Reputable and Challenging Sailing School/Courses in Caribbean

[kev_rm]

Looking for companies who do something beyond the resort course type sailing, in the Caribbean. Have ASA101 and a little bit of sailing experience beyond that, plus a ton of powerboat experience.

Thanks in advance for your recommendations.

[Journeys End]

We did Offshore Sailing School out of Tortola in conjunction w the Moorings.It was a while ago, but check w them.

[pete33458]

https://www.offshoresailing.com/




Great reputation, well deserved. I used them some years back for a couple of the courses, they go all the way up to ocean passaging. pete

[Time2Go]

Shearwater Sailing School
Ipswich UK
Go for Day Skipper RYA certification
and get ICC to boot.
Sail across the English channel and
up and down the French coast a bit
Cost most likely be the same as a week
in the Caribbean
Cheers
Neil

[kev_rm]

Neil, thanks, I chose the something tropical for the winