We Got Our Charter Certificates!!

Yikes! If everyone on this boat passed out right now, there is no way I could find my way back to the dock. I kept my fears to myself. We were 30 minutes into our one week long charter certificate class. I was at the helm, looking around 360 degrees it all looked the same and nothing looked familiar! There were just islands and water in all directions. How did the early explorers figure this out?

Bill and I had signed up for a one week charter certificate class in the San Juan Islands north of Seattle. We studied for, and took a written test before we got on the boat, our home for the week. By the end of the week we would have to demonstrate that we could operate the 42 foot sailboat, navigate with charts, sail under the “rules of the road” and pass two more written exams. By the way, Bill beat me by 2 points on our first exam, 100-98%. Let the competition begin! Anyway, after that we would have our “driver’s license” and we would be eligible to charter a sailboat, just us, up to 50 feet in length anywhere in the world. (Could anyone really trust us with such a vessel?) Our idea was to try out different sailboats in different waters to get experience before purchasing our own floating home and cutting the dock lines.

It was a wonderful week in the San Juan Islands! There were five of us on the boat including another couple from Seattle and our instructor. We sailed from island to island learning how to dock, pick up a mooring ball, anchor, and of course sail. We went to Roche Harbor, Friday Harbor, and Stuart Island to name a few. We used the paper charts, the chart plotter, took dead reckoning readings, plotted our course and estimated our travel times. We learned so much! As a matter of fact, by the end of the week I was looking around thinking, “How could anyone ever get lost out here?” We took one more written exam (we both got 100%!) and WOW! We have our “driver’s license”! …………Where to go first?

ABOUT THE BOAT:
Beneteau 42; Designed by the Argentinian architect German Frers, built in France.
LOA: 42 ft 6 in
Beam: 13 ft 6 in
LWL: 35 ft 9 in
Maximum Draft: 5 ft 11 in
Displacement: 18220 lbs
Ballast: 5840 lbs
50 HP Perkins diesel engine.
This boat had an in-mast furling main and sailed well, however the aft cabin was what we call a “doghouse” quarter berth with very low headroom and a tiny area next to the berth (the bed) to stand up in and change clothes.