@FairyChatMom, I totally suck at financial planning, but I’m a former sailor and boat owner so I just wanted to chime in and say that that is a magnificent looking serious boat, congratulations! I agree with the others who felt that this was the right thing to do. I’d do the same but alas, money is needed for housing and living and there’s just not enough for everything I’d like to be able to do.
Back in my boating days – and those of many of my friends – we were mostly into cruising sailboats in the 26 to 35 foot range, but I always regarded trawlers as an eminently practical option and at one time even considered getting one myself, though I’ve always been a sailing type at heart. But you get a lot more space and practicality in a trawler. It would have been a great cruising vessel for my favoured cruising area of Georgian Bay (especially the northern parts) and the North Channel.
I think you made a great choice in terms of lifestyle – I’m not familiar with this specific vessel but you seem to have done all your homework. I wish you many years of happy cruising.
ETA: A snapshot I took at a little bay where we anchored for the night – in the northern part of Georgian Bay, don’t remember the exact location, but all of it is equally gorgeous: