Capt. Lawrence Baum
Camano Sail and Power currently has a
HOBIE 33 for
one-day or multi-day charters with captain. Although our insurance
requires that a US Coast Guard licensed Captain must be on board while
underway, he does 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.
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 about as fast as it can
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 $375/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 is not generally 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.
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 2008 that is the weekend of Sept. 5-7. 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. 4 and return on Monday,
Sept 8. 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 fast sailing on a
racing boat 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 normally
requires reservation planning well in advance of the trip. We
like to keep the maximum number of guests on the multiday cruises to
four.
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 $375/day.