Trawler School Charters

"Dear Captain Bob, Thanks for a great time and lots of learning and tips in the trawler school classes. We are sail boaters and really appreciated the hands on approach learning about trawlers. It was just the right combination while being underway. Actually living on board for a few days gave us the true experience of living aboard a trawler. The meals were great. It was like being on vacation while in school. We are nervous docking our own boat but under the supervision and instructions on Captain Bob's trawler made it so easy John even docked blindfolded; what a confidence builder. We have chartered and stayed in many places; however, we saw so many beautiful anchorages here it was like finding paradise right under our own nose. The manatees and dolphins were a real treat to see. I appreciated the fact that Captain Bob taught us the history of the area. The story of Mrs. Honeywell’s ghost was spooky and Boca Chica Island, where she lived was just absolutely breath taking. As a professor, I go to a lot of student graduations each year but Trawler Schools graduation was the best ever. John & Ann Marie T. Aka the Professor and Ginger Wilmington, NC"

"My husband and I found Captain Bob's Trawler School educational and enjoyable. We started school with little knowledge of boating. We finished our course confident and ready to start our adventures. The scenic locations were amazing! The food healthy and delicious. We have recommended the course to a friend looking for knowledge on trawler travel. Thank you Captain Bob for making the course exactly what we needed."

"Trawler School Charters Review Jan 23 2014 Captain Bob what a wonderful trip! After eating a great meal, the next thing we know, we are at the helm going on night maneuver's, how cool was that. It was pitch black out and we were on look out for any lights from other boats on the water, that's when it all happened, all of a sudden, out of nowhere lights and sirens pounded us from 20 feet off our port swim platform we jumped a mile, talk about a slight heart attack, that was the moment. It turned out to be the Coast Guard doing there own night maneuver's and they did there job real good. They asked us a few questions, shut off their lights and went off into the night looking for some drug runners & trust me that 28' USCG boat and it's crew owns the night "good job". That incident made our trip one not to be forgotten, we are still talking about it. We have read many Trawler books, navigation from A to Z, it all seemed so complicated, well after just one day we learned to keeping it simple and use common boating sense. In no time at all, we acquired the skills to navigate on our own for the next two days, that's right all by ourselves at the helm. "Big man" (Captain) your insight and wisdom made our trip a fantastic, fun and knowledgeable experience. Captain you gave us the confidence so we can now start to pursue our Trawler dreams. One subject Trawler school charters offed that no other school had to offer was Captain Bob's past brokerage experience. He taught us the in's & out's how to find, buy the different models to chose from Sundeck, Trunk, sedan or pilot house, what size will work for us, contracts & negotiations and everything you need to know about buying or chartering a trawler. We now are very knowledgeable buyers and able to buy the right trawler and save thousand's of dollars just on this subject alone. Captain, we will never forget all the stories about ghosts and songs from Franky, Dino & Bing. Let's not forget about Mr. B. Ha Ha We highly recommend Captain Bob and Trawler School Charters if you are thinking about buying a trawler now or in the future. Thanks for everything....... Rob & Juliet NY, NY."

"From the moment we arrived at Dania Beach Marina and were enthusiastically greeted by Captain Bob, aboard a beautiful blue and white 40' sun deck trawler. Inside the maintained salon, galley, bedroom and bathroom all decorated in Oceana motif and well maintained. I knew our decision to take a training/adventure/vacation was an excellent choice. I booked this trip as a surprise for my husband and wanted everything to be perfect, so far so Great!!! Captain Bob showed us around, the galley ( told us to feel free to eat and drink what we wanted). Many of our favorite food, drinks and snacks were stocked as Captain Bob inquired what our likes and dislikes were prior to arrival . We tend to focus on mostly healthy choices, but enjoy a few not so healthy choices, such a little wine, which we opened, poured a glass and went on deck to enjoy the view. Captain Bob excused himself, gave us privacy and we had the trawler to ourselves for the entire night, it was a wonderful, romantic night just the two of us. Captain Bob always knew when to be present and when to give us our privacy. Your web-site although lovely and informative does not give enough justice to the true beauty of our time aboard. There is so much, too much to say, but I will always have the most fond memories of delicious food, great drinks, funny stories, laughter, jokes, romantic time, sunrises, sunsets, manatees, dolphins, private beaches, private islands, swimming, snorkeling, running, Miami sky-line, the historical Marine stadium graffiti site, Biscayne skyline, Virginia Key, viewing the mansions and dreaming how lucky we are to be aboard a trawler being treated like a queen and king, thank you Captain Bob for the best surprise gift I could ever given my husband. It was so, so much more than I ever anticipated, I do not remember my husband being this happy since the day our last child was born. And, I haven’t even begun to talk about why I wanted to attend trawler school charter: the main reason was to learn all we could about a dream we have to one day own and live aboard a trawler. You are an excellent trainer, patient and very knowledgeable, all your years of experience on the sea, in trawler sales, purchasing and fixing up used trawlers, living aboard, maintaining and navigating a trawler were translated to us in an easy to understand manner through talking and “ hands on experience” which is the only way my husband and I can truly learn anything, we can listen, we can read, but we must touch, see and perform tasks to learn, we did all these things during our hands on training. We both feel so confident I know we could navigate a trawler on our own and cruise the seven seas."

"Ahoy mates, don’t miss your chance at paradise and living your dream…… What a wonderful experience! My husband and I wanted to fulfill a dream....what it would be like to retire and live aboard. We are average boaters and would love to live on a good sized boat without spending all of our income on fuel. We started doing some research and found Trawler School charters in Dania Beach Florida. We read through the website and thought this would be the way to learn about living aboard and also how to maintain and manage a boat of good size and we needed all the help we could get. Well, we hit the jackpot when we made reservations with Captain Bob and the Miami Mermaid. Captain Bob was the perfect host and the Miami Mermaid was a 40 ft. ship shape vessel, clean and very well maintained. It was a perfect fit for us. Captain Bob turned all of our lessons into action packed fun adventures. From the first hour we were taking turns at the helm steering through the intracoastal waterway. While under Captain Bob's supervision, we were actually piloting and navigating the 40 ft. vessel through the middle of Miami, learning how to use the charts and the GPS. We were awed by the beauty of the Miami skyline especially at night. When we reached Boca Chita, the first of the Florida keys, we were presented with the beauty and serenity of the Island complete with a beautiful stone lighthouse. Oh oh docking lessons 40' single engine by the time Captain Bob was done with us we both were docking one handed wait till my children see our pictures. We learned so much from the hands on training and Captain Bob's extensive knowledge about trawlers. The next few days were filled with boat classes on docking, navigating, using the auto-pilot, tying knots, engine and electrical basics and ending with the "Final Solution". Not only is he a good teacher, he is also a great chef, the food was great, from fresh salads to blackened salmon to pork boneless ribs, delicious. Everyday was a new adventure, the view from among the mangroves to Virginia Key complete with manatees, across Fisher Island and the North Miami Beach seaside was truly memorable. We both feel totally prepared for some bare-boat chartering and eventually possibly purchasing a trawler in the future. We did take a moment during our research to read the clients positive reviews and also took a look at the OOPS letter on the Trawler School website. We hope that anyone wanting to learn about living aboard and one day purchasing a trawler will do as we did and go for it. We highly recommend Trawler School for anyone wanting to learn about living on board, how to maintain your vessel, engine maintenance and the everyday ins and outs of living aboard. Thank you Captain Bob for sharing your extensive knowledge and giving us the opportunity to live this great adventure where dreams can come true. We loved it……."