Chartering

We chartered a Maxim 49 powerboat out of Bellingham last week.  We’re still doing this trip once a year because it’s so nice to have comfortable space for everyone and also to be able to set a fairly concrete itinerary that doesn’t involve the weather as much.  In fact it rained a bit while we were underway and it really meant nothing.  Most of the family naps during this time and I enjoyed time at the helm when there were not too many other boats out.

This boat was fairly new (2003) and therefore very clean.  It’s also a fairly well-built boat (but it’s still a Bayliner).  The sheer size of the thing makes it more seaworthy in some ways.  You’ve got 30,000 pounds and 740 horsepower to punch through seas.  We left Roche Harbor heading for Victoria and went south around San Juan Island (Lime Kiln Point) looking for whales.   It wasn’t until we were well out into the Strait and I stepped out of the pilot house that I realized that there was over 30 knots of wind over the deck.

I was happy cruising at 10 knots.  Slow by most powerboater standards but at this speed the engines are just loafing at 1800 rpm and burning less than 10 gallons per hour.  We only used 170 gallons of diesel for the whole week.  That included Friday Harbor, Roche Harbor, Reid Harbor, Victoria, Sidney, Roche (again) and back to Bellingham.  All of these places except Reid Harbor have pools.

The boat had a bow and a stern thruster.   Too easy.  Bigger boats are easier to handle, in my experience, and thrusters and twin engines mean you can put the boat wherever you think it needs to go.  A guy in a Crealock 34 at the customs dock in Victoria was cringing at all the windage we had but it was my observation that his mast, a bunch of rigging, three roller furled sails, lots of crap on deck (because there is nowhere to store it below), is a lot of windage too.  It may not look that way but it is.  

I’m not about to give up my C&C and lay down the big bucks for a 50’ powerboat, but there are certainly good arguments for that type.  Now that I have the family satisfied with their boating fix it’s time for me to sail my boat.