Trawler crawlers bare all!

Some people have shirts made up displaying the names of their boats with a graphic representing their pride and joy. Not Mike and Carolyn, owners of Navigator, a Marine Trader 44. They sport tattoos of a compass rose just like the one that adorns the transom of Navigator.

We’re delighted to have met them, and enjoyed swapping boating experiences over dinner.

Mike, when they began thinking about getting into trawlering, started lurking on the Trawlers & Trawlering List, a popular Internet forum the Captain has hosted since 1997.

In the winters, Mike and Carolyn head for the Bahamas with Navigator. In the summers, they replenish the cruising kitty by working in the 1000 Islands region where they have spent most of their lives. Carolyn manages a family health group while Mike is the dockmaster at Peck’s Marina in Ivy Lea where we overnighted one night last week.

It seems Mike, after we departed, recognized the Captain’s name from a copy of Circumnavigator magazine we gave him and emailed us an invite to dinner at the private island they look after near Rockport.

After they left for work the following morning, we stayed tied up to the dock, and later strolled around.

Talk about a great view of the 1000 Islands! With the water tower at Alexandria Bay, New York, just visible in the far distance.

Hmmm . . . what would it be like to own an island? For $600,000, the price of a new Nordhavn 43, we could own an island such as this one. Better yet would be to babysit one as Mike and Carolyn do . . .