Swamp Creatures Become Scholars

Dec 12th.               ——-         Dec 16th

Captain Bob,
We came crawling up out if the swamp in the Georgia reaches of North Florida. We knew nothing about boating! One of us has been reading about trawlers and the great loop and constantly  bothering the other half about the grand adventure of it all.

Captain Bob used a combination of patience  and was like the good hearted Skipper from Gillian’s island to teach us what we need to know.

Three days of wonderful very healthy meals, all the anchorages were just breathtaking. Now we know everything (almost).

Captain Bob scores a 10+ hilarious, big hearted, great hospitality and very clean.

Thanks Captain Bob
Billy & Karen
Come visit us up in the swamps anytime.
Tallahassee Fl

New Trawler Owners Learn the Ropes

Dec 5th         —–          Dec 9th

Dear Captain Bob,
Being new trawler owners, we felt after reading your site and reviews that trawler school would give us the hands on training we needed.

We learned more than we ever expected and now can take our trawler anywhere with full confidence.

Thank you Captain Bob for providing just that. The docking practice anchoring and getting in and out of tight spots was invaluable. We’ll never forget the 4 rules of the road.

Happy holidays
Mary Beth & Tom
Cazenovia NY

Way More Than What We Were Looking For

Nov 29th 2016   —   Dec 3rd 2016

Captain Bob, Wilma, The Miami Mermaid

What a great course on seamanship. We arrived late Tuesday night and before you know it we were having Margaritas on Hollywood Beach. It was our stowaway night and we had no classes till 9:00am the next morning.

Charts and navigation just what we came for, we cruised South on the Intracoastal Waterway for 6 hours. We went to a wonderful Island called Boca Chica. We were alone at the helm for well over 3/4 of the time, Captain Bob has great patience and trust in his shipmates.

We learned the Captain’s 4 rules of the road: stay in your own lane, show your intentions, 360 degree rule, and last but no least the most important the WAKE. If you do not learn this rule you’ll be attending your own Wake.

The next day we learned anchoring, docking. The following day was the engine class what a blast and then 110– 12 volt Electrial class.

We went to so many anchorages in beautiful spots, we’d like to come back down when we buy our trawler. Buying the right trawler, contracts, survey… whether to charter or buy was the best information. Finally, Kathy cruised the Miami Mermaid all the Way from Miami back to the dock in Dania Beach Marina.

All in all the school was way more than we were looking for and we made a new lifetime friend “Captain Bob”

Thank you
Kathy M & Michael C
Arlington and Cambridge Ma

Experience of a Lifetime

Dear Captain Bob.           11-7-16    11-11-16

What an experience of a lifetime! Many highlights and too many to mention. Appreciated all your jokes before class started. Because of you we are now Trawler Scholars… you have and shared a wealth of trawler information, now we can go back to CA and process it all.

We hope you have a restful and well deserved vacation in Costa Rica & Nicaragua. We are so relaxed it will be hard to go back to work. Hopefully we will meet up with you on the
“Wonder  of the Sea” our future trawler.

Gratefully and God bless this great country of ours!
Becki & Robert
Tracy, CA

Pilots Got Schooled!

Captain Bob,                     10-31 –  11-4-2016

As pilots, I cannot believe the wealth of information we received on seamanship and trawlers, and hands-on experience navigating the Intracoastal Waterway. As far as trawlers are concerned the Captain knows all. He did write the book on trawlers- I know I read it!

Very informative, safe, clean & comfortable accommodations. I would recommend this school to anyone interested in piloting trawlers, buying trawlers, or thinking about living on a trawler.

Larry & Donavan
Bethany, OK
Thanks again Captain Bob!

Total Sense

10-24 to 10-28 — 2016

We really enjoyed spending time on the Miami Mermaid. Your teaching process helped develop confidence in all the skills needed for us to charter a trawler on our own. We enjoyed relaxing with you on all the breathtaking islands and anchorages we visited.

Thank you for the different possibilities we have now in our lives: buying a trawler or charter and wait. This alone was worth going to trawler school. We will save a lot of time and money. Your solution made total sense to a working couple like us at this point in our lives.

Thanks again,
Tim & Jamie N
Lake Forest
NC

The First Step in Pursuing our Lifelong Dream

10-8-16.          10-12-16

Captain Bob, thank you for letting us feel right at home onboard. The food and evening entertainment were 👍.

