Sept. 24 – 29, 2014
Captain Bob we were researching trawlers for many months and thought we knew a lot about owning and buying a trawler. The wonderful experience with Captain Bob on the Miami Mermaid opened our eyes like we never imagined.
The beautiful anchorages, night maneuvers and extensive hands on training. Handling the Miami Mermaid on our own made our trawler school experience unforgettable and an exciting adventure.
Semper Fi
Chuck & MaryAnn C.
Dallas TX
To trawler or not to trawler? That is the question. After a few days aboard Captain Bob’s trawler, “The Miami Mermaid”, you will have a better idea,as to the answer to that question.
Ok, you and your “significant other” have finally reached a point in your life where you need to make some changes. “Significant other” now includes, not only wife/husband but girl friend/boy friend, dog/cat, or any combination of the above. The point is, you think that it is time to get that boat/RV, mountain cabin, what ever!
Trawler School Charters would be a good place to start. Captain Robert Hamilton , the owner of the company, will guide you in the right direction. Sign up for a class and go!
After three or four days of “trawlering” and training with Captain Bob, you will have a clear idea as to whether that is the life for you. I am not going to get into which boat is right for you. Captain Bob will point out the different types of trawlers, advantages/disadvantages of each etc.
You have questions to ask. They will be answered by Captain Bob in his unique way and style. I am a satisfied customer and now have the ability and confidence to make an informed decision as to how to go about acquiring a trawler that will meet my needs.
In appreciation, I entrust my “Boson’s Pipe” to Captain Bob Hamilton after 30 years of my ownership.
XPILOT Mike
Corpus
Captain Bob,
Thank you for making our trawler life straightforward & understandable. We have a 22′ Sea Ray and looking to go into a trawler in about 5 years. We are glad to have attended your school, we enjoyed each and every lesson. Now we have a solid plan for our trawler future.
The trip was fascinating, the sights were beautiful & the Miami Mermaid was clean, comfortable and updated. We enjoyed every moment spent aboard her and swimming around her was relaxing. Captain Bob had a full size blow up doll, her name was Wilma. We thought that was kind of strange. We were driving from the fly bridge and all of the sudden we hear The Captain yelling “woman over board!” and found ourselves in the middle of a woman overboard drill.
I drove and Dan fished Wilma out of the water and gave her CPR. This was the first time the Captain used Wilma and he videoes the event. It is so, so funny, it is going on his site and You Tube.
This has been a very valuable trip, Thank You!
Sincerely,
Dan & Julie
Cumming GA
Captain Bob,
Thank you so much for an awesome trawler adventure! Our stops were beautiful, each in their own way. We feel we saw many different venues in such a short period of time. The food was not only delicious, but very healthy. I’d like to point out , the accommodations on the Miami Mermaid were clean and comfortable.
Captain Bob truly gave us a wealth of information that will help us with our future trawler plans. Now, after attending trawler school, I don’t feel guilty about not reading all the Passagemaker trawler magazines. This was our first time underway on a trawler, what a great learning experience!
We were very pleased with the exchange of ideas on the positive and negative aspects of the different models of trawlers to choose from. How to use the buying process, and find the right trawler was a subject that will save us time and money.
I think Captain Bob will always remember us because we left our car keys on board ,and when we landed and went to our car (oh oh) no keys. We had to take a train home that cost us another hour of our time. We called Captain Bob and he found the keys and over nighted them, we had our car for the next day. So if your reading this please don’t forget your keys on the Miami Mermaid.
Many Thanks
Cathleen & JB
Alpharetta Ga
Our Positive Experience with Trawler School Charters
A Chinese philosopher once said: “ a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step”. My wife and I found this to be true when we started to figure out how we could fulfill our dream of island hopping around the Caribbean in our own boat one day.
The first step was to figure out what kind of boat we were going to need. After seeing some pretty horrific photos of express cruisers crushed to pieces in a marina during hurricane, it quickly became apparent that we would be looking at a trawler style of boat. When I first presented this conclusion to my wife, she thought I meant something that looked like Forrest Gump’s shrimp boat and the dream almost ended right there! But when I showed her photos of the kind of trawler I had in mind and how roomy they were inside, we were soon back on the same page.
