Chartering in the Pacific NW

[rsojka]

My wife and I want to charter a boat out of Bellingham, Vancouver or anywhere else in that area around June 16th. I have searched the web and found alot of charter companies. What I would like is if anyone knew of a great charter bargain. We don't need anything bigger than a 32', even a 29 or 30' would be ok. What I would like is a good price for a clean boat. Thanks, Rock

[RichardElliott]

If you are planning on more than one week I highly recommend Desolation Yacht Charters, Comox, British Columbia. No personal connection other than chartering from them several times.

[EDonWalsh]

Two questions come to mind - where do you want to sail and how long will your charter last? If you plan to sail the US San Juans only, Bellingham is a good choice. If you plan to sail the Canadian Gulf Islands or Desolation Sound - this would be my choice - I agree with Richard Elliot. No personal experience but I've encountered Desolation Sound Yacht Charterers who were pleased with their experience.

For the San Juan Islands, I recommend San Juan Sailing. Six years ago, I chartered with San Juan Sailing in Bellingham and was very satisfied. Over the past 2 years, I've had 2 different groups of sailing friends who chartered with SJS based on my recommendations and they all had a good time. For the past 5 years I've kept my own boat at the US/CN boarder in Blaine WA, but spent 90% of my cruising time in Canada.

If you only have one week, I would not recommend trying to sample both the San Juans and the Gulf Islands - it's too rushed.

Don Walsh
Jeanneau 37 - Windfall

[Jim H]

I'd support Don's recommendation about San Juan Sailing. We've had two ASA courses there, overnighting on two of their boats, and we were very pleased. In July we're chartering their basic Islander 28, and next year we hope to take out their Crealock 34 for a week.

Jim H