We are Passionate About Teaching Boaters.
Our Instructors
Education is in Our Blood
Our instructors are some of the leading experts in their fields. Bringing years of first-hand experience and knowledge.
Mark Bunzel
Michael Beemer
Kevin Monahan
Kevin has spent most of his career on the British Columbia coast, first as a fisherman, then as a Canadian Coast Guard patrol boat skipper, and later as the Pacific Region Manager of the Coast Guard’s Office of Boating Safety. Kevin recently retired from Transport Canada national HQ in Ottawa where he worked on marine regulation and safety issues.
Kevin is the author of The Radar Book GPS-Instant Navigation and Local Knowledge-A Skipper’s Reference. His books and presentations have helped boaters get the most out of their boats and their equipment so they can manage their boat confidently and enjoy the cruising experience.
ARTHUR HEBERT
Arthur Hebert is a 28 year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard. He served on a wide variety of the Coast Guard ships and participated in many Search and Rescue missions. He holds a 100 ton Master Inland License and is an ABYC Master Tech. He is a part-time instructor at Skagit Valley College Marine Trades program and during the summer you can find him on his 30 ft Fisher motorsailer or working as a checkout skipper for NW Explorations.
Jen Haaland
Leonard and Lorena Landon
MATT MARDESICH
Matt Mardesich is the primary propulsion instructor at Skagit Valley College. Matt has been around the water all his life and still does some commercial fishing when not teaching at the technical school. Matt is an ABYC certified Master Technician and holds certifications in Gasoline/Diesel engines and electrical. Some of the many topics he has done include diesel engines, gasoline engines, outboard motors, and hydraulics.
Captain Linda Lewis
Margaret Pommert
LEE CHESNEAU
Lee is a highly experienced professional meteorologist on land & at sea (with over 70,000 miles under his keel), a retired naval officer, author, & dynamic instructor and lecturer. He has a distinguished 40-year career, during which he received a number of awards and recognition. Lee’s career includes service with the U.S. Navy, the National Weather Service (NWS), & the private sector, specializing in maritime weather forecasting & ship routing. Lee is also the author of the book, Heavy Weather Avoidance, and has written numerous magazine articles. He is a speaker at a number of Safety at Sea Seminar Symposiums (SASS), marine trade, & boat shows. As a certified approved U.S. Coast Guard instructor for five maritime schools teaching Standards Training Certification, and Watch-Standing for Seafarers (STCW) for Basic and Advanced Meteorology. Lee is dedicated to educating and training every seagoing mariner on self-reliance for their own marine weather & forecasting, strategic routing, emphasizing prudent, independent decision making.
Andy Schwenk
Woody Wentworth
Jeff Paxson
Nigel Calder
Was into motorcycles and sailing dinghies as a teenager, and has never been far from mechanical things and boats ever since. In a varied career, before becoming a full-time sailing writer he worked on an automotive assembly line, in a foundry and machine shop, and on offshore oil production platforms. He and his wife, Terrie, built a couple of 70-foot canal boats (on which they lived aboard in Oxford), and a 39-foot Ingrid cutter. They then sailed a Pacific Seacraft 40 for 5 years, following which they had a Malo 45 built in Sweden. This was replaced by the same boat but with custom experimental electrical and propulsion systems. It was used by the European Union HYbrid MARine (HYMAR) project, of which Nigel was the Technical Director, for extensive testing of hybrid propulsion systems. Nigel is a member of the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) Electrical Project Technical Committee. Nigel and Terrie have sailed in the North Sea, Scotland and points further north, the US east coast and Bahamas, and extensively in the Caribbean, with Pippin (now aged 28) and Paul (27) augmenting the crew along the way. Nigel is best known for his book Boatowner’s Mechanical and Electrical Manual, and his book Marine Diesel Engines, both in their third editions, and both considered the definitive works in their field and a must-have on every cruising vessel. In addition to over 200 magazine articles, he has also authored a ‘Cruising Guide to the Northwest Caribbean’, ‘Cuba: A Cruising Guide’, ‘Nigel Calder’s Cruising Handbook’, and How to Read a Nautical Chart.
Magazines Contributed to: Blue Water Sailing, Yachting World (UK), Australian Yachting, Cruising World, Cruising Helmsman (Australia), 48 North, Latitude 38, SAIL, Sailing, Yachting, Ocean Navigator and Practical Sailor.
Books Authored: The Essential Galley Companion (Amanda), Log of the Mahina, Mahina Tiare, Pacific Passages (John), Offshore Cruising Companion, Offshore Expedition Companion, Storm Survival Tactics (John and Amanda), Selecting and Purchasing an Ocean Cruising Sailboat (John).
Books Contributed to: World Voyage Planner, World Cruising Survey by Jimmy Cornell, The Annapolis Book of Seamanship, fourth edition, by John Rousmaniere, Surviving the Storm by Steve Dashew, NOAA-PVS Safety Manual, Voyager’s Handbook by Beth A. Leonard, Sharks of Tropical and Temperate Seas, R.H. Johnson, Fifty Places to Sail Before You Die by Chris Santella.
Videography: Heavy Weather Sailing (1981) (contributor), Sailing to Cape Horn (1995), Sailing to Antarctica (1996).
Areas of Experience: Caribbean, Mexico, Atlantic including Azores, Canaries, and Madeira, Patagonia (Chile and Argentina), Cape Horn (six roundings), Antarctica to edge of ice pack, Brazil, Uruguay, Pacific including Galapagos, Panama, Juan Fernandez, Cocos, Clipperton, Easter, Pitcairn, French Polynesia, Cooks, Niue, Samoa, Tonga, Wallis, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Alaska, British Columbia. Europe including the Med including Balaerics and Malta, Ireland, England, Scotland, Orkney, Shetland, Norway, Spitsbergen to edge of ice pack, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Germany, Spain, and Portugal.