The next step turned out to be a little harder: finding a company that would let us charter one of their boats to get some experience. Trouble was, every company I checked required us to send in an application which included a description of our experience. It was a Catch 22 situation: we wanted to get experience but before these companies would let you take out one their boats on your own, you had to have experience.
That’s when I started looking for boating schools that would provide us with the training we needed and would enable us to qualify for a bareboat charter. When I Googled boating schools, there was a listing that caught my eye: an outfit called Trawler School Charters out of Dania Beach, Florida. Being residents of the Canadian Midwest, a boating school in Florida during the Canadian winter sounded very attractive. It was a good opportunity to leave the deep freeze of winter, enjoy some warm weather and beautiful scenery, and get some valuable boating training and experience.
So we went for it and signed up for a 5-day trawler school with Captain Bob Hamilton at the end of March 2010. As we headed down the Intracoastal Waterway, past downtown Miami and out into the beautiful Bay of Biscayne, Captain Bob instructed us on how to operate his 40-foot trawler and the “rules of the road”. He also gave us classes in diesel engine maintenance and tips on buying our own boat. To top it all off, he even made us our meals (my wife really liked that part!). The whole adventure was well worth the money we paid and it gave us the experience we needed to charter our own trawler the following year.
In May of 2011, we chartered our own 32 foot Grand Banks trawler from Southwest Florida Yachts located in the Fort Myers area on the Gulf side of Florida. We spent a glorious 6 days in the Pine island Sound area cruising past Sanibel and Captiva Islands. We visited Cabbage Key, Useppa Island and Gasparilla Island and explored wild and undeveloped Cayo Costa which is only accessible by boat. Since 2011, we have completed two additional bareboat charters through Southwest Florida Yachts. In May of 2013, we chartered a 34 foot Mainship trawler, and this past May we chartered a twin-engined 42 foot Grand Banks trawler. On our last charter, we left the protection and security of the Intracoastal Waterway and ventured into the Gulf of Mexico. As we experienced the exhilaration of cruising on the open sea, we thought back to how we had got our start with Captain Bob and Trawler School Charters four years ago. Thank you Captain Bob for helping to make our dreams a reality.
Captain Bob,
We came to trawler school with many questions about trawlers, as former sailors we were wondering what life would be like on a trawler. We learned so much and all our questions have been answered. We have many new idea’s to think about. Thanks for your guidance and expertise, and your hospitality. We were so comfortable on the Miami Mermaid, and you were a wonderful chef! As for a future as a comedian with all your fish jokes, my advise is please don’t give up your day job. Perhaps we will cruise again some day.
Tom & Doris R.
GA.
PS. Our trawlers name is going to be “Sea Nile” my husband middle name is Nile and by the time we find our trawler we will both be “senile”. Best of luck and God Bless.
Captain Bob,
All our research, all our books, & all the what if’s really came together on our 3 day 4 night trawler training course with you. Your knowledge of operating underway, rules of the road, diesel engine class, electrical class, docking, and most of all how to find and buy the right trawler to fit our needs. Your class on contracts, surveys, insurance- this alone will save us lots of time and money. Trawler School Charters was just outstanding. Our next step is to charter on our own before buying our own trawler.
We also learned two dozen fish jokes for the grandchildren. We would recommend anyone interested in trawlers to take your hands-on training course. This was a wonderful experience! We now have the confidence of running a big boat.
Captain Bob was an excellent host, cook and gave us plenty of space … Accomplishments and your graduation party was fun. Once again, thank you!
Jim & Nancy B
Concord, NH
Captain Bob!!
We are all ready to buy a Trawler “NOW” and thought it would be a good idea to get a little schooling before we take the next big step. After searching the internet, your trawler school was just what we were looking for. Thank you for taking us on such a short notice. The 3 day 4 night package surpassed all our expectations. We learned so much, and are now heading in the right direction. Attending your trawler school will save us time and money. Captain Bob ,you even got my sleeping husband up for all classes that is a big accomplishment.
