Seminars

Boating experts from around the world educate, inspire and entertain at the 2012 Vancouver Boat Show, sharing their experience and expertise on everything from boating basics to spellbinding boating adventures.

Click here for the 2012 Vancouver Boat Show Seminar Schedule.

*Speakers and schedule subject to change

A Sneak Peek at Some of the Experts & Adventures Featured in the 2012 Seminar Series:

Around the World at 16 – Zac Sunderland learned how to sail when he was four years old, and at 16 he embarked on the adventure of a lifetime – setting sail into the Pacific Ocean on a quest to see the world and become the youngest person to circumnavigate it alone. For 13 months he weathered perilous storms, threatening pirates, and the unique loneliness experienced by solo sailors who for weeks at a time have no direct human contact. He embraced new cultures, learned new languages, and made lifelong friends – and in July 2009 Zac realized his dream: He became the youngest solo sailor to circumnavigate the world and the first under 18! Zac was a competitor on the 19th season of CBS hit reality television series The Amazing Race, is now plotting an expedition through the North West Passage and has dreams to scale Mount Everest.

Abby Sunderland's 2012 appearance has been cancelled due to a scheduling conflict.

Unsinkable – Abby Sunderland, younger sister of Zac Sunderland, has a dream to sail around the world. More people have flown into outer space than have sailed solo around the globe. It is a challenge so immense that many have died trying and all have been pushed beyond every physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual limit. Having been around the water and growing up on boats since she was six months old, Abby watched as her brother Zac successfully sailed around the world in 2009 and realized that her dream could come true as well with lots of hard work, support and perseverance. In January 2010, Abby set sail around the world on Wild Eyes, an Open 40 sailboat. On June 10, 2010 Wild Eyes was rolled 360 degrees by a massive rogue wave, tearing off the vessel's mast, completely disabling Wild Eyes, and ending the trip. After the media explosion that happened upon her safe return to dry land, Abby undertook the stirring narrative, Unsinkable, which tells her remarkable true story of attempting to become the youngest person ever to sail solo around the world with gripping and evocative firsthand accounts that start prior to her departure, travels through her daring (and sometimes near-death) encounters on the open sea, to her dramatic rescue in the remotest corner of the Indian Ocean.

Derek Hatfield - "Taking on the World, Alone"

Derek Hatfield knows all about the courage, perseverance and determination it takes to sail around the world alone - he's only the 126th person to have ever done it. In May of 2003, after eight gruelling months at sea, he completed more than 28,700 nautical miles in the "Around Alone" Single-Handed Yacht Race. His 1st in fleet and 3rd place overall in Class II finish - despite major obstacles - quickly earned him a name as Canada's premiere solo ocean racer; since then, he's represented Canada in three single-handed around the world races. Join Derek at the Vancouver International Boat Show where he'll talk about his podium finish and record-breaking Velux 5 Oceans Single Handed Round the World Yacht Race, and share his next steps in a decade-long career that has spanned over 200,000 nautical miles single handed racing.

Richard Hudson

Richard started sailing when he was 12 or 13, taking advantage of free sailing lessons that were offered for young people in 25' dipping-lug-rigged ex-lifeboats. Since then he has sailed nearly 50,000 nautical miles in total. Richard spent two years sailing around the North Atlantic in a 35' gaff-rigged schooner, visiting Bahamas, US, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Ireland, England, Scotland and Iceland.

After recently buying a 50' steel, centerboard schooner in France, the Issuma, he has been sailing from Europe to South America, North America, Greenland and through the Northwest Passage to the Pacific.

Liza Copeland

Liza is a lifelong sailor, both cruiser and racer. She married her husband Andy in the Caribbean aboard the classic yacht Ticonderoga and they have since sailed over 160,000 miles together, including a 6-year circumnavigation with their three children. After another nine years cruising around North and Central America, and in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, West Africa, Brazil, and the Caribbean, their Beneteau Bagheera has taken them 116,000 nautical miles and to 114 countries.

Liza is the award-winning best-selling author of four cruising books. Just and Still Cruising recount their world travels with Comfortable Cruising describing their voyage around North and Central America. Their popular Cruising for Cowards is an inclusive technical and practical A-Z for cruisers, whether coastal voyaging or offshore. Liza writes for a variety of yachting magazines, gives seminars at major boat shows and to a number of clubs and organisations. When not sailing the oceans of the world, leading cruising groups or touring giving talks on boating and travel, she lives in Vancouver.

