How a young woman who was encouraged by her father to enter a contest, became a member of the yachting fraternity (sorority?).

Encouraged by her father to enter, Jessika Patrick emerged the winner of the Yacht Solutions Schaefer Yachts contest. It took a little extra luck to get the prize though. Another entrant actually won but sadly, a medical issue forced them to decline the prize. Another entrant’s name was then drawn. This winner also declined, but for a happy reason; they had just bought their own new boat and were busy with that so, a third winner had to be drawn. The third time was the charm for prize winner Jessika Patrick.

Already attracted to boats and the water, she was thrilled to learn that she had won the prize. But the next step was to decide which prize to choose since two were offered. As the contest winner, Jessika could have chosen either the use of the new 2021 Schaefer 303 Express Cruiser for the entire boating season from May to October 2021 as a bareboat charter lease, or the new 2021 Schaefer Yachts 400 Express Cruiser with crew for a series of five monthly outings.

In the end, Jessika chose the crewed Schaefer Yachts 303 and scheduled her first night on the boat for June 24th, a Thursday night that delivered perfect boating weather; a moderate breeze, 24 degrees Celsius and just enough cloud cover to protect that early-season skin from a burn. You couldn't ask for a nicer night to start boating.

Jessika and her best friend explore the Schaefer 303 and relax on the deck sun lounge.

Yacht Solutions has an interesting business model offering various sizes of boats in a time-share format and with the choice of either a professional captain at the helm, or to self-captain and have the yacht to yourself.

Jessika had already gotten her PCOC card, but she was more interested in hosting her friends on board than spending time at the helm herself.

When we arrived with the cameras to capture her first evening on board, she was already all set up with drinks and snacks and even gift bags for her friends to mark the occasion. Her guests were special people too of course; two of her very best friends, her sister and her father.

The Schaeffer 303 was an ideal boat for a summer evening harbour cruise and could have accommodated up to eight people, so her group of five was very comfortable.

Greg Marlo, president of Yacht Solutions was her captain that night and here is what Jessica told us about the experience:

Jessika Patrick poses at the helm of the Schaefer 303, her prize for a summer of boating.

Did you have a fun time hosting your evening cruise? It was a blast! The sites, captain, everything - was just beautiful. Especially in the evening looking over the city views, it was breathtaking!

What sort of reactions did you get from your guests? They couldn't stop taking pictures! Happy smiles and good vibes all around.

Since this was your first trip, we wondered if you decided to take the helm for a bit? I actually didn’t — I was enjoying the cruise with friends. It’s been a long 12 months without seeing them. So, the boat definitely brought us together and I didn’t want to take away from the moment! Next time for sure!

Tell us what your favourite feature was on the Schaefer 303? The state-of-the-art wood finishing was by far my favourite. It’s all in the details for me.

What are you looking forward to the most this summer, now that you have your Yacht Solutions prize? Reconnecting with friends and family. Enjoying the simple summer moments together on the boat.

Any other comments? The captain took us on the most amazing tour — all the sites, island areas were perfect. Couldn’t have asked for a better tour around the city.

See a full Canadian Yachting magazine review of the Schaeffer 303 on page ____ of this issue. Email Yacht Solutions at https://theyachtsolution.com/