Options for learning to sail
Once Mark and I decided that
we wanted to learn to sail, we started looking at our
options. There are hundreds of
sailing schools
across the country that provide ASA (American Sailing Association)
certified classes. Raw beginners like us would need to complete
two or three weekend courses or a full week course, for a total cost of
around $1,500 apiece, to be ready to charter
a bareboat.
However, I've read that
even if you work your way through all of these
courses, bareboat companies will require you to pay for a skipper if
you can't prove that you've been in control of a similar boat entirely
on your own before. They're less interested in your credentials
and more interested in ensuring that you don't wreck their expensive
sailboat.
After learning that, we
moved on to plan B --- skip the schooling and
learn hands-on. First, we bought the usual textbook (Sailing
Fundamentals)
so that we could study on our own rather than paying someone to teach
us the same information. Then we reserved a 26 foot Hunter with
instructor for $600 --- half of what the two of us would pay for the
first weekend course. (Yes, that is "our" boat at the top of the
page.) In just a week, we'll know if
sailing is really as much fun as it looks!
Want
to be notified when new comments are posted on this page? Click on the
RSS button after you add a comment to subscribe to the comment feed.