Jeff Cote

Jeff, a systems design engineer, combined his professional expertise with his passion for boating when he started Pacific Yacht Systems Inc. Jeff is the author of a monthly column in Pacific Yachting, aptly named Tech Talk. The column discusses topics related to the changing world of technology and boating, and how electronics and electrical systems help create a safe and enjoyable boating experience. As Western Canada's only NMEA instructor, Jeff has NMEA advanced marine electronic installer certification and, through the American Boat and Yacht Council, marine electrical certification. He is also a certified installer of Raymarine and Garmin electronics.

Electrical 101: Making Sense of Your Systems
Have you ever wondered if you are getting the maximum out of your batteries? Or if you really have to run your generator every day at anchor? Do you check your electrical wires for corrosion and chafing on a regular basis? It's not the most glamorous side of boating but it is a necessity and ignoring it only makes it more dangerous. Join us for a no-nonsense, plain English Electrical 101 with Jeff Cote. This presentation is designed for beginners, tech savvy and DIY experts alike.

Choosing Your Navigation System
Do you know the difference between raster and vector charts? Are you using a laptop or an iPad for navigation? Are you thinking of making the leap to a multi-function display to incorporate your chartplotter, AIS, radar, depth sounder, and tides and currents? Join us for a no-nonsense, plain English, Navigation 101 with Jeff Cote. In this presentation, Jeff will make sense of the products and manufacturers out there and help you figure out which are right for you and your boat. Furthermore, he will outline some of the popular navigation packages PYS has been installing lately and why the products work well together. This presentation is designed for beginners, tech savvy and DIY experts alike.

Glenora Doherty

What happens to the dream of offshore cruising when you lose your Skipper?

Glenora was born on a Saskatchewan farm, but grew up in Calgary, Alberta, where she married Peter Doherty, her high school sweetheart. She has lived in Germany, California, Mexico and five Canadian provinces. Her 35-year professional career included teaching and editing and she retired from the federal government as an Assistant Treaty Negotiator. She has sailed over 30,000 nautical miles aboard the Reliance 44 ketch, Wanderlust V, lived aboard for 13 years, and served as crew on other offshore boats. Glenora is Past Commodore and a Lifetime Member of Bluewater Cruising Association (BCA). She has published articles in Cruising World Magazine and Currents (the monthly newsletter of BCA) and has just released her first book, Voyage to the Other Side of Grief: Finding Joy in New Dreams, in which she describes her single-handed life voyage and sailing adventures after her skipper's sudden and unexpected death in 2005.

Catherine Dook

Catherine Dook was born and raised in the Arctic. She prided herself on being a good sport when she sank past her ankles in muskeg, and on knowing what to do if she spotted a polar bear on the way to school. She married her husband, John, 15 years ago and discovered these skills were all transferrable to living aboard.

Catherine is author of "Darling Call the Coast Guard We're on Fire Again!", "Damn the Torpedoes!" and "Offshore".

William (Bill) Kelly

William Kelly has sailed the BC coast for over 30 years from the Gulf Islands to Kodiak Island. He has written boating articles for the Vancouver Sun, Pacific Yachting and Canadian Yachting magazines and is the co-author, along with Anne Vipond, of the popular boating guide Best Anchorages of the Inside Passage. He is also publisher of Ocean Cruise Guides, which publishes the bestselling book Alaska By Cruise Ship. He moors his 35-foot sailboat Sway on the Fraser River and sails each year along the BC coast with his wife and two sons.

Dominique Prinet

Dominique Prinet is a Power and Sail Instructor, certified for all levels by the Canadian Yachting Association (CYA) and the International Sail and Power Academy (ISPA). He is an Instructor Evaluator for the CYA. He has taught boating in France, and out of Vancouver since 2000, both on water and on land. He holds a 60-ton Master's certificate from Transport Canada, and frequently teaches courses for Transport Canada, such as Marine Emergency Duties, and Small Vessel Operating Proficiency. He also holds a General Radio Operator's licence from Industry Canada.

Dominique has considerable boating experience, in the Mediterranean, the British Channel, around Brittany, across the Atlantic, along the Caribbean, and along the West Coast.

