First the link to the school.
San Diego Sailing Academy
Second the question.
Anyone have experience with this school? If so, good, bad, indifferent.
I'm looking at taking a 7 day course perhaps around late Feb. time frame.
The course will be a basic keelboat, basic coastal cruising and a basic bareboat chartering course.
Goals are pretty simple...
Get a couple of basic courses under our belts, ON the OCEAN (rather than in lakes in Colorado) and find out a couple of things... 1) can we do this and handle a boat -I'm sure we can, but experience at doing it is always better than guessing.... and 2) get the certifications in case we decide in the future only to charter a boat, rather than buy one.
Honestly, at this point, I'm MORE than ready to learn as much as I can, and get my behind on as many boats as possible as quickly as I can. Time's a wastin' as they say.
So - if you guys have any clues to hand me, please pass 'em my way.
Here's a blurb from their site (And NOTE I spoke to a very NICE guy today who was VERY helpful and informative... that has NOT been the case with the other four schools I've called so far. This guy stayed on the phone with me, even though he was on the docks, by the boats and didn't rush me off the phone... that right there was class A customer service to me....)
Quote:
The 7-day combination package 101/103/104 Basic Keelboat/Coastal
Cruising/Bareboat Chartering Certification is our most popular program.
A typical day might begin sailing a 15 mile close reach in the ocean
from San Diego Bay to Mission Bay, or you may set sail for South San
Diego Bay where a variety of destinations including Glorrietta Bay are
located. You will learn new skills like piloting and sailing a yacht
using the chart, the buoys, and the hand-bearing compass. You'll get
practice at steering in waves and gybing in the ocean. Heaving to,
reefing, man overboard recovery, docking under sail and power, and
anchoring are all taught in this class. Students will practice planning
a sailing trip on the spot with various wind and tide conditions, and
pick the best locations for the day. Late in the afternoon, students
will dock and the instructor departs the boat.
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