March 13 – 20, 2016
Shiver me timbers Captain Bob! What a great adventure. Accommodations great! Mermaid tour and orientation a hoot.
Right off the bat Meg took hold of the helm. A real confidence builder, away we go. We went to many beautiful anchorages on our 3 day 4 night trawler school cruise.
Our stow away night we anchored in North Bay. We dinghied to Hollywood beach boardwalk and had a blast. Next day, exploring Biscayne Bay and the Fl Keys to Boca Chita island for an overnight stay. We did not want to leave. Off to No Name Harbor, Hurricane Harbor, a million dollar view of the Miami skyline at Marine Stadium, great overnight anchorage. Our last morning we visited an off-the-beaten path hidden sea pond. It was like going back to 100,000 BC. Then, back to the dock. What a trip!
Some of our adventures included a transmission over heating we learned to put on a overheat alarm. It saved the engine from burning up.
Line wrapped around the prop. Captain Bob keeps an air tank on deck with a portable air hose and regulator, another good idea. He dove in and we were off and running in less than 10 mins.
We will never forget Wilma, his blow up doll, dressed up in her bathing suit, sun glasses, anchor hat… When we were at the helm Wilma went over board. We had to go rescue her on our woman over board drill. I went to fish her out and a 5′ Bull shark was swimming under her. I pulled her in just in time. Sorry Mr. Shark.
We took up Captain Bob’s offer for his B&B for three days at $100.00 per night all the hotels, motels were over $250.00 If you could even find one on the ocean, they were all booked up! The marina location was excellent. Right on the ocean and lots of things to do. Like the trawler school slogan reads, “keep it simple” and “where an education becomes a vacation.” What a wonderful vacation!
We own a 27′ Nordic Tug and learned so, so much we cannot wait to use all we learnt, especially anchoring, docking, and our engine class. Please, do not miss this experience.
Thank you
Sam & Meg C.
Deep Creek MD