Hello all! New to these waters. ;)

[SeaWoof]

Long time lurker. First time poster. Figured I would say a quick hello / intro for myself. 43 M from based out of Squamish, BC.

I grew up spending summers on dive vessels with my father in the Great Lakes (a few harrowing stories there!) and have have also spent a fair amount of time on the waters around here in BC, both in Howe Sound as well as through Salish Sea, exploring gulf islands and going as far up as Quadra on the North End of things. Mostly on others boats, but also a fair amount of time on our very tiny adventure dinghy, the "Hiphopapotamus" - a Flight of the Conchords reference for all you fans. (Two of our friends boats are named "Business Time" and "Brahbrah", so had to follow suit). Twofootitis is more like twentyfootitis for us, and a compact trawler is our vision of the near future, plying our way up to Alaska etc in summer months.

* photo of the Hiphopapotamus, well below me on a sea-cliff climb in Squamish.

Anyways, thanks for having me here!

 

[O C Diver]

Welcome to the forum! Diving and the Great Lakes are two of my favorite past times.

Ted

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Welcome aboard eh?

 

[Comodave]

Welcome aboard.

 

[SeaWoof]

Welcome to the forum! Diving and the Great Lakes are two of my favorite past times.

Ted

Hey Ted,

I never got into diving myself (prefer the thrills above the waterline) but my father has been wreck diving the great lakes since the late 70's with the Etobicoke Underwater Club (and continues to do so today, in his mid 70's). Primarily out of Tobermory, but they seem to find excuses to jump into pretty much any body of water. If you have been diving for any amount of time in the great lakes, I'm sure you have run into a few of them! I spent many summers tripping out to dive sites aboard the old W.A. Spears, a ~60' fishing tug, which has some stories of its own. I am sure that is where I gained some fondness for tugs and trawlers, as well as young sea legs.

 

[Jeff F]

Welcome aboard. Maybe in time we'll coax some of those stories out of you.

Tobermory is one of my favourite spots. But coastal BC is on my wish list.

 

[O C Diver]

Hey Ted,

I never got into diving myself (prefer the thrills above the waterline) but my father has been wreck diving the great lakes since the late 70's with the Etobicoke Underwater Club (and continues to do so today, in his mid 70's). Primarily out of Tobermory, but they seem to find excuses to jump into pretty much any body of water. If you have been diving for any amount of time in the great lakes, I'm sure you have run into a few of them! I spent many summers tripping out to dive sites aboard the old W.A. Spears, a ~60' fishing tug, which has some stories of its own. I am sure that is where I gained some fondness for tugs and trawlers, as well as young sea legs.

Tell your father, my hat is off to him to still be diving the great lakes in his 70s.

I dove the steamship "America" in Lake Superior in 2016 and about froze my butt off.

Ted

 

[SeaWoof]

Tell your father, my hat is off to him to still be diving the great lakes in his 70s.

I dove the steamship "America" in Lake Superior in 2016 and about froze my butt off.

Ted

Yup. Those waters (especially Georgian Bay / Huron) can sure "look" tropical, but certainly are not! He only got his first dry suit about 10 years ago too! Tough old guy. I didn't get his cold water genes but am trying to grow thicker skin for swimming and surfing here in the PNW.

Fantastic to have dove on the America. It's amazing how well the wrecks hold together in the cold, fresh water. That one is still very much intact and you likely got to it before the zebra mussels really took hold.

 

[SeaWoof]

Welcome aboard. Maybe in time we'll coax some of those stories out of you.

Tobermory is one of my favourite spots. But coastal BC is on my wish list.

They are both magical places in their own regards.

I always loved Toby growing up, as it was a slow-paced, somewhat sleepy harbour town. Now you need make advanced parking reservations just to visit the park there. I may have to visit in the winter sometime to avoid the crowds.

You would certainly love the boating out here. Plenty of it!

 

[SeaWoof]

In terms of timelines, boats and what we are looking to accomplish...

I own a company and am looking to create more operational independence with my employees, and my partner is wrapping up her PhD, so hoping to put ourselves in a position where we can both travel for extended periods as liveaboard / workaboard with our dog, through the PNW and up to Alaska, living on the hook as much as possible and going on side adventures, including exploing some remote coastal rock climbing, kayaking etc. Hopefully starting in a year or so. Thus, this is looking well ahead.

We have a list of boats and don't mind more compact, efficient trawlers (sub 40ft, and even sub 30ft with good layouts is an option) as it is more about the journey than the speed of travel. Budget is variable (a lot depends on where we are at in a year and a bit) but looks to be in the 100-200k range. Adding a boisterous and energetic dog, perhaps necessitates a bit more space aboard, as would taking meetings via Starlink.

We have a bit of a short list of boats, including (on the larger side) Camano's and older Nordic 32's, down to North Pacific 28 (rarity) and even Maple Bay 30's of which I have a soft spot for (have to love full displacement cruising). Have looked at OG Rangers as well, and although I appreciate how featured they are, the inaccessibility to some of the critical components seems an issue. I don't mind putting in work so long as bones are good, as I have a fairly solid mechanical / handy background.

 

[Mac2]

Look at the Krogen Manatee for sale in Bellingham-the best Manatee out there. I was the previous owner of a different Manatee.

 

[SeaWoof]

Look at the Krogen Manatee for sale in Bellingham-the best Manatee out there. I was the previous owner of a different Manatee.

I have looked into the Manatee's and that one is a particularly fine example. Pretty interesting boats and it tough to beat for an extended liveaboard. Great viability for all those PNW logs while piloting. Maybe not as salty looking (?) as what I would like, but not off the list.

 

[Mac2]

I have looked into the Manatee's and that one is a particularly fine example. Pretty interesting boats and it tough to beat for an extended liveaboard. Great viability for all those PNW logs while piloting. Maybe not as salty looking (?) as what I would like, but not off the list.

You’re being very polite! Ugly for sure, but the more you live on it the more you love the interior space that fat “nose” provides. PVC coring is also very attractive for older boats. I met the previous owner (owned a machine shop) and he did some spectacular custom jobs on that boat. PM me if you want more details.