Monica, couldn’t wait any longer, so they proceed to jump in the water and swim to shore. The rest of us took a water taxi and commenced our celebration at The Office, a famous restaurant on the beach.

I have visited Cabo as a “typical” tourist many times and I had never imagined that someday I would be here, on this beach, having traveled on my own boat, many hundreds of miles, to see it anchored just a few hundred feet away. I have an incredible memory and clear mental picture of the sight of our boat anchored that morning off the beach in Cabo – it certainly was the climax of our journey.

San Jose to La Paz

Marina Puerto Los Cabos outside of San Jose, was the first time that we docked in a marina since we left Ensenada. The marina put on a huge party celebration for the entire flotilla. It was a bittersweet time. A sense of great accomplishment, but also time to say our goodbyes to many of our friends. Some boats in the fleet started turning back, others made the hop across the Sea of Cortez to Puerto Vallarta.  The rest of us continued on deeper into Mexico.

After spending a couple of weeks heading South it felt strange to change course to head East, and then North, as we entered the Sea of Cortez and headed for our final destination – La Paz.

However, before we reached La Paz, we spent one last night on the hook at Muertos Cove.

This is a lovely, quiet anchorage, with warm and incredibly clear water. We anchored in 30 feet and could peer down to see our anchor dug into the bottom. The next morning, before we departed for our final stop, the crew jumped in the warm water for a refreshing morning swim.

Underway, we turned the corner around Muertos Cove and headed North as we entered the magical Sea of Cortez.

The sea that day was totally flat, not a ripple on the surface, and it sparkled with the famous deep blue Baja color,  and clear blue skies. It turned out to be one the warmest days of our journey.

We entered Marina Costa Baja, got into our slip and all of sudden – this long journey was over.

What’s Next

CUBAR organizers and Marina Costa Baja hosted our final dinner and celebration for all of the 2019 CUBAR participants. It was time to celebrate with our new friends and make plans for what to do next. Some of our friends were making plans to head across Sea of Cortez to Puerto Vallarta and spend the winter in the warmer climate. Some of them decided to continue further south down to Panama and over to the other ocean. Some will stay in the area and head back north to the US in the spring of 2020.

As for us, we came back to Marina Costa Baja after CUBAR and took Bella Luna north to Loreto. Puerto Escondido Marina is our new home base.

CUBAR was a great experience for us with memories and friendships made that will last a lifetime. Our preparations for and completing this journey, gave us the confidence that we can do this again and continue exploring. It is a big world out there and there is so little time.

The last TrawlerFest of the year has now wrapped and we are ready for a new round in 2020.  Flying in for the event we try to allow a day or two before or after to look at boats and meet with people and we always run out of time.  It turned out that in addition to spending time at TrawlerFest we also drove around to visit several other locations and marina sightseeing and walking docks. The beautiful state of Maryland is surrounded by water on all sides, meaning the potential to cruise is never-ending and mostly year-round. The working portion of our trip began with an afternoon in Annapolis. We took a quick cruise around the bay and spotted numerous trawlers from Kadey-Krogens in Ego alley to Grand Banks and Nordhavns in Old Woman’s Cove. These boats have a great location where they can cruise the Chesapeake, venture down the inner coastal, or travel across the Atlantic. We ended Tuesday with dinner at Chick and Ruth’s, a longtime favorite diner of ours on Main street- you need to try their biscuits and their apple pie!

Kadey-Krogen, Sea Dweller, in Annapolis, MD.

Wednesday morning, we drove into Baltimore and had the privilege of interviewing the co-creator of PassageMaker magazine, Bill Parlatore. Charlie and Missy Hodge graciously let us film on their Nordhavn 50, Ophelia, and we sat down to ask Bill about his path he and Laurene (who couldn’t make it) took to founding the magazine and why people are drawn to power cruising. After shooting we enjoyed some outdoor dining with Jeff and Bill discussing the evolution of today’s trawler market and contemplating what is yet to come in this growing segment of the boating market. The final video is still to come, but we anticipate it will be another popular episode in our collection of #CruisingConversations.

Trawlers ready for the show to begin.

There were some seminars in Baltimore on Tuesday and Wednesday, but Thursday was the official start of TrawlerFest on the docks. We are great fans of the Baltimore Inner Harbor marina. It housed over 30 trawlers and gave spacious room for heavy traffic to step on and off of boats. We filmed again, capturing footage of the boats on display and talking with AIM TrawlerFest organizers, fellow brokers with boats being showcased, and vendors in the entry tents. The docks held a variety of boats including Ranger Tugs, Beneteau Swift Trawlers, North Pacific, Fleming, Kadey-Krogen, Nordhavn, Krogen Express and more. A  list of many of the trawlers that were shown is listed below. Event attendees enjoyed the quality and variety of boats on display and everyone we spoke with loves the convenience of the venue location as it is a quick walk between hotels, the show sites and various restaurants.

 

See you at the Baltimore, MD TrawlerFest!

September is here, and although summer is coming to an end, we have one more great PassageMaker event to look forward to that will make us long for summer: Baltimore TrawlerFest! This is their third and final event in the series for 2019.

Baltimore TrawlerFest begins with seminars on Tuesday September 24^th.  The in-water boat show is open on the Thursday the 26^th and concludes on Saturday, September 28^th.

We have a Promo Code that you can use that may provide a 20% discount:  Merrill.

