Our Story: Building Skippers on the British Columbia Coast
Voyage Makers Coastal Adventures is a boutique boating school and coastal experience company based in British Columbia. We help boaters, travellers and the coastal curious experience the best of coastal British Columbia and build real confidence on the water through practical boat training, skipper development and curated B.C. adventures.
From Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands to the Sunshine Coast, Desolation Sound, the Broughtons, and the wider Pacific Northwest, our work connects people to the skills, judgment, food, culture and places that define this coast.
The Water Finds You
The first time I stepped aboard a sailboat, something I hadn’t planned for happened.
The motor turned off, the wind filled the sails and everything that had been running in the background — stopped.
I was quiet. That moment changed me. And it began the journey that is now Voyage Makers.
Once the water had my attention, I couldn’t give it back.
I started meeting skippers who crossed oceans, raced, explored remote anchorages and circumnavigated Vancouver Island. These were people who had tested themselves and knew what they were made of. I wanted some of that.
So I studied, practiced, bought boats, sailed through the night and stood at the wheel in the driving rain. I logged miles. I stayed uncomfortable long enough for the discomfort to become competence, then confidence, then a deep passion for helping others who, like me, find their way to the water and find more.
Once I fell in love with British, I couldn’t keep it to myself.
— Tracy Sarich, Founder
The Coast. The Food. The Place.
This coast has a generosity to it: in its beauty, its people, its food and its waters. We aim to open the door to this place in a way that most visitors only glimpse from the highway or the ferry deck. We want to show you what it looks like from the water, from the dock and from the table of someone who has been growing food here and fishing these waters.
The food, like the waters here, is inseparable from the place.
Port to Palate™ is how we share it.
What We're Here For
We’re here to know our corner of the world deeply – and to help others experience it with more confidence, connection and care.
Voyage Makers education programs take you where you want to go, on boats and in life. We connect people to the cruising lifestyle through practical training, culinary adventures and curated coastal guidance that introduces our clients to the food, producers, waters and culture of this extraordinary coast. Education, adventure and coastal culture – all three, always, in everything we do.
We are boutique by design to maintain our personal touch. We are regional by intention, because the depth of what we offer comes from knowing this coast intimately.
We don’t just teach skills. We build skippers and design the experiences that shape them.
What Voyage Makers Offers
Voyage Makers brings together boating education, skipper development and curated coastal experiences across British Columbia.
Our boater education programs includes skills training and certifications at all levels of experience. We do not assume confidence. We build it.
We start with judgment, communication, preparation and calm decision-making – because the real test of boating is rarely whether you know the vocabulary. It is whether you can think clearly when wind, current, crew, traffic, weather and pressure all show up at the same time.
We understand what it means to come to boating as an adult. To invest real money and time to pursue a dream and take a calculated risk. You deserve an instructor who understands that completely.
Whether you are new to boating, preparing to skipper your own vessel, returning to the water after time away or looking for a more meaningful way to experience the coast, Voyage Makers helps you build the judgment, confidence and calm command to go further.
We start where you are and take you further.
