Learning in San Diego

[oreke]

Hi All,

A friend and I are interested in taking some sailing courses in San Diego. Specifically Basic Keelboat and Basic/Coastal Cruising certifications. We looked at several options and narrowed it down to these three organizations:

Mission Bay Aquatic Center
Marina Sailing
Harbor Island Yacht Club

Does anyone have any recommendations based on quality of instruction, advantages of one over the other, or just personal experiences?

Thanks.

[rebelheart]

I (and my wife, my brother in law, and a lot of my friends) have used J World in Shelter Island. I'm a big advocate of learning from racers because they squeeze every ounce of performance out of their boats and you learn excellent technique. I never race, but it's like learning how to drive from a race car course; it's light years beyond learning from a "standard" driving school. The curriculum might be the same, but the instructors and expectations are different. My wife took the five day course (you're pretty beat up by Friday), my brother in law took the weekend course, and three of my friends go out once a week for 8 weeks in the evening.

If you're going for cost, Mission Bay Aquatic is hard to beat from what I've seen. If you really want to keep costs down, just rent some dinghies there and self study. But the best (again, just my $0.02) is J-World in Shelter Island.

[rebelheart]

I thought of you when I went out sailing today and made a little video!

Shrinkster.com - Redirect

[Boasun]

If you are Military then you can go to the San Diego Naval Sailing Club over at Coronado Island and learn there.
When I was in the Navy I use to teach there and they have excellent courses for various levels of skills.