Steer a Classic Cutter Across Grand Traverse Bay at Sunset
A private sunset sail on West Grand Traverse Bay, aboard a 1988 cutter that carries six people and no more.
Scout is a Cabo Rico 38 XL, built in Costa Rica in 1988 and licensed and inspected by the state of Michigan to carry passengers. She takes six people. That ceiling is a Coast Guard rule, and infants count toward it like everyone else.
The charter runs two hours on the west arm of Grand Traverse Bay. Traverse Tall Ship Co. prices the boat, and a booking of two comes to the same figure as a booking of six.
Sunset lands late in a northern Michigan June and early in October. The calendar answers that with six start times, half an hour apart, from 5:00 PM to 7:30 PM, seven days a week. The sail itself is two hours whichever one you take.
Departures run from the first days of April through the first days of October, and the next season opens the following April.
2 Hour Private Sunset Sailing Cruise Aboard ScoutPrivate two-hour sunset charter for up to six guests, departing CenterPointe Marina, April through early October.www.viator.comBuilt on a Costa Rican Mountainside, Working Michigan Water
The design is a William I. B. Crealock cutter from Cabo Rico Custom Yachts: forty-one feet overall, five feet of draft, 738 square feet of sail. The bow is a clipper bow, the deck carries wood trim, and below decks the joinery is plantation-grown teak.
There is a head on board and refrigerator space for anything you carry on. Traverse Tall Ship Co. credits the hull with soft motion and stout offshore performance.
Two Hours on the West Arm, Wheel Optional
The route stays inside West Grand Traverse Bay. The listing names the historic Park Place Hotel and the Great Lakes Maritime Academy among the landmarks along the shore, the academy with its training vessel tied up alongside.
Crew will hand over the wheel and walk you through setting sails for anyone who wants the job. Doing nothing is equally available: the cockpit carries a Bimini for shade, the deck is open for sunbathing, and the cabin below stays warm. When conditions allow, people swim off the boat.
Six Names, and the Whole Boat Is Yours
This is a private charter, and the six places belong to your party alone. Children and infants each occupy one of those six: Coast Guard rules count every person aboard as a passenger, whatever their age.
Life jackets are carried in sizes from infant up to ninety pounds. Tipping runs on the usual terms, and Traverse Tall Ship Co. suggests fifteen to twenty percent when the captain and crew have earned it.
Soft Soles, a Sweater, and No Hard Coolers
Traverse Tall Ship Co. asks for soft-soled sneakers or tennis shoes and turns away boots and high heels. A captain may ask anyone in the wrong shoes to sail barefoot.
Snacks and soft drinks come with the charter. Alcohol is yours to carry on, with refrigerator space to keep it cold, though hard-sided coolers stay ashore for lack of anywhere to stow them.
Pack a layer even in July. Both the listing and the operator warn that the water turns chilly near sunset, which is the exact window this charter occupies. Sunscreen and a hat earn their place as well.
The launch site is CenterPointe Marina at 12920 South West Bay Shore Drive. Parking sits across the road, with a pedestrian tunnel running underneath. Leave the tunnel, walk ahead to the building, bear left, and find the white tent where the captain meets the charter. Anyone with mobility needs should call the office at (231) 941-2000 first for alternate parking directions.
Cancel at least twenty-four hours before your start time and the booking refunds in full. Inside that window nothing comes back. Traverse Tall Ship Co. counts a late arrival at the tent as a no-show, which forfeits the ticket the same way not turning up at all does. Weather is the exception that runs your way: the crew watches the radar, and a sail they call off for extended heavy rain is rescheduled or refunded in full.
Two hours later you are back at the same dock, with the bay behind you gone from blue to copper to nothing at all.