Learning to sail in Chicago

[scratchhdcp]

I have just moved to Chicago and am excited to learn how to sail. I sailed when i was young on a sunfish and loved it. Now I am a little bit older and want to take some real sailing lessons. I have looked up some places to get lessons in Chicago and was wondering if anyone had any thoughts or experiences. I want to do basic lessons on a keelboat this year so I can rent boats for the rest of the summer and then eventually get my own in a few years. I am trying to figure out if I should go with ASA or US. Any thoughts and help would be greatly appreciated

[imagine2frolic]

I believe they are comparable, but ASA being larger......i2f

[sailortjk1]

Give these guys a call. Welcome to 3rd Coast Cruising
Tell Captain Jim that the s/v Julianna says "Hello"

[slokaj]

We had good luck with Sea Safaris (they're on the ASA website, if not, you may be able to reach them through Larson Marine). We took the ASA101 Basic Keelboat on Bang's Lake in Wauconda (17ft keelboat) and ASA103 Coastal Cruising on Lake Michigan out of Waukegan (28ft keelboat). The owner has recently taken on a partner and I think expanded their locations. Their prices were really reasonable compared to some of the downtown schools.

[scratchhdcp]

Thanks a lot for all of your comments. I'll take a look at all of you suggestions and let you know what I think. Thanks again

[RogerD]

I am taking the Fairwind course, and I went out once so far with 3rd Coast Cruising. If you're not worried about ASA certification, I think 3rd Coast may be the way to go. They're certainly a friendly bunch! I started a different thread to post about my experiences learning to sail this summer, so you can always look there for more info.

[sailtimeci]

SailTime has an ASA school in two locations in Chicago. You do not have to be a member to take lessons.