Great advice on trawler buying, the do’s and don’ts . We had a blast!!!
We were looking for a new adventure and found it!
Never been on a live aboard before, but we plan on more trips, perhaps a purchase. We experienced…no stress, hands on learning while seeing all the sights, checking out the new environment and eating good food.
Lots of laugh’s too. We feel prepared to Captain our own trip soon and think we are miles ahead in boat knowledge when we attend Trawler fest tomorrow.
Never a dull moment! Jokes, stories, one-liners. They just kept coming. His instructions were very informative when addressing necessary points. The hands-on training, including blindfolded lessons, was very confidence inspiring.
Bob is a great host, very laid back and easy going. Boca Chita was an amazing stop over. Fantastic Salmon dinner!
We would definitely recommend this course. Remember the 3 famous words Sacrifice, Sacrifice, Sacrifice…
We feel much more comfortable reading charts and using Captain know it all GPS Chart plotter. Captain Bob’s style of teaching is very informative and entertaining. While we were unlucky with the weather, Captain Bob adjusted his normal schedule to make the best of our trip by going into protected areas. Wow, the trip to Boca Chica was just beautiful, we felt like we were in the Caribbean! The skyline of Miami was incredible. While this was a trip to learn, it turned out to be a vacation with an education. Captain Bob’s course was wonderful, but his friendship was even better.
What an adventure!
We came to trawler school to learn about living on, operating and managing a trawler – and the experience exceeded our expectations. Mac has a lifetime experience with boats of all sorts and Deb is a newbie! Both of us benefited from Captain’s Bob’s unique teaching style and the experiential hands on training on the water and underway, even in post boat show traffic!
Under Capt’n Bob’s supervision, in a remarkable short period of time we (Mac & Deb) were actually piloting (navigating) the 40′ vessel, Miami Mermaid though the middle of Miami and the top of the Florida Keys. Even without the schooling, we were “awe-sified” by the amazing and beautiful area around Miami: what a contrast between the urban skyline and the serenity of Boca Chita Island.
The view from amongst the mangroves in Virginia Key (complete with five sunbathing Manatees), cruising by Fisher Island and the high raiser’s of South Beach was truly memorable. Captain Bob shared his extensive knowledge of trawlers and the trawler market making it possible to formulate our plan.
If you are considering the trawler lifestyle, you need to enroll in trawler school.
We came to trawler school with no boating experience. The only boats we have owned in the last 30 years are two 9′ plastic kayaks. We wanted to try trawler school to see if we liked this type of life style and if so, to gain enough expertise to be able to bareboat a trawler charter on our next adventure by ourselves. The answer is “YES”, we can and we had a great time cruising these beautiful waters of the Florida Keys with Captain Bob.
Yes we learned enough about handling the trawler and getting from here-to-there, and also dealing with all the boat traffic. We will definitely consider a self-charter vacation in the future.
Many thanks to Captain Bob…
He is knowledgeable, funny, organized and a fine shipboard chef. The guest quarters are spacious and very comfortable aboard the Miami Mermaid. There was plenty of time at the lovely anchorage to enjoy and a laid back boating experience.
The weather was near a perfect 66 degrees at night and 75 degrees during the day, with only one shower while underway.
I have never skippered a boat before but now feel I have the basic skills to maneuver and dock my own 40-footer. Docking day was the most fun! I think the biggest thing I walked away with was handling a single screw, in fact will be looking for one. Captain Bob will give you valueable tips and insight on buying a trawler, based on his prior experience in the trawler brokerage business. His tips alone will more than pay for our school over and over.
We were there for the training, but the daily chance to get off and walk around while island hopping was indeed fun, especially since I had my best friend and future first mate with me.
Now to find a trawler back home! (Annapolis area). Captain we appreciate you allowing us to come early and stay late to accommodate our flight schedule.
Jeff and Babs
Cabin Boy Bob (We mean Captain Bob) , 1-5-2014 – 1-9-2014
What a start of the 2014 New Year. I left 20 degree weather MSP, MI for what became a weird cold and rainy week in Florida. Just call me Stormy 2 I must have the weather with me.
All I can say is I’m glad we were able to complete docking training before the wind blew at 40 mph on The island of Boca Chita Key. We even docked blindfolded!
As intimidated as I was to be aboard, I never felt insecure with our teacher Captain Bob. Thank you for welcoming us.
The stories on Boca Chita were great. Captain Bob told us about the ghost of Ms. Honeywell and right at the punch line in came a gust of wind that blew out the 2 candles leaving us in the dark what an ending. If you believe in ghost you could have believed that story to be true.
Great time,
Michael & Marilou
Solomon, MD
Hi Captain
Wow, what a wonderful 4 days learning new skills. My wife and I feel a lot more confident chart plotting and over all boat handling. Betty was even able to dock the boat blindfolded and made it look easy after only 3 tries. We learned about buying a trawler and the use of a broker and financing a boat. We both feel like we are one step closer to buying a trawler. The scenery was fabulous and it was very relaxing being anchored out at several locations. Captain Bob was an excellent cook and really exceeded all our expectations.
Thank you
Ron & Betty
Greenwood, MS
Hi Captain Bob,
Before we could leave to catch our plane from Grand Rapids to Ft Lauderdale we had to shovel the previous nights three inches of snow from our sidewalks. It was 25 degrees, we drove to the airport and three hours later we stepped off a plane to 75 degree bright and sunny weather in Ft. Lauderdale, the trip was already a success.
Then we met Captain Bob. After being on board our first night, we already learned so much that we could not imagine we would not be able to retain everything. My wife was so overwhelmed with information that I actually think I heard her say I’ll never ask Mark to put the seat down again! But we became more comfortable as the night went on, we learned more about the water system on board. The details were incredible. I think we started to drive Captain Bob crazy with all our questions, since most of them were not about the topics he was talking about. Then, his Marine Corps training kicked into place and he would get us back on track. For me, it was like being trained by my older brother.
The trip really began the next morning. Early classes followed by taking charge of the helm ourselves. Our biggest fear was destroying the Miami Mermaid but after six hours later we were comfortable navigating with no problem.
Boca Chita Island was awesome. We had our docking lessons here and our fears began to recede, as we became better and better bringing a 40 footer dockside. No damage done! In fact we were the first one’s to dock blindfolded and that we did it. Wow!
Our next day was gunk holing in and out of harbors, we became more and more efficient at navigating, keep in the white cause white is right. That night we anchored and rode out an incredible storm. We felt tremendous fear at first but Captain Bob talked us through and it all worked out perfectly.
The trip back to the Miami Mermaid’s home dock seemed like a breeze. We took the helm and brought her home. We felt comfortable at the wheel and on the charts. We no longer had fear of causing damage.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience’s with us. Yours is a life “well lived”!
Mark & Chantal
Grand Rapids MI