John K.
Yelp
Me and the family (+ grandma) chartered a private sail this past Sat., Feb. 17 on the Lagoon 42 - our Captain was Aaron (sp?) - and it was a fantastic time. First and foremost after watching movies my entire life like Jaws, Titanic, Open Water, etc. etc. I have what you would call a slightly "un-natural" level of respect for the Ocean(s)... meaning that I'm hyper-aware that once you leave shore, we as humans are no longer at the top of the food chain. After asking an avalanche of safety / concern questions like, "when the boat goes down, how do the shark repellant canisters deploy - are they automatically triggered when they touch water or do you have to pull a pin like a grenade".... "how do the satellite phone / transponders notify the Coast Guard / U.S. Navy so they know where to deploy the helicopters and Cutters"..... it was pretty obvious that 1) Aaron knew what he was doing and 2) we were in good hands and I needed to ratchet my coffee-fueled morning crazy down a notch or three. After putting to bed my 'what if the worst of the worst happens' Q&A, Aaron's first question was - what do you and your family want to get out of this trip ? My kiddos are all about Ocean life / animals - so my response was: maximize the: whales, dolphins, sea lions, sharks, monster squid, etc. Aaron did a great job of not wasting any time and navigating us straight out to Whale Highway 1.... we saw an array of sea lions on the way in and out of the harbor - one actually swam right next to the boat and did barrel rolls for us !! We tracked and saw at least six or seven different whales with huge / multiple blow hole sprays as well as tail flips. The kids were ecstatic..... mission accomplished. As far as the boat, yeah..... the Lagoon 42 is just as awesome as the pictures. Super spacious, excellent condition, with all kinds of great space to stretch out, have lunch, get sun, etc. etc. etc. etc. Can't say enough good things about this trip, the boat - awesome, the marine life - awesome, the weather / sun / wind / temp. - awesome, and the Captain (Aaron) - awesome. I would absolutely do this again and would recommend a private charter to anyone looking to get away from the crowds and have control over their sail. I think the only thing that could have put this (even further) over the top is for the co. to package a better food / beverage option with the sail. On the advice of the booking agent, we dropped into the local deli just down the dock and picked up fresh sandwiches, drinks, etc. - but what would have been great is the kitchen on the boat to have all of this type of stuff on-board and ready for consumption. Like I said, AMAZING trip, would absolutely do it again - just would have been the icing on the cake if food / beverage was included / provided / option on the boat already. Six stars.