MTOA

[tedwhit]

I'm sitting here at Thunderbolt Marina in Savannah surrounded by a bunch of trawlers - no Rangers, though - all of whom are members of MTOA. I seem to remember that Jim and Lisa Favors are members but are other Tugnuts active members? What are the advantages? Is it worth the 95 bucks?

Ted

 

[baz]

I'm sitting here at Thunderbolt Marina in Savannah surrounded by a bunch of trawlers - no Rangers, though - all of whom are members of MTOA. I seem to remember that Jim and Lisa Favors are members but are other Tugnuts active members? What are the advantages? Is it worth the 95 bucks?

Ted

I assume MTOA means this http://mtoa.net/ 🙂

BTW -- I'm not a member either.

 

[RProffer]

I have not previously heard of them. It appears to be mostly an East Coast organization. They have what appears to be a good link listing on their site.

 

[abcandjrc]

We were members when we lived on our Atlantic 44 LRC. Advantages vary with your cruising style and with your boat. They are well beyond having only Marine Trader owners as members even then. I see that they have even broadened the T to indicate that. We had Lehman-marinized Ford engines in the Atlantic, and much could be learned about those and other engines typically installed in trawlers.

There were also many articles on maintenance and travel, written by actual doers, not just journalists. Too bad they don't keep a sample of the quarterly pub on line so folks can get a better feel for what is available. I just posted a message to them suggesting that.

I suspect their primary membership is on the east coast, only because of the type of water and the type of boat used there. However, we ran across many members in Gulf of Mexico waters, The Bahamas, and the entire length of the Atlantic ICW. Again, if the boating style fits you, it wouldn't matter a whole lot unless you are one who likes to make every rendezvous.

Keep an eye out for the burgee, which has MTOA and a turtle on it, and ask a current member what is going on now and if he could let you see a magazine.

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Hi Ted and Carol, hope you've enjoyed Savanah. I'd like to take stab at the MTOA benefits, which are many. MTOA has marinas that are co-operating marinas that give dockage and fuel discounts, they have port captains in a lot of towns with the benefit being that if you're in a pinch, need a ride, ask for local knowledge you're got someone to ask questions of. MTOA belongs to Yacht Club of America (YCA) and therefore if a yacht club in a visiting town has reciprocity then you can eat, drink and dock their (for the ones who have marinas). They have regional and national rendezvous, we've been to three,and have met great boating folks, made new friends and learned a bit along the way. It is true that MTOA is strongest on the east coast (Florida, Chesapeake Bay and New England) but the PNW chapter is a growing group as well. Lisa and I attended a rendezvous in Gig Harbor last August, the day we took possession of our new R27. One small point of clarification is that the first year dues are $95 because this INCLUDES one of the MTOA burgees, years after the fee is $65. Lastly, the quarterly bulletins are filled with useful cruising and maintenance articles and they are archived on the website for member use.

Hope this helps,

Jim F

 

[abcandjrc]

I'm sitting here at Thunderbolt Marina in Savannah...........

Forgot to tell you how I envy you. Thunderbolt was a great stop back 1995 and I assume it still is. Hard to imagine it is almost 20 years...... We walked to the bus stop and took the public bus to Savannah. Then the Gray Line tour. Excellent.

Our biggest surprise, which should not have been one except I had not had a history course in 40 years at the time, was the number of Jewish restaurants strung out in downtown Savannah. Couldn't pass that up and asked the owner of the one where we ate how long they had been there. Pre-revolution since Oglethorpe's charter for Georgia included many persecuted religious refugees from Europe. His American family tree was almost 200 years older than mine.

We grew up in Trenton, mid-way between New York and Philadelphia and remember the wonderful food at all the ethnic restaurants in the area, sadly, largely missing in coastal Alabama.

 

[HRowland]

Hi Ted,

I joined MTOA while at Trawlerfest in Baltimore last year. The Yacht Club membership interested me, this provides more options for mooring/docking when traveling. Debbie and I will be attending the MTOA Northeast Region Rendezvous at Mystic Seaport on July 12-15.
MTOA also has an active email discussion list via Yahoo Groups.

Howard