He holds an Engineering degree from UBC; an MBA from McGill; and an Airline Transport Pilot licence. In the sixties, he flew commercially as a Bush Pilot and Chief Flying Instructor out of Vancouver and, subsequently, in the Canadian Arctic and High Arctic out of Yellowknife.

In between his flying and boating careers, Dominique was V.P. Marketing at Canadian Airlines in Vancouver. He taught Economics to MBA students at McGill for eleven years, and continued at UBC. He went on to turnaround and manage the national airline of Tanzania, sailing his own boat on the Indian Ocean out of Dar es Salaam.

Teaching has always been his passion. He lives in Vancouver, and started Vancouver Marine Courses where he teaches ground classes. His wife teaches languages at UBC. He recently celebrated his 70th birthday by obtaining his helicopter licence.

John Roberts

Surveyed more than 3,500 vessels worldwide - F. John Roberts is a member of the Association of Marine Surveyors of BC, SAMS- Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors, IIMS - International Institute of Marine Surveyors (UK), ABYC - American Boat and Yacht Council (boat building standards association) and the International Association of Marine Investigators (and tonnage measurer). He had been actively involved in the fleet management of bareboat sailboats fleets in the British Virgin Islands in the 1970s and 1980s. He has conducted 175,000 nautical miles of yacht deliveries and is now been conducting marine surveys in BC surveyor for the last 15 years. Mr. Roberts will discuss what marine surveyors do, what kind of vessels they conduct surveys on, how they handle insurance claims, methods of determining positive identification of the craft an age of manufacture, how the surveyor determines the market and replacement value of the craft, and items that the buyer may look for when viewing a vessel to purchase themselves.

Peter Vassilopoulos

Peter Vassilopoulos has been writing for Pacific Yachting Magazine since 1974. For 12 years he produced a power boating column called Power Pitch. His many published articles include powerboat reviews as well as local cruising trips and destination stories.

Based on extensive coastal cruising, in the past 18 years he has produced cruising guides including his popular Docks and Destinations, Anchorages and Marina Parks, and three coffee table styled books, Broughton Islands Cruising Guide (formerly titled North of Desolation Sound), Cruising to Desolation Sound and the Gulf Islands Cruising Guide.

He also authored a coffee table art book Mariner Artist John M Horton and a book on a collection of classic yachts, Antiques Afloat.

Vassilopoulos is the founder and former publisher and editor of Canada's Diver Magazine and was formerly involved in radio and television news production in South Africa and Zimbabwe. He was born in Cape Town, South Africa.

Anne and Laurence Yeadon Jones

Cruising Guide Authors, are experienced sailors who voyaged from Southampton, England in 1985 on their first adventure across the Atlantic Ocean. Over the last 25 years have logged thousands of cruising hours charting, recording and photographing their travels. Exploring along the beautifully rugged coastline and Islands of the Pacific Northwest. To date they have produced 6 colourful, information-packed Dreamspeaker Cruising Guides. They endeavour to promote safe and enjoyable boating while profiling the unique of coastal life. Anne and Laurence are also regular contributors to local and International boating Magazines. They live in Vancouver's West End and keep their 36-foot sailboat Dreamspeaker and faithful dinghy, Tink, close by.
To read more visit www.dreamspeakerguides.com

David Sutcliffe

David is the RVYC Event Chair for the Victoria to Maui International Yacht Race, sponsored by the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club and the Lahaina Yacht Club. An active sailor, he has completed three Vic-Maui races, two Maui to Victoria deliveries, two Sydney Hobart races, a Darwin to Ambon race, passages from Hawaii to Australia and from the Cook Islands to Hawaii, four circumnavigations of Vancouver Island, and many coastal races including Southern Straits and Swiftsure. David is a CYA-BC Sailing accredited Safety at Sea instructor.

The Vic-Maui Race
The Victoria to Maui International Yacht Race, first contested in 1968, is the pinnacle of Pacific Northwest ocean racing. The Vic-Maui runs every second year, starting in July from Victoria and finishing near Lahaina, Maui, a distance of approximately 2308 nautical miles. The Vic-Maui race challenges sailors to demonstrate their skills by beating out of the Juan De Fuca Strait, reaching around the Pacific High Pressure zone and running the trades to Hawaii. The adventure begins during the long days of mid-summer and each day of the passage South towards the tropics brings warmer temperatures. Teamwork gets the boats to the finish line near Lahaina, where day or night each arriving boat is greeted with an outstanding Hawaiian welcoming party. New for 2012 is the addition of a cruising division. This seminar will highlight the overall Vic-Maui experience, including preparing the boat & crew. Racers and cruisers are equally welcome.

