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