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Charter business promises glimpses of Pasco's beauty and stress relief

 
Capt. Wendy Longman and her husband and business partner, Capt. Bruce Longman, have dozens of rentable assets for customers to charter or take out on their own.
Capt. Wendy Longman and her husband and business partner, Capt. Bruce Longman, have dozens of rentable assets for customers to charter or take out on their own.
Published March 11, 2015

NEW PORT RICHEY — On Anclote Key in 2002, Wendy Longman and her husband met a retired aerospace engineer from San Diego. He had a goal: to charter sailboats as a business.

"You know how to sail; we know how to market," Longman, 46, said she told him.

Her husband, Bruce Longman, worked in marketing, so the couple helped him start Windsong Sailing and Fishing Charters.

But "the 2004 hurricanes weren't nice to him," Longman said, and he also was going through a divorce.

"He was going to go back to San Diego and just let Windsong go," Longman said. "Baloney. We worked our tails off."

So with the original owner's blessing, Longman took over the business. For her, owning a boating business made sense.

"Saltwater is in my veins," she said.

She grew up inland, in Binghamton, N.Y.

"As soon as I could get out of there, I moved to the coast," she said.

She bought her first boat at 18.

"I love the water. It's fluid, it's moving, it's changing, it's full of life."

Her business would be, too.

It started with a 30-foot sailboat she used to take patrons to parts of Pasco they didn't know existed. By 2008, she had three sailboats and a customer who asked an important question: "Can I get married on one?"

So Longman added weddings on boats and beaches to the business. She also added ash scatterings at sea, and engagements.

"We have a 100 percent 'yes' rate," Longman said.

People may charter a sailboat for a half day or an entire day, with or without a personal chef for an island beach barbecue.

"The sailboats come with a captain," Longman said. "If you want to get behind the helm, the captain will absolutely let you."

Patrons may also rent boats to take out on their own.

That includes pontoon boats, kayaks and paddle boards. The business also offers tours on personal watercraft.

"We're really going to focus on the eco side of Pasco," Longman said.

On personal watercraft tours or charters, customers can see "the mangroves, private beaches on spoil islands, the glorious beauty of Pasco County," she said. "We can't guarantee they'll see dolphins, because the dolphins don't give us their schedule."

But, she added, odds are good.

And, she said, there is a good reason to charter or rent a boat from Windsong, whether for recreational or fishing purposes.

"Watching the waves, or being on a boat that's floating, does something for you," she said. "It's the best stress relief in the world."