Overnight Sailboat Adventure in Monterey Ca

My wife and I spent an eventful overnight trip in Monterey Ca for our 4 year anniversary. Aside from a sleepless night aboard a 30 foot sailboat it was a fun trip. We witnessed a couple Deer wandering the streets, a seal that was ringing the dinner bell in hopes for a free meal, I did some free diving, went shopping and we stayed overnight in a 30 foot sailboat.

My wife is aware of my fascination with sailboats and decided to schedule an overnight stay on a sailboat. She was unable to find a catamaran so she settled for a 30 foot monohull. I thought it would be interesting too so I encouraged her to make the reservation even though I knew very little about what to expect. Unfortunately neither of us knew exactly what we were in store for. Had we known, we wouldn’t have done it, at least not on this boat under the circumstances of which I will explain.

Knowing Monterey I expected to hear some seals making noise, and maybe a fog horn and some other harbor noises, but I didn’t expect to be kept awake most of the night. As you enter the main cabin area there was at 1st a subtle odor, but after 15 minutes of it I felt a little nauseous. Perhaps it was the combination of the sway of the boat and the really bad 4 pack of Woodbridge Chardonnay that my wife picked out. The bathroom required a man to arch his back, or sit down to go to the bathroom. The smell in the bathroom was worse then the fuel smell in the main cabin. The Candle provided just didn’t do the trick.

You could barely stand up in the aft cabin and I had to sit and spin to get into bed. I almost knocked my wife out in the process. I realize some of this is par for the course in a small older sailboat, but for 99.00 a night we expected a lot more. Check in was at 8:30PM and checkout was at 10AM. We were out before 8AM since there was no coffee pot. There was no TV or music. You weren’t allowed to use the shower. The place appeared to be lived in and was in disarray. The seat and bed cushions looked as if it has never been replaced or cleaned. A sheet was covering the bed and another sheet was there to sleep under, topped with an unzipped sleeping bag. I was either too cold or too hot all night.

We slept in the aft berth. My left ear was a few inches from the Starboard hull. Just outside of the hull there was three bumpers. There was a fairly significant surge in the harbor and the noise put out by the squeaking bumpers was almost unbearable. If they could turn the craft around it may have been an improvement. Needless to say we didn’t sleep well.

My wife found the overnight sailboat offering on the Monterey Bay Sailing website. Here is the link to the overnight offering. http://www.montereysailing.com/overnight.html Although I am sure the day sailing is fine the 99.00 we spent was a rip off.

Here is a quote from the Monterey Cruises page “Boat Overnights are romantic and the sleep that falls over you as our vessel gently rocks in her berth is the most restful you will ever have and less expensive than most hotels”. This statement could not be further from the truth. My goal here is not to bash someone’s business, but I feel others should be warned. If you are interested in spending a night in Monterey on a boat don’t do it through the Monterey Bay Sailing company.


Boat Name: Pegasus
Boat Manufacturer: Celestial
Length: 30ft