One Week Courses

[trent.hackett]

Good day!

I am seeking insight on week-long sailing lessons and certification.

I have been researching courses and have found one--Fair Wind Sailing--that offers a week-long, live-aboard 'Instant Bareboater Sailing Lessons' at a reasonable price.

If anybody has taken this course, knows about this course, has positive/negative things to say about this course or courses similar, please chime in.

I am seeking to learn as much as I can in a short(er) amount of time due to work travel. My career allows me ample time off, but when I am working, I am away and traveling for extended periods of time.

As a single male, I have goals of living full-time on a small craft and sailing when I am 'home' from work travels.

Any suggestions, thoughts, motivations, or insights will be much appreciated!

Cheers!

[jackdale]

Do not know them personally.

There is a review site for sailing schools, I am not sure of its reliability.

Learn To Sail - Sailing School Reviewer Has Reviews of Sailing Schools

What matters most is the quality of the instructor.

[DRFerron]

I have heard good things about the ASA week-long courses in the Caribbean. A couple I know took one and had a blast. They said it was instruction for half a day, then sailing, then study time at night. All while island hopping, of course.

If you have a week anyway, I'd consider going to the islands for the course.

[trent.hackett]

Awesome!

Keep the info rolling! This is great.

[johnnyquest37]

Not trying to talk you out of doing the week long course, just pointing out a downside. The one week courses are good, but I do have an issue with "zero to 60" courses in general, even though I have taught them myself. For ASA, combining the first two levels (101 and 103) works pretty well, but to truly get the most out of the next level (104), I believe one should spend some time doing simple day sails, etc. before moving up. In other words, let the 103 training sink in a bit before tackling the 104 course. If you already have some experience, this doesn't apply.

[dgasmd]

I had zero to little experience. I took a week long ASA course (101, 103, and 104) in a school in Ft. Lauderdale. I feel I was extremely lucky in that the instructor I had was a wealth of knowledge, a captain and owner of a busy delivery company, and extremely experienced. That is not to mention he was an extremely nice guy. The course was very well laid out, but instead of learning a, b, and c in that order only, he covered the material over the entire week despite doing the tests in the way the ASA required. Other than more and harder winds, I couldn't have asked for more.

At the end of the course, I felt confident and comfortable enough to charter a boat myself. Of course, these courses teach enough to be dangerous LOL............. You still need experience, which comes from hrs on the water. No substitute for that, but I don't think any school says there is.

[-OvO-]

I'm not sure how important this is, but the FairWind school appears to have been blackballed by the ASA, and has cooked up their own "certifying organisation" calling it ICSO. As far as I can tell, they're the only member.

My sense is that this doesn't really matter all that much, but if you want to take further ASA courses, you'll probably have to "challenge" the prerequisites by retaking those tests and paying a fee.

I met some people who took an ASA liveaboard course through Bluewater (?) Sailing School out of Ft Lauderdale and St Thomas, and they were pleased with it.

[DINKS14]

My husband & I took the Blue Water Sailing School weeklong live aboard ASA 101,103, 104 & now have our bareboat certs. We could not be more pleased with our experience. Phenomenal instructor, Capt. Jennifer, with a lifetime of experience & a wonderfully patient demeanor. We had experience growing up sailing dinghys & smaller boats but hadn't done much in recent years or in bigger boats. After our week we are so much more confident not only in our sailing capabilities but in our understanding of the boats systems. You go through everything on the boat - the engine, the marine head system, the LPG stove, the cooling system. You learn maintenance tips & safety precautions. All the while you're sailing every afternoon, learning to anchor in the evening, cooking aboard, living aboard. We did our course out of Newport, RI because it was local to us & it was great because we practiced docking in busy Newport Harbor, sailed to Block Island in pea soup fog, anchored under sail when the engine failed. Invaluable experience. Highly, highly recommend blue water sailing School ESP With Capt. Jen.

[wingNwing]

Did a 1-week, liveaboard/learn to sail course in the Carib with no prior experience. As Dinks said, it included systems as well as sailing. The instructor was awesome; I'd refer you but he's now retired. But yes, it was "dangerous" as 6 months later we felt we knew enough to buy our first boat, and about 4 years after that we sold our house and moved aboard fulltime. One of our friends is an instructor with Maryland School of Sailing; Chesapeake, Caribbean, Atlantic Ocean, Bermuda which offers similar courses in both Chesapeake Bay and Virgin Islands.

[trent.hackett]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!