Wanted - day of instruction on the water in Northwest.

The wife and I will be in the Seattle/Bellingham/Vancouver/Portland area visiting the kids in Vancouver BC and Portland OR first week in August.* We are landlocked here in Atlanta and are taking every opportunity to get on the water and develop skills in preparation for a future one month bareboat charter next year which in turn is preparation/testing for becoming liveaboards.*

Any suggestions as to who to contact?* Spoke to San Juan Yachting and they only do one week charters.* They mentioned Bell Haven.


Thanks!*

Hi Ken,* I'm not sure who might be offering one day instructional cruises, but you might check with Anacortes yacht charters, or ABC yacht charters. They do mostly* bare boat charters, but do offer some training for those that are not yet qualified to charter one of their boats.* A one day skippered trip will be a great way to get an idea of what's involved in boating safely, but in order to qualify to charter you will need far more than a days instruction to be able to rent a larger boat.* We offer week long training trips out of Alaska, and I'd be happy to discuss possibilities with you anytime.* Don't forget to take advantage of other training too, such as USCG Aux classes, and Power Squadron classes.* They do a great job of covering the basics and cost very little.......Arctic Traveller

Do you just want to get on the water and see the Puget Sound/San Juans or do you want hand on instruction.* The range is from the Washington/Canadian ferry system to smaller local charter/cruises.* Are you going to have a car, where are you planning on stay, as a lot depends on your mobility/time and what you want to see/spend/accomplish.* Most hotels in Washington/Canada have a brochure rack with local things to see and do.* There are whale watching, sight seeing and dinner charters in most city/towns.

Over Memorial week end was had a couple stay with us from Florida that are Long haul truckers and had a lay offer.* The Eagle was not ready to leave the dock and still not as its been so rainy cold here, but we did spend a day getting though the Eagle, taking the run about out into the sound, Jetty Island and the river, and out to dinner.* There is a lot more to owning, operating and living on a boat than most people realize.* After their visit they decided to start reading books, take required boating courses, buy a smaller day/start boat, 20 to 30 ft, and live on the dirt until they had the experience to move up to a live aboard boat, 40 to 60 ft.* 30 years ago we start with the 19 ft run about, then a 28 ft and even then buying and insurance the 58 ft was questionable.* Darn, I did not really want to buy the Eagle but my wife and the water gawds made me!

I will be glad to help if you send me an email at rw58ph@yahoo.com of here on trawlerforum.*

*

Thanks for the reply Arctic Traveler.* I've done a couple week-long bareboat*trawler charters from Southwest Florida Yachts .. favorite was a Krogen 42... and owned a couple of SeaRay express cruisers... and have the first*issue*of PassageMaker Mag, and attended a couple of Trawlerfests, Power Squadron etc. but it's been a few years and I'm ready to get serious about becoming a liveaboard so this would be a refresher.

Thanks for the tip on Anacortes and ABC.. will check those out.**I've read about your trips and they sound great but we're warm weather boaters and Florida is a lot closer*: ) *

Thanks for the reply Phil.* See my response to Arctic Traveler for some of the answers.* We will have a car.* Landing in Seattle evening of July 30 and driving directly to Vancouver for the Canadian long weekend.* Driving Tuesday to Portand.. could stop for a day on the way there or a day on the way back.* Catch the midnight flight Aug. 6th out of Seattle.

As a follow up I took your advice and contacted both firms and ABC came through for me. *The deal we have is that they put me on "standby" .. if they have an available yacht that isn't booked for a weekly charter on one of the days I'm in the area they are going to hook me up a vessel and one of they BQC (Boating Qualification Course) instructors for the day. *Very reasonable rate plus fuel. *I liked their flexibility and open-mindedness to think outside the box of the normal 1 week charter offering or 3-day course offer. *

If it has'nt ben mentioned thus far*** ....take some US Power Squadron courses and read Chapman.