Charteringourkeelboats

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CHARTERING CAMANO SAIL AND POWER'S KEELBOATS

Capt. Lawrence Baum camanosail@camano.net and 425-314-982

     Camano Sail and Power currently has a Hobie 33 keelboat sloop and a J-24 keelboat sloop for one-day or multi-day charters with captain.
J-24 Our J-24 may be chartered by the hour up to one day maximum without a Captain on board. The person signing up for the charter must have a current US SAILING Basic Keelboat certification* and hold a current Camano Sail and Power Open Sailing card for that particular boat. * (US SAILING BK certification is for daylight hours, local waters and less than 15 knots of wind)
Charters for more than one day or that leave local waters or that involve nighttime operation or that are likely to encounter winds greater than 15 knots require that a Captain be on board.
Although our insurance requires that a US Coast Guard licensed Captain must be on board while underway, they do not neccesarily have to sail the boat. If the guests wish to, and are capable of doing so, they can do all of the sailing they want.
Hobie 33 Charters on board the Hobie 33 can be for the day or for longer periods.
       DAY SAILS.     The maximum number of guests for day sails is six. Reasonable destinations for a day sail are of course highly dependent on wind, weather, tides and currents, all factors which a sailor must take into consideration when planning a voyage. Under ideal sailing conditions, the Hobie can sail at about 8.5-9 knots; under motor, about 6 knots (=6 nautical miles per hour, or almost 7 land miles per hour). However, it is unrealistic to assume that the voyage out will take the same length of time as the return voyage: conditions change during the day and the winds and currents are generally more favorable one direction compared to the other. Then of course, we often don't just sail somewhere and back. More common is a trip to some interesting port like Oak Harbor, La Conner or Langley where we spend some time ashore shopping and perhaps having a bite to eat. Our philosophy at Camano Sail is "relax, don't be in a hurry, enjoy the journey."
    The cost to charter the Hobie for day sails is $20/hour/person with a minimum of three (3) people and one (1) hour; or $450/day ( a "day" generally being 24 hours or midnight to midnight, if you have that much stamina)
     MULTI-DAY TRIPS: THE SPARTAN METHOD.     The Hobie is available for and capable of multi-day cruises. However, it was designed by Hobie Alter of Hobie Cat fame for speed and is not considered a "fully equipped cruising boat." We generally suggest that four guests are the comfortable maximum for for this type of extended cruising. The boat was designed for racing, has what we call "stooping headroom" for most people, and the accomodations are somewhat spartan by most cruiser's standards. If guests decide to make the boat the center of their eating and sleeping for a trip, it is best to think of the cruise as "sailboat camping".   If the four are good friends and comfortable with backpacking and camping together, then the spartan and rather intimate accomodations will not be a problem.   The boat sleeps two in a large forward birth and two amidships. There are no individual rooms.   The head is a porta potti in a curtained off area. There is a small and spartan galley.
     As an alternative to staying on the boat every day, cruises can be arranged to end each day at an on-shore campground like a state park where the cruisers can set up a camp for the evening.
     A traditional cruise that we do every year is the sail-in at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival on the weekend after Labor Day, in 2009 that is the long weekend of Sept. 11-13. This trip can be done using some variation on the SPARTAN method of cruising or the DELUXE METHOD (see below). The Deluxe method requires that you make reservations for lodging in Port Townsend well ahead of time. This is one of the northwest's most popular summer activities and lodging fills fast. Before making reservations, please contact us for some tips and suggestions (camanosail@ camano.net) or 425-314-9824.
     We leave Camano Island State Park on Thurs, Sept. 10 and return on Monday, Sept 14. For shore campers, there are a number of shoreside camps where we can moor each evening.
     MULTIDAY TRIPS: THE DELUXE METHOD.   A great way to combine the excitement of potentially fast sailing with great accomodations at the end of each day is to design a trip that ends each day at a destination where the guests have all the facilities of a nice place to stay and dine. This requires more advanced planning and Camano Sail and Power requires that the clients make their own reservations once an itinerary is greed upon. Puget Sound is popular with cruisers in the summer and thus it is good to make reservations as early as possible. We like to keep the maximum number of guests on the multiday cruises to four. Although the goal is to always sail, we obviously cannot promise good winds. If necessary, we might have to motor in order to make the evening's accommodations in time.
     The cruise to the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival can be easily designed to stop at Port Ludlow the first evening: their lodging and restaurant are excellent. In Port Townsend itself, reservations need to be made well in advance as the rooms fill fast for this very popular event.
    MULTI-DAY CHARTER COSTS.   All multi-day charters are $450/day.
RESERVE YOUR CHARTER HERE