NORTHWEST BOAT RENTALS AND ADVENTURES

Kitsap Sun:
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Article: Plan Your Own 3-Hour Cruise August 13, 2006
By Kate Rothgeb | This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Poulsbo

With it’s proximity to Seattle, internationally known bread and main street filled with shops playing off its Norwegian heritage, the town of Poulsbo is often a summer tourist hot spot.

For those looking to take advantage the city’s proximity to Liberty Bay — located just off of Poulsbo’s main street — businessman Bill Archer has a suggestion.

Rent one of his 21-foot electric boats for the afternoon.

"There are hundreds of thousands of people out here and there’s no really great entertainment thing. So my hopes were that this would catch on," said Archer of his new business, Northwest Electric Boat Rentals, which he opened in April. Archer, who lives on a boat in the Poulsbo Marina, started the business because he was looking for a way to bring family entertainment to Kitsap County.

The premise of the business is that tourists — or locals — can rent one of Archer’s boats that can seat up to 12 people for an hour, two hours, a half-day or a full day. Or they can be passengers for an evening sunset cruise along the bay.

"It sells itself once you get people on the boats," Archer said, who is a boat captain with Foss Maritime. Currently Archer has two boats for rent, but he hopes to expand his fleet in the future as business increases.

Recent customer Steve Sheridan said after seeing Archer’s advertisement while walking through Poulsbo with relatives from the East Coast, he decided to look into the boat rentals.

"I thought, ‘hey, this would be a cool thing to do,’ " Sheridan said. Later that day, he and his family were out on Liberty Bay. They enjoyed it so much, they decided to do it again, he said. Their second time, the family put the boat’s top down, opened the windows, made use of the boat’s CD player and headed to Agate Pass and Brownsville.

"We just enjoyed the heck out of it; it was a beautiful day," Sheridan said. "The sights (from the water) were fabulous. Mt. Rainier was bright, wide open. It was very exciting."

Boat rentals cost $75 an hour, a price most costumers are not objecting because it can be split between passengers.

North Kitsap Herald:
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Article: Paradise in Poulsbo 26 Jul 2006
By Charles Melton

POULSBO — Tucked neatly behind Garcia's Mexican Restaurant on Front Street, Northwest Electric Boat’s offices don’t generate much excitement to the untrained eye.

However, a quick walk down the dock provides a glimpse of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take the helm of one of two 21-foot boats for a romantic dinner outing to Keyport's Whiskey Creek Steakhouse or even a casual business meeting.

"They're as easy to drive as a golf cart, and people come back with a gleam in their eyes," said Northwest Electric Boat president William Archer.

Archer said he had been considering opening an electric boat rental company for some time, but it wasn't until the office space near the Port of Poulsbo Marina became available that everything came together.

Since Liberty Bay is by and large a protected body of water, there aren’t many issues with currents or rough waters that exist in other parts of the Puget Sound, Archer said.

"The final thing was finding the right office space, and Ken Stickler and the Port of Poulsbo have been very helpful to get us up and running," he said.

After weathering less than ideal conditions from March to June, business has picked up as warm, sunny days have been more conducive to people spending time on the water, he said.

"We've done OK, and we get quite a few four-hour rentals," Archer said, adding that RE-Max Realty and other businesses have begun having functions while touring Liberty Bay.

For those unfamiliar with or unsure of what it's like to cruise in an electric boat, Archer said the only sounds in the boat are those from it moving through the water.

"It's all about an intimate experience on the water with your friends in a quiet atmosphere," he said. "It's about being able to relax."

The boats aren't high-speed vessels, so Archer said he felt they were a safe option to offer the public at a reasonable price.

Unlike gas-powered boats, which consume costly amounts of fuel, generate a lot of noise and pollute the environment, electric boats are quiet, inexpensive to operate and have minimal impact on their surroundings, he said.