Dave King / Yacht Broker
Dave King’s marine career and liveaboard experience make him a helpful yacht broker. Having moved to living aboard twice now, he knows what is important when choosing a boat no matter your purpose. Work with him to make your yacht dreams come true with the right boat for your plans and an ownership program that works for your goals and situation.
Email: dave@catamaranguru.com | PH: 1-253-509-3819
Sailing Career Highlights
- USCG 100T Masters License
- Certified Professional Yacht Broker (CPYB)
- Graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (BS Marine Science) in 1979
- Retired as a Commander following a 20-year career that included 11 years aboard ships
- Commanding Officer of a 95’ patrol boat and a 180’ ocean-going buoy tender, both in Alaska
- MBA from the University of Washington (1991)
- Graduate of Catamaran Guru’s Plonkers Catamaran Academy.
Working with Dave
Dave is a liveaboard catamaran owner himself having been ashore once between stints of living aboard. Owning multiple catamarans and living aboard, in addition to his previous marine career, he knows and loves the sea and understands how to help yacht buyers select a boat that will suit their needs and desires as well as what it takes to take the practical steps necessary to make yachting dreams come true.
He eagerly provides yacht buying guidance, but more importantly, knows how to listen to buyers carefully so he knows what is really important to them.
On a Personal Note
My wife, Peggy, and I had a landlubber’s life prior to living aboard. Like most, we needed a confidence boost to undertake such a lifestyle change. We sought out real world, hands-on experience and found Blue Water Sailing out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A stroke of luck cancelled the Florida class sending us to Marsh Harbour, Bahamas on a 40′ Island Spirit with none other than Stephen and Estelle Cockcroft of Catamaran Guru. As a married couple who knew the sailing and liveaboard ropes well, we were totally immersed in every aspect of sailing and living on board a catamaran. The experience was just what we needed.
We quickly gained an understanding of catamarans that would have taken years and probably many painful and possible risky events to discover on our own. With the confidence of passing “Plonker School”, we soon moved aboard our first catamaran, an FP Venezia, in 2007. We lived aboard and cruised until 2011 when we moved back on land to open a successful brokerage and charter business in the Pacific Northwest. In 2019, we sold the business eager to get back to cruising the east coast and Bahamas in our Lagoon 380, S/V SIMPLICITY. And soon after, joined the ranks of yacht brokerage at Catamaran Guru.
His Testimonials are Amazing
...Ptaks' cross-International registration...
My husband and I were interested in buying a catamaran but didn’t really have an idea about how to approach the task. He found Cat Guru and passed the info on to me. I sent an email requesting info and was soon contacted by Dave King.
We had found a catamaran that we felt suited our needs but it was in St. Maarten. After Dave King talked to us about how Cat Guru worked, he said they had a guy in St. Maarten that he could put us in touch with. That guy was Ian Martin. Dave handed us off to Ian when we decided to look at the cat in St. Maarten.
Our trip to St. Maarten to test sail and survey the boat that we ended up purchasing was nothing short of AMAZING from start to finish. Ian met up with us the day we arrived and took us for a preliminary tour of the boat. Then he was there with us for the test sail and survey. He walked us through the whole process and provided outstanding counsel!
We would not have bought the boat without all the advice and help that Ian obviously enjoyed giving us. He was on our side through the entire process guiding us and making suggestions that were always in our best interest. We don’t know how we would have managed without his expertise. That man KNOWS boats, especially catamarans!
He was in touch back and forth with Dave King, as we had to register the French boat in the US. But Ian’s help didn’t stop with the sale of the catamaran. He was an integral part of helping us get our boat from St. Maarten back to Delaware. Ian helped us find 2 experienced young men that were available to help us sail our new boat home. We could not have been happier with the experience that we had with Catamaran Guru and we would use them again in a heartbeat, but that won’t be for a while because we could not be happier with our new catamaran!
Sharon Ptak