Jennifer Handley

"Thinking of going offshore? Join Bluewater Cruising Association Vice Commodore Jennifer Handley and skipper Campbell Good as they take you to the South Pacific aboard SV Camdeboo. Learn how the knowledge and experience they gained from the Bluewater Cruising Association community helped prepare their family for this adventure of a lifetime."

Martin Dunsmuir, AScT

Martin has been registered as an Applied Science Technologist in the electronics discipline with the Applied Science Technicians and Technologists of B.C. (ASTTBC) for over 30 years and has held an advanced amateur radio license for over 40 years. He has an extensive background in HF, VHF, UHF, microwave and satellite systems and has experience with Canadian Motorola, Telus, ITT and 10 years with Teleglobe Canada at their west coast satellite earth station near Lake Cowichan. He was a faculty member in the Electronics Engineering Technology program at Camosun College for 14 years, teaching communication systems theory and applications. On retiring from Camosun College in 2001 Martin set up White Squall Consulting Inc. and has combined his love of sailing with his passion for communication systems, providing HF and data communications consultation for off-shore sailors. He lived and worked from his home-built 60 foot ketch for 25 years and only recently moved ashore.

Understanding Installing and Operating HF Marine Radio Transceivers
Do you understand the benefits of an HF SSB radio system for off-shore cruising? What makes up an HF SSB radio system and how does it work? What is the difference between Ham and commercial SSB HF marine radio? How do you choose an HF SSB radio? What are the Canadian HF radio licensing issues? How can an HF SSB radio system be used for emergency communications? What is the best HF Marine Antenna? Is grounding your HF SSB marine radio important? Is there a simple way to troubleshoot an HF SSB radio system? This presentation is specifically designed for the non-technical off-shore cruiser that wishes to have a basic understanding of an HF SSB system and would like to be able to perform basic system troubleshooting if a problem occurs. A recently published 61 page manual with the same title as this seminar and containing the same information in detail will be available at the seminar for $30.00.

E-mail using High Frequency Single Sideband Radio
Are you wishing to cruise off-shore and still keep in touch with your friends and family using e-mail from anywhere in the world? How does a system like this work and how reliable is it? What basic hardware and software do I require to set up this system? Do I require a license to do this? Is this system easy to install and operate? How expensive is this system? Can this system be used for anything other than to send text e-mail? This presentation is designed for the non-technical off-shore cruiser and will answer the above questions in a clear and concise manner. A 65 page manual titled "Installing and Operating SCS Pactor Modems" is now almost out of stock, but a revised second edition is currently very close to completion.

Bill Marshall - Boat Handling Under Power

A veteran fresh water boater and water skier as a younger fellow, Bill Marshall moved to the coast in 1981 and began year-round boating when living half way up Indian Arm for several years. He now charters larger yachts and has Advanced Piloting certification.

"Boat Handling Under Power" will focus on "You don't know what you don't know" - which is why we take boating classes!

Ken Penny - On Board Weather Forecasting

An ex Canadian Air Force Navigator who is knowledgeable in all facets of boating, Ken Penny has been boating for 21 years, 16 years on the salt water and 5 years dingy sailing on fresh waters. Ken has spent 14 years instructing for CPS (five of those teaching weather) and ten years involved in administration.

Adrian Lee - Safety At Sea: Innovations & Human Factors

Adrian Lee, a small boat safety specialist since 1975, is based in Vancouver, Canada.

He has received national recognition in the field of safe boating promotions, in particular for increasing the actual wearing of PFDs by recreational boaters, from the non-profit Canadian Safe Boating Council (CSBC).

His many pertinent qualifications, among them certifications in inshore search and rescue, from both Canadian and American coast guard trainers; experience as an inshore SAR practitioner - as both a professional and as a volunteer on BC's south coast as well as on the CAN-USA border waters of the Great Lakes; and his dozens of years training novice through experienced operators of smaller commercial and recreational watercraft make him a uniquely edu-taining presenter on the topic chosen for this year's V.I. Boat Show, Safety At Sea: Innovations & Human Factors.