Hi Captain Bob,
I just wanted to give you an update on what Rob and I have been doing since we went to Trawler School with you last November. So here is the story: Rob was dead-set on buying a trawler, and spent a lot of time researching and traveling around looking at trawlers. First, he had his heart set on on Monk 36 but after seeing a few they just had way too much teak for my liking. The layout was good, and I like that, but in the end the one he wanted was too expensive and we just didn’t see eye to eye on it.
After we left you in Florida we did manage to see a Mainship 39′ Sedan which we liked very much (you originally brought our attention to the Mainship Sedan, thanks!) The Mainship was all fiberglass and has the staircase and rails etc… very clean!
Rob ended up flying down to Venice, Fl. to look at one, a Mainship 39 called Outbound, that was new to the market and we bought it! We flew down in March and took that sucker across Lake Okeechobee to Stuart, Fl and had her hauled out to put in all new electronics, Garmin GPS, Sirius Stereo, new speakers, radar the whole shebang! We also had some minor repairs done and the folks at St. Lucie Marina were very good to us.
The trip across the lake was uneventful, as the previous owners had made the trek and we literally followed the bread crumb trail on the GPS and we maybe saw two or three boats the whole time. The ICW was fun, we hit a few spots of bad weather where it was raining really hard and a bit windy, with little or no visibility, but as the only boat on the water we handled it, and actually had a great time.
As I said, we left the boat in Stuart for repairs, that we estimated would take about ten days. Rob was pushing them on this timeline and had already bought airline tickets so we flew back down on March 19th with our daughter Cate (11) and our dog Daisy (5) and guess what? The boat was not ready. We stayed in a hotel one night and lost a day and half of travel time.
We took Outbound out on Thursday at around 2:30 p.m. just ahead of a storm and then spent the next six days living on the boat and bringing her up the ICW. We went from Stuart to Titusville, then to Daytona, Jacksonville and then to Darien, GA. After winding around Georgia we headed out to sea and landed in Hilton Head where we finally rented a car and drove to Charleston and flew back home. Our final destination should have been Charleston, SC. but we just couldn’t make up the lost time.
It was the greatest six days of our lives! Rob docked the boat without incident, until we departed Titusville, where the wind pulling out was against us. We managed to nick the end of dock and rip off part of the valance that holds the fuel and pump out but we stopped in Symra and pulled into to a repair dock where the friendly men told us that it was not life threatening and put some gaffer tape and white paint over it. And I quote: “the only permanent repairs we do here are temporary” the guys were hilarious. So nice and very salty, indeed.
I must say, pulling into that dock was tight but Rob managed to get us in and then back out and with the help of the bow trusters, my man did a 180 degree turn and we squeezed out without incident! It was very sexy indeed! Scary as hell too! The guys on the dock were all watching us and when I say it was tight – there were kayakers coming in and every slip was taken, I was totally freaking out! Rob turned that damned money pit on a dime!
Rob hired a Captain from Charleston to bring her the rest of way. At the speed we were going we figured by the time we got up to City Island in the Bronx, NY (that’s the opening to Long Island Sound) where we purchased a slip, Rob’s vacation days would be gone and the season half over.
We talk a lot about the lessons we learned while aboard The Miami Mermaid and reference your lessons often. YOU gave us the confidence we needed to make boat ownership a reality. Our family will have many fun days on the boat for years to come and it’s all because of you. You gave us invaluable lessons, advice and much needed information.
Thank you! We hope to cruise the sound this summer and eventually purchase a boat that we will cruise through our retirement and take us to parts unknown. Maybe a Nordhavn?
Juliet and Rob Klug
P.S. I have been working on my knots. I have a few but still can’t figure out how to tie the bumpers off. So annoying!
Captain Bob
Thank you, you’ve been a big help! All I can say is , if you are thinking about buying a trawler, or in my case, moving from a sailboat to a trawler, this course will be the best money you can spend. Captain Bob is a mentor. He answered every single question I had, then showed me things I never knew. It was a great course, even for an old salt like me. After this course I know what model and size of trawler to look for, and about how much to pay. Well worth the time and money. It was a fun filled course.
George H
TX