Trawler Fest is hosted at the Harbor East Marina, located in the center of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.  General admission is $15 in advance and $18 onsite. Also, seminar participants enter the in-water boat show for free on the day of their seminar.

From our team, Jeff Merrill and Elle Conwell will be attending. Jeff is giving two talks: Dialing-In Your Trawler and Offshore Essentials, both on Saturday. He is also moderating Cruiser’s Perspectives on Friday.

Cruiser’s Perspectives from 2:00-4:00pm on Friday is a panel event with expert cruisers and industry professionals answering a variety of questions. This year’s participants include Bruce Kessler, Steve Zimmerman, Eric Kunz, Chris Parker, John Clayman, Ken Fickett, Rudy Sechez and Karen Alt. During the event, panelists will tell stories, offer advice, and answer questions from the audience.

If you are looking for great ideas and best practices aboard your trawler, Dial-In Your Trawler is a great class. Jeff has collected extensive techniques, tricks, and tips throughout his over twenty years as a Yacht Broker. This class offers solutions and improvements that take away many common issues. Dial-In Your Trawler is from 8:30-10:30 on Saturday.

Following his first Saturday lecture, Jeff is teaching Offshore Essentials. This class focuses on how to prepare yourself and your vessel for time underway. Jeff has logged more than 20,000 miles offshore on trawlers with a majority of that time was spent training clients. Jeff will share fundamental skills to ensure safety underway. This class goes from 1:30-5:00pm Saturday.

Aside from these classroom presentations, you can find us walking the docks and we always look forward to meeting and talking with fellow trawler enthusiasts.

Please call Jeff on his cell +1 949.355.4950 if you would like to set up a time to meet with him.

You can find more information about seminars and ticketing with this link:

https://www.passagemaker.com/trawlerfest/trawlerfest-baltimore-2019

With its beautiful elements of snowy mountains and blue waterways, Washington is a perfect place for cruising. This year’s Northwest TrawlerFest has just completed. This trawler-centric event has changed locations for the past few years, but we are big fans of this year’s new spot in downtown Seattle at Bell Harbor marina. Over forty trawlers lined the docks that sat below the city’s skyline. Sun shined on the entire trip revealing beautiful Mount Rainier in one direction, the Olympics in another and allowing us to enjoy clear sunny days to walk the docks.

After arriving Wednesday afternoon, we drove up to Anacortes to visit our newest JMYS team members, Greg Mustari and Kelly Libby. Greg and Kelly are knowledgeable yacht brokers, know the area and are genuine, friendly people. They took us aboard a couple Nordic Tugs and we enjoyed looking at other boats in Cap Sante marina.

Jeff Merrill, Elle Conwell, Kelly Libby, Greg Mustari

Thursday kicked off our first JMYS seminar. Jeff conducted his renowned class “Dialing In Your Trawler”. This lecture goes over tips and tricks to help make the most of your trawler and help you be prepared. Attendees filled the room and asked great questions. Though Jeff has taught this course several times, there is always something new to learn from our attendees and we love adding that to future talks. After class we were eager to visit the trawlers across the street. There was a wide variety of trawlers to take in and we enjoyed stepping aboard before heading to dinner at Anthony’s (overlooking the marina) with friends.

Jeff Merrill, John Rains, Pat Rains, Bruce Kessler

(Jeff’s “Dial In” and “Offshore” PowerPoint presentations mentioned in this article are linked near the end of this article and available for you to download for a limited time only).

Learn and Plan Together, Says Teacher for Seattle Show
By Peter Swanson

“Cruising is typically a couples activity. You both need to buy in. The idea can start as one person’s ultimate goal, but it is more successful and more satisying if you plan and prepare together,” says TrawlerFest instructor Jeff Merrill. “There is probably no single activity that is more satisfying than the freedom implied by running your own boat.”

Merrill is a CPYB yacht broker, trawler specialist and polished public speaker. He is the instructor for two popular seminars at TrawlerFest in Seattle: Dial-In Your Trawler and Offshore Essentials, which represent a distillation of wisdom from tens of thousands of miles underway.

(Additionally, Merrill serves as moderator for a freewheeling Q&A seminar Cruisers Roundtable, which features a panel of offshore experts, including power cruising pioneer Bruce Kessler.)

Dial-In Your Trawler provides a boatload of simple tricks to better monitor and maintain the ship’s systems. Merrill as almost two-hours of tips such as reference marks for needles on analog gauges, a dry-erase board in the engine room, anchor chain marking techniques.

Offshore Essentials covers the basics of weather forecasting, route planning, watch standing, engine room checks, pilothouse navigation and electronics operations. Anyone interested in transiting between sea ports requiring overnight passages will learn essential preparations and best practices.

SEMINARS: Tuesday-Saturday, April 23-27 at Seattle Marriott Waterfront

IN-WATER BOAT SHOW: Thursday-Saturday, April 25-27 at Bell Harbor Marina. Show is open 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

QUESTIONS? Contact Donna at DAschheim@aimmedia.com

BEST VALUE: Every seminar except the diesel course and “Boat Handling on the Water” are part of our VIP package. Being a four- or five-day VIP gives attendees access to their choice of 24 other seminars. The cost is $449 for a four-day VIP pass and $549 for the five-day pass. Visit our ticketing site and do some math. You’ll see how being a VIP maximizes your seminar buying power.