Learning Boat Handling From a Pro

I had a great day on the water! I went down to Seattle for the professional boating instruction I had negotiated for. I have to say they for all my complaints about the dealer, the free lesson I got today was fantastic. The instructor was very personable and knowledgeable. He is a Coast Guard licensed captain, and he gave me a good three hours of one on one training. We put in near the Ballard Bridge and went through the ship canal to Lake Union. We did lots of docking and undocking drills, many of them into the wind. He also took me into several tight marinas (it’s amazing how many marinas there are in Seattle) for some practice doing pivot turns in real world situations. He showed me how much more maneuverable the boat is in reverse, and how I can use “prop walk” to my advantage. I also learned a lot about Seattle’s boating scene, by seeing the parts of it that only boaters notice. It was a gorgeous fall day, and it was fun just putting around under all the drawbridges at no wake speed.

When I got back home, I got a quick bite to eat and then put the boat right back in at the 10th Street boat launch in Everett. It was my first time putting it in salt water. I zipped down towards Mukilteo for a bit, then explored some other parts of Port Gardner before returning in time for sunset. I love how my little boat skips over big waves. Today I got to be the idiot who was driving around at 30 mph with all four fenders out. I was a bit of a celebrity at the boat wash though. A couple different guys came to talk to me and admire my boat, saying, “ooh man, nice Whaler!” I also got tons of practice backing the trailer up today.

One problem I had was in figuring out how to flush the engine putting it in salt water. I have special “earmuffs” to put over my outboard’s water intakes, which you hook a hose to. However, after I hooked it up and started it, I didn’t get the expected “pee stream” from the telltale, so I shut it right off. A guy at the boat wash offered to help hold the earmuffs on tighter while I started the motor, but to no avail. I finally took the boat to Lake Stevens, backed it into the water, and ran it for five minutes. With a brand new boat, I’m pretty paranoid about flushing it after salt water use.

I don’t know when I’ll go out again, since it’s clearly getting colder. I wanted to make the most of this good weather vacation day. Can you believe I have almost 8 hours on the engine already, and I’ve had the boat less than two weeks?

[January 2025 Prologue] Actually, taking a boat from saltwater to fresh water without a thorough cleaning in between is a bad idea. You can introduce an invasive species called zebra mussels.