Dave is a live-aboard here in Annapolis who has been involved with boating, whether power or sail, for over 40 years. He has cruised and sailed from New England to Florida and throughout the Caribbean. Dave has lived near the Chesapeake Bay most of his life and has restored several wood and fiberglass boats. He enjoys offshore sailing and scuba diving in his spare time.

After a long sales, marketing and management career, Dave decided it was time for a lifestyle change. He moved aboard in the spring of 2004 and began a new career in yacht brokering. In May of 2005 he joined the team at Crusader Yacht Sales.

Dave works very hard and applies his live-aboard and cruising knowledge to make each and every one of his customers’ boat buying or selling experience a pleasant and educational one.

Dave is an active member of the Yacht Brokers Association of America, a national trade organization which advocates high ethical standards and professionalism within the industry. He is a CPYB, Certified Professional Yacht Broker.

Testimonials

“Sheila and I thank you for all that you did on the sale of our 2003 Pacific Seacraft “Ondee”. Your market advice was right on target. The listing presented our boat well and the resulting sale happened faster than we expected. We very much appreciate the way you managed the sale, including taking care of the items that needed to be addressed to make sure the boat was in first class condition for the new owner.” - Tuck Colby

“I recently purchased a 1993 Pacific Seacraft 34 through your brokerage, with the helpful assistance of Dave van den Arend. I wanted to let you know what a pleasure it was to work with Dave, and how much his candor, integrity and knowledge helped me. I have been planning this purchase for over thirty years of saving, dreaming and studying. I had narrowed my search down to Pacific Seacraft – but knew nothing about buying a boat.

From the moment we met, Dave impressed me as an unusual man. He took time – first – to ask about and really listen to what I wanted and needed in a boat. He offered extremely valuable advice – but never tried to steer me to what he preferred over what I prefer. Dave went the extra mile from day one – obviously working very hard on my behalf. He could not have taken better care of me, even though my work schedule makes it hard to contact me at most times. Dave became a trusted source of information and counsel, and a new friend. I can’t imagine having a better experience with a broker, anywhere at any time.

You can rest assured that Crusader will remain my preferred broker, and you will enjoy my strongest recommendation with my friends who are interested in buying boats.

I just thought you would like to know – you have a winner in Dave van den Arend. Thanks for your time.” - David R Lloyd

“I recently purchased a 33′ foot Pearson sailboat through Crusader Yacht Sales and Dave van den Arend was my salesperson. He was very knowledgeable and effective. Hence, the sale went through quickly and easily. I am very pleased with the boat and Dave’s ability.” - David Walls

“Dave van den Arend did an excellent job finding a boat for my wife and me. He listened carefully as each of us described what we wanted in a boat, and amalgamating those two disjoint sets of criteria, he steered us away from boats with which only one or the other of us would have been happy. When we settled on an Orion 27 with the dinette arrangement as an ideal type he located boats and arranged visits. His handling of the final sale was professional and transparent. He handled all the details, including arranging for a surveyor in a city distant from us and took all the anxiety out of the process. I heartily recommend Dave to anyone looking for help in finding that perfect Pacific Seacraft or similar boat.” - Patrick Gould

“When I decided to sell my Whitby 42, the best decision I made was to deal with Crusader Yachts. I got excellent advice from Rod Rowan and once the boat was listed I had a buyer within a month. Dave van den Arend, the buyer’s representative was equally professional and the entire experience far exceeded my expectation. It was actually fun! The new owner and I are becoming friends-a tribute to the professionals at Crusader Yachts.” - Tom Schwark

“It’s often said that some of the happiest days of a sailors life occur when he or she sells or buys their boat. The excitiment and/or frustration of buying or selling can sometimes be overwhelming. In my case Dave handled both, for my wife and I, at the same time. We were anxious to sell our smaller boat and move onto a larger one and still get fair prices in each transaction. Dave’s advice and expertise was almost invaluable and helped with making the process as hassle free as possible. It added to the relief of selling our old boat and the enjoyment of finding and buying our new one.” - Bob & Beverly Skalkowski

“We purchased our beautiful cruising sailboat with the help of Dave van den Arend at Crusader Yachts. His professionalism, knowledge of the boating industry, friendlessness and willingness to accommodate us was exceptional. We were from Pittsburgh and our time in the Annapolis area was always limited. Dave was great with taking care of things for us during the sale when it was tough for us to be there. Our boat was to be our liveaboard sailboat for sailing to the Bahamas, Caribbean etc. We had and idea of what we were looking for, however, before we met Dave, we were not having much luck finding anything within our price range. With his help we found a boat we never thought to look at & the perfect one for us. We really appreciated all that he did to help us find our “dream” boat at the right price.” - Dave Krewin & Margi Floss / s/v Wayward Sun

“The perfect sailboat, broker, and brokerage, are words that best describe my recent purchase of a Pacific Seacraft from broker, Dave van den Arend at Crusader Yacht Sales. Dave was a pleasure to work with during my purchase. I must commend his courteous, professional and friendly manner, immediate response to my many questions and attention to all of my concerns. The Survey was scheduled at my convenience with the Seller present to answer questions and relate to me his personal knowledge and years of experience with this sailboat. After the sale, since I was not familiar with Annapolis, Dave helped me to find a pet friendly marina, and provided me a list of individual candidates to perform various work related items needed on my sailboat.” - District Judge Joan Snyder