The Port to Port series
Dutch Boat Adventures
I'm Wishy. I retired early, then my mornings became my afternoons. Then I went for a walk, and I never really stopped. Now I keep two Dutch boats, one on each side of the Atlantic. This is my journey.
Work with Wishy
You already know the boats and the trips from the channel. If you want to work together in person, this is the whole list. No packages, no pressure. Email me and we will talk it through.
Training
On your boat, or on mine.
One on one with a USCG-licensed 100-Ton Master Captain, working with your systems and the situations you actually face.
More on trainingConsulting
Don't buy that next boat until we talk about it.
Thirty plus years of ownership. Various vessels. Thousands of miles logged, over ten of those years living aboard. I finally discovered quality, and not all boats are built the same.
My perspective is different from a surveyor's: it gets to the heart of the matter, the best fit for you.
Talk before you buyOn the water
Need a hand?
A delivery, a passage, or an extra experienced hand aboard. Captain-for-hire and crew help in Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands.
Ask about a handSeattle
I can be at the helm, or you can.
$500 · Three hours · Up to four guests
Aboard Halve Maan II, with coffee and bitterballen on board. Daytime cruises, and a sunset cruise when the timing offers one.
Check availabilityElling Guidance
Thinking about buying a new or used Elling? Consider all your options!
The Port to Port Global Explorer guide covers the E4 and E6, layouts, propulsion, and the offshore options.
Get the guideFilming your story? Help with your channel? Something else entirely? Just ask.
The boats
Elling E4 · Europe
A long-range Dutch motor yacht made for serious passages without giving up the comforts that make a boat feel like home. Zeeotter is the boat behind the circumnavigation, the canals of the Netherlands, the Caledonian Canal, and most of the miles on the channel.
Linssen Dutch Sturdy 32 · Puget Sound
My 1999 Linssen here at home in the Pacific Northwest. A steel canal boat at heart, just as happy in Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands, and the deck where a lot of the fixing, filming, and figuring things out happens.
Meet Wishy
My name is Josh, but my friends call me Wishy. After I sold my company, I slowed all the way down: lazy, low, and getting very little done. Then I started walking. I walked and walked, lost fifty or sixty pounds, and somewhere along the way I stopped waiting for life to start again.
The walking led back to the water. Across the pond, I went shopping for my dream boat, the Elling E4, and found a beautiful one in England, kept impeccably. Two boats was never the plan. The sensible thing was to come home and sell the Linssen, and I even had an offer lined up. Then I picked up the phone, called the man, and told him I was sorry, but I could not sell her at any price.
So here I am: stretched a little thin, a little uncomfortable, and having the time of my life, with two Dutch boats and two home waters, Zeeotter in Europe and Halve Maan II here in Puget Sound. Port to Port is those trips filmed as they really happen: the decisions, the weather, the locks, the mishaps, and the quiet wins.
That is the short version. The long one is on the channel, one port at a time.
From the channel
Dutch Boat Adventures lives on YouTube first. Real episodes, real passages, and the boats as you will actually meet them. Here is a taste of the channel.
The flagship series
6 Weeks to Circumnavigate!
Dover · Ipswich · Lowestoft · Berwick · Peterhead · Loch Ness · Neptune's Staircase · Isle of Man
The series that found most of our audience: Zeeotter all the way around, including the climb through the Caledonian Canal.
Watch the series
Step aboard Zeeotter and see how a Dutch long-range cruiser is really laid out.
The corner every sailor talks about, taken head on.
Retirement was not the dream I expected. The water fixed that.
A season of upgrades on Zeeotter, shown one by one.
The small part that can end a trip, changed the professional way at the dock.
Tours, passages, fixes, and Captain's Meanderings: the whole channel, in order.
Captain's Meanderings
“What about you? What keeps you going?”
The closer from a Captain's Meandering, as heard on the channel
On-the-water training
Practical, one-on-one training with a USCG-licensed 100-Ton Master Captain at your shoulder. No classroom voice. We work with your boat, your systems, and the situations you actually face.
Going solo. Using crew. Docking skills and close-quarters maneuvering. Boat handling, safety, and precision, or simply spending time together on the water until it feels natural.
Captain-for-hire and select yacht delivery throughout the Pacific Northwest, including Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands.
Charter in Seattle
When I am not in the Netherlands filming, I take guests out on Halve Maan II, and I would love to have you aboard. I can be at the helm, or you can. Either way, a USCG-licensed 100-Ton Master is aboard for the whole trip, and you get a relaxed few hours on the water.
It is a Dutch experience, not just a boat ride. During our cruise I will share the Dutch influence all over the Northwest, and there is coffee and bitterballen and other Dutch treats on board. And if you are inspired, we can break out the karaoke and you and your crew can sing. Call it boatkeoke. A Dutch boat, Dutch stories, Dutch snacks, right here in Seattle.
One thing we do not do: party and drink aboard. It is just not safe, and this is not that kind of ride. Think of it as a leisurely, chill Dutch boat ride on a canal boat.
Three hour cruise around Seattle, for up to four guests.
Send me the date you have in mind and I will confirm whether Halve Maan II and I are free. No payment now; we sort the details together by email.
Elling Guidance
“The Elling is great. I think it could be improved, and I say that as an owner.”
The Port to Port Global Explorer guide walks you through the E4 and E6, layouts, propulsion, and the offshore options worth thinking through before you decide.
Do you agree?
Your guide is ready.
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