Cooper Boating Yacht Charters & Training

One week charter of Bavaria 50. Cooper Boating is a first class operation thanks to the dedication of Genny and Craig in particular. They helped me determine which boat would suit my needs and those of my family; they helped me with my itinerary, parking, provisioning and even laid on an instructor for a day to get me started. When we had a problem with the windless, they responded by phone immediately and we were up and running. Thanks! I will be back.

What a remarkably terrible experience. We rented two boats out of Pender Harbour to explore desolation sound. On day two, our boat fried it's starter and the other one had a macerator fail. There head quickly overflowed into the cabin. They managed to ship in a new starter but that quickly failed as well because it was an underlying electrical problem. We knew the starter had failed because on starting the engine the cabin quickly filled with smoke. The batteries then failed and all of our food went off. 90% of our trip was spent on a motorless barge that lacked any amenities. All of our inquiry about credit or porting this money to a future sailing trip has gone unanswered. We even paid a visit to Cooper's Marina on Granville Island and the employee there was horrified and confused why she had never heard of this. She assured us that the owner would be in touch. Our trip was August 2021. It is now May 2022 and no response.

The Good: Instructor was Les who is a seasoned sailor. He taught some more useful tips like how to be hove to / heave to in case of MOB. Rather than professional sailor figure 8 tacks and jibes that are way too complicated for new sailors. Also, just turn on your motor and go get them! This course is a fun, more expensive, way to get your Pleasure Craft Operator Card. Otherwise just get it online for $50.The Bad: Otherwise super basic course on rinky dink boats. I described my skill level and goals to the person booking and asked which course I should take. They suggested the fun-damentals type crew beginner course. I should have been more patient for an opening at a more serious sailing school.

Just finished a week charter on a Beneteau 343 from Powell River and into Desolation Sound and Cortez, weather was a challenge but we enjoyed our trip despite this, Thanks for the assistance from Sean and Rob from Cooper Boating who helped us get this done and we look forward to a future trip.

Excellent experience on a family charter from Vancouver through the Gulf Islands on In Moderation. Boat was beautiful, staff were charming and helpful - patiently answering all my many many precharter questions. We will definitely use Cooper Boating again for another trip.

We recently completed a charter to Desolation Sound from Vancouver on a 44 foot sail boat. Our experience was mixed. On the positives, the employees on the dock in Vancouver and in Powell River were helpful and tried hard to deliver good service. For example, our boat did not have an anchor bridle (despite my asking about this during checkout). When we called in about this after finding the problem at our first anchorage, the Cooper employee in Powell River was kind enough to make one up and bring it out to us by dinghy as we passed by the harbour on our way north the next morning. Unfortunately there were negatives as well. There were some maintenance issues with the boat of which two were significant. The transmission disengage button in the centre of the throttle lever was missing. It took some time to figure out how to work around this but ultimately we figured out a temporary solution that allowed us to depart. The more significant issue was a fuel problem. Diesel gauges showed full on departure. But I have had problems with fuel gauges on other charters and so made a point of specifically asking during checkout whether the tanks were full. I was assured that they were. We stopped to top up the tanks two days later after running the engine for 12 hours total and the tank took 128 litres (total cost over $200) out of a total capacity of 318 litres even though the gauges hadn’t moved. There is no way we could have used that much diesel over just 12 hours of engine running time. Obviously the gauges were not working and the tanks were not full on departure. I informed Coopers of the problem while we were still out on charter and was told that everything would be looked after to our satisfaction on return. We made sure to refill the tanks on our return. It took about a month and numerous emails to get the money we were owed, which was disappointing. However, in the end, the owner was very apologetic for the delay and it turns out he was the person who rowed out the bridle to us in Powell River.

We rented a sailboat out of Powell River and it was awesome! Great boat and support from Cooper - company was organized and easy to work with. Would rent from them again!

Several major boat systems seriously worn out beyond reason and/or totally unserviceable. Rode splice to chain worn down to less than 1/3 strands (see picture). Headsail furling line worn through sheath and into core. Bow roller seized and worn to axle pin. Electric windlass did not work for more than 10 seconds before blowing circuit breaker on every raise. Systems monitor panel not functional. No way to monitor fuel or water state. Essential safety gear not useable (man overboard marker was permanently lashed to stancheons!). Lifesling UV deterioration so bad it was literally disintegrating. Oven would not remain lit. Electrical systems intermittent (there is a light in the head that remains on, no matter what!). Ditching kit light beacon totally fallen apart with no batteries. No line for secondary anchor.After providing a careful debrief to the dock manager, he assured me the owner / manager would be in touch to discuss the condition of the boat and my dissatisfaction. No call ever received.Workers refuse to put me in contact with the manager or owner of the company to follow up on unsatisfactory boat condition after three attempts by me to contact them.The boat (40’ Beneteau Claire Elise) is offered for charter within 10% of the price of 90% of the rest of Cooper’s fleet, but the condition was totally unacceptable.Heavy wear and tear is expected on a charter boat, but I expect all systems to function, ESPECIALLY SAFETY RELATED GEAR.Mostly because of the companies arrogance and refusal to discuss my dissatisfaction, I would never recommend Cooper Boating to a friend.

Amazing weekend with my girlfriend for my 50th Birthday. We had Les as a skipper and teacher on the Dufour365. We lucked in an the weather and wind was fabulous all weekend. Les took us up Howe Sound to Gibson and anchored in a quiet harbor on Gambier. My girlfriend cooked amazing meals to keep our skipper well fed :). Would recommend Les and the Coopers staff to anyone. Thanks for the great memories!

Excellent charter on a beautiful boat that we were upgraded to. We chartered out of Powell River and had incredible customer service. Highly recommend chartering here in Powell River and Rob was the nicest person to work with!