Edna and I can came to trawler school as our first step in pursuing our lifelong dream of owing a trawler.

Your patience and practical language made it real easy for us to master the aspects of navigation and cruising while experiencing living aboard. Just what we needed!

We saw beautiful places and sights that very few will ever see or experience. More importantly we have the confidence and experience to proceed to the next step of bareboat charting. The graduation certificate will be very helpful when applying to chartering a trawler sometime. The companies like to see if you have experience, and we can email it to them.

The detailed buying lessons will be very valuable in saving time and choosing the right model trawler. Your brokerage experience going over the full process from beginning to end we learned so much.

We will recommend your Trawler school to all persons interested in trawlers. We changed the oil and fuel filters on the engine and generator,  what a hands on education!

Stan & Sarah B
OK

Rethinking Our Next Move

10-3-16.        10-6-16

Captain Bob,
Debbie & I had a great time and can’t say enough about the hospitality we received onboard The Miami Mermaid. Your classes were everything we hoped for and more. The last class let us rethink our next move on our Trawler decisions, your solution will save time and $$$$. Hopefully we”ll see you in our trawler travels down in the Fl Keys. The anchorage was so breathtaking!

Rock On
GW/DW
AZ
On On Philippines running club.

A Little Loop Around the Keys

Captain Bob.                    Sept. 12th — 16th

Thank you for the great adventure aboard the Miami Mermaid. We completed the Captain’s little loop: Key West the back way via the Gulf of Mexico (inside passage), anchored up in Big Pine, cruised down the Big Spanish channel, anchored in Marathon, moved on to over to Bahia Honda, enjoyed the nice beach and anchored, cruised on the outside (Oceanside) back to Key West for our last night at anchor.

We completed a loop of 110 NM for about 20 hours of cruising at 7.5 knots. What a wonderful and informative trip that we’ll never forget.

Skipper Sarah was manning, or shall we say womanning, the helm soon after we left the dock. She navigated one hell of a long and very tricky channel. Even Captain Bob was very pleased at her new skills.

Great anchorages at night and fabulous candlelight dinners along with music.

We have been chartering sailboats for over 30 years and it’s time to start thinking of trawlering. That’s our reason for attending Trawler school. We picked the right school and Captain, he keeps it simple AND leaves YOU in full command of his trawler. We ended up learning a ton of very practical hands-on training and important information; we’ll be using these techniques on our future charters. We are now far better prepared.

We introduced The Captain to the Curly Shuffle on You Tube- he just loved it! Yuk, Yak, Yak.

Fair winds and happiness.
Sarah & David W.
Cazenovia, NY

Micro Bursts are No Match for Capt. Bob

Ahoy Captain Bob,          08-7 — 08-12-16

As we considered buying a trawler after selling our 34′  Catalina sailboat we discovered the wide variety of different trawlers models and manufactures produced, so we decided we need some help.

Not just any help – experienced and knowledgeable help from Captain Bob’s trawler school. We had been following his site for some time and we felt his school was the best training out of the other schools we looked into. He keeps learning simple, all inclusive one price, and has 11 years of service.

We both have Captain’s licenses and have been racing sailboats for many years. The time has come to sit back at the helm and relax, cruising along, watching the world going by slowly.
We can assure anyone that the knowledge gained here is of common sense, realistic, and hands on training. We learned more about the diesel engine in one class than we figured out in 10 years on our sailboat!

Now for the fun part. You can’t ask for a more entertaining teacher and Captain. Can you find a Captain Bob anywhere? Hell No!

While in the Dry Tortuga’s we experienced a Micro burst that lasted over 30 mins with winds of 59 mph. All the boats anchored around us broke loose and some dingys were lost and flipped over. We were one of the few that did not blow off anchor. The captains ground tackle and his anchoring class turned out to be the best of all. We have learned from a real pro. The sunrise the next morning was unbelievable. Dry Tortugas is the 8th wonder of the world! A fort built in 1825, made of 18 million bricks, built in the middle of nowhere 70 miles of Key West in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico! This was a once in a life time amazing trip. THANK YOU!

Lemon drops & Cheers
Curly (Jen) & Robb
Lancaster Pa

P.S. Fair weather and “seas ripple” on your trip to Cuba next week. Have fun and best wishes…