OUR BENETEAU "OCEANUS 351" - DESIGN & FEATURES
Ibis is a modern and fully equiped ocean cruiser. Her self- furling main and jib (with all sheets leading back to the cockpit) make her fun and easy to sail. Her navigational aids include auto helm steering, radar, chart plotter and DSC radio. She sleeps 4 in two separate state rooms. Another three persons can be accomodated in the double and single berth located in the spacious salon.
Creature comforts include a dodger to protect from wind and spray. Her French designer has introduced a variety of features which make for an extemely spacious and comfortable boat for her size. For example, her large cockpit has a table with built-in ice chest. There are many windows, and sky lights, all with shades.Ibis's walk-through stern features a swim platform which is especially useful for launching our inflatable, for swimming, diving, and for retrieiving crab traps.. There is even a sky chair on board for the adventurous!
The inflatable with outboard accompanies this vessel on day and overnight trips. If desired, kayaks or a wind surfer can be taken along as well
LAYOUT & SPECIFICS
Accommodation: Berths: double in fwd cabin-double, in aft cabin, double and single in dinette, Head: 1
Hull: L.W.L:35 Beam: 12' 6" : 5',
Displacement: 12,500 lbs,
Ballast: 3,740 ("wing" keel).
Sails: self -furling (in-mast) main and self- furling genoa, assymetrcal spinnaker (with all sheets leading to the cockpit).
Engine: Yanmar 30 H.P
Propeller: 3 Blade Maxi prop.
Steering wheel & emergncy tiller,
Electrical: Batteries include 1 dedicated for engine, 2 sets for House (110V Wiring), Battery Charger, Water Heater, Bilge Pumps: 1 electric and 1 manual, Inverter, portable Honda generator
Windlass: electric, 2 Anchors (15 kg. Bruce & Danforth), Ground Tackle: 300 feet 3/8" chainon the Bruce and 250 ' of 5/8 inch nylon on the Danforth.
Navigation: Depth Sounder, Knot Meter, Wind Sp. Ind, GPS/Radar, Autopilot (with remote), VHF Radio (DSC), .
Galley Equipment: Stove/Oven: 3 Burner, propane (gimballed), Hot Water, Pressure Water, Refridgeration.
Cabin Heat: diesel forced air furnace,
Storage Tanks: Fuel: 26.4 gal, Water: 106 gal., Holding Tank 20 gal.
Extras: Dodger, 9' Inflatable, Outboard: 4 h.p., propane, BBQ, perch cockpit seats, AM/FM/CD. stereo, cockpit table, 2 showers (one in head and one off the swim grid.
Blackfish Sailing Adventures is owned and operated by Al Lubkowski. As principal Skipper, Al teaches both the "Introduction to Sail" and the CYA "Basic Cruising Standard". .
Al's background is regional and resource planning., having worked in parks and town plannning on a wide variety of jobs across Canada, including such beautiful places as the Arctic and Nova Scotia. These only served to whet his appetite for more adventure; resulting in his running away from home, country and career to the Caribbean in a sail boat that he built to do more exploring.
Al's sailing experience is now extensive and spans over 35 years: his "blue-water" experience includes sailing on both east and west coasts of North America, the Bahamas, and along the coasts of Belize and Australia (both as skipper on his own boat and as crew). In the late 1980's Al conducted sailing and jungle exploration tours in Belize with his company, Caribbean Expeditions.
Since 1991 however, Al has restricted his marine activities to Victoria and the waters around Vancouver island, first as a kayak guide with his company, Blackfish Wilderness Expeditions, and now as a Sailing Instructor with his present company Blackfish Sailng Adventures. As a consequence, Al has become very familiar with the the cruising possibilities around Vancouver Island, especially, the Gulf Islands.
The sailing programs and charters Al offers reflect not only his life-long love for adventure and exploration, but Al's desire to share this knowledge and experience with others. Being the naturalist and story teller that he is, Al will certainly add to your experience aboard the Ibis.
David Almond, Al's associate is a former RYA Yachtmaster Instructor from the UK, where he taught sailing and offshore racing at three of Britain’s principal sailing schools. Now settled in British Columbia for more than 20 years, Dave is now an ISPA cruising instructor.
David's sailing and racing experience in Britain is extensive and notable: including membership in the Royal Ocean Racing Club, and skippering Barclay Bank’s racing yacht. He is proud for taking numerous sailing students on their first crossing of the notorious and busy English Channel.
His love of racing continues, having raced in and trained crew for the Round Vancouver Island Race. His first love however is sailing the waters of Georgia and Juan de Fuca Straits, where he is able to indulge his other passion of bird watching.
In some 30-odd years of teaching sailing, David has lost count of the many people to whom he has introduced the joys of his favourite pastime. As a life-long wildlife enthusiast, David is extremely knowledgeable about the marine mammals and birds that accompany us on our sailing adventures from Oak Bay Marina, and Victoria harbour. In short, David is both a knowledgeable and fun guy to be with, and a valuable asset to our Blackfish operations
Philosophy: Blackfish is a long-standing member of Tourism Victoria. We are 
also proud members of Earth Foot, a society dedicated to low-impact eco-tourism - sail and tour operations which are owner-operated and respectfull of our wonderful and fragile marine environment.
VESSELS: Our primary vessel is a 35 foot Beneteau cruising sloop called the "Ibis". Our secondary vessel is a 42 foot Catalina called the Candida. Both vessels as you can see from the descriptions provided are modern and comfortable, and feature the full range of equipment for safe passage and instruction. The walk-through transom on both vessels is a convenient feature for the coastal cruising we do. When conducting our flotilla sails we have access to as many as four other sail boats of similar size and training potential.
