Tampa Bay Sailing: NoShooz Catamaran Rides

Want to see Tampa's downtown skyline from the waterfront? Curious to see the waterside fronts of multimillion-dollar homes on Harbour Island and Davis Islands? Love the gentle splash of seaspray while keeping on eye on seabirds soaring overhead? How about doing it all at sunset?

Tampa Bay Sailing Tours offers what other water vessels around downtown Tampa can't, a more private sailing experience for a maximum of six guests aboard NoShooz, a 36-foot Catamaran.

Guests can enjoy sunsets, dolphin encounters, food and drinks. "There are certainly other vessels out of the downtown area that take 30-50 people out to look at the dolphins, but we are running a small, more intimate practice," says Josh Dohring, owner of Tampa Bay Sailing Tours. "Each sail includes a captain and a mate who serves great food and drinks."

Dohring says that the sailing experience is great for tourists; however, locals and particularly executives or business owners looking for a different way to entertain clients would enjoy the sail as well. "For local business owners, the sailing experience is another option for entertaining clients, an alternative to a golf outing."

Dohring, who also runs a commercial real estate brokerage, says he hopes the sailing tours will help draw people to downtown Tampa. "I want to see downtown thrive, and people taking advantage of the waterfront, making it a place that people want to come and stay," Dohring says.

As part of that desire to keep downtown neighborhoods and businesses thriving, Dohring says he uses local independent restaurants to cater the food on board. "When you go out on a sunset sail, you are getting food from a place like Sono Café or one of the other great restaurants downtown."

Tampa Bay Sailing Tours launched in early February, and Dohring says the response from the business community has been very positive thus far.

Writer: Kimberly Patterson
Source: Josh Dohring, Tampa Bay Sailing