Today we would be trying our luck with the hard fighting Yellow tail snapper. This is one of my favorite fish to catch and eat. It has nice flakey meat that seems to melt in your mouth. Right now as I write this article, my mouth is watering. Fishing in the Gulf Stream is unique. The current is very swift. The idea is to use chum to draw fish up towards your boat. As the frozen block of chopped fish thaws, fish are drawn in. While they are eating the tiny fragments of fish, you present your offering in the mix and hang on.

If you’re going to buy a boat from a private seller then take your time to make your mind up. Inspect the boat carefully; look for scratches, cracks, dents and other damage. Test the cables and the steering. You could even consider hiring a professional boat surveyor to carry out a complete certified inspection. It might seem costly at the time but it can give you the peace of mind of knowing you got a great deal, and haven’t been sold down the Suwannee.

Six kilometres south of Jasper is Whistler Mountain. If you visit early or late in the day, you will most likely hear the melodic sounds made by the whistling marmots living on the lower slopes of the mountain. Early birds can also get cheaper tickets on the Whistler Mountain gondola. The terminus is at 2,500m, with spectacular views south to the Columbia Icefields, and west to Mount Robson.

Up on top, a fine sunshade still containing the sweat of my son-in-law, Ben, who spearheaded the installation and saw it through to completion. On the superstructure, a bright red, white and blue nautical flag, flown freely in a hundred thousand breezes since my brother and sister-in-law, Raymond and Marlene, brought it to the Phoenix because they knew this is where it belonged.

That was all it took to elevate our experience to the next level. Somewhere between the cheeseburger and key lime pie, from within the vibrant fog cast by the Cabbage Creepers coursing through our veins, the idle thought slowly began to become reality. Our waitress overheard our conversation and sent over a female manager. Minutes later she was giving us a tour of a two bedroom cabin, assuring us she could make all the arrangements with Captiva Cruises to stop them from coming to pick us up. She said she would make the necessary phone calls to have us picked up tomorrow. Are we really doing this? And before we knew it, we were down at the white-wooden boathouse gift-shop, giddy and giving her our credit card to charge the cabin on. I can’t believe we’re doing this. It was a done deal.

For example, ask the rental service if you can bring house pets or children on board. If there is a handicap in your group, ask whether there are available handicap facilities for him/her. You may also want to know about certain age limits or maximum number of people allowed on the boat.

There is no limit of what one could do while you are on board. There is a wide choice of games that could be enjoyed aboard your houseboat. You may bring from home board games, chess, and a decent deck of cards with some games in mind as well. If you are the bookworm type then take along your favorite book or a bunch of magazines and puzzles, and should you be into fishing you can take your gear with you. As mentioned, there is a limitless amount of things that can be done. The private yacht charter is equipped with a compact disc player so make sure that you take along some of your favorite music. Music on board is a definite must, if not for back ground noise then ambience or even singing as well as dancing.

Depending on what you want to use the boat for, you may need to decide about the construction and hull material. GRP is the usual choice, but there are others.. All materials have their issues and need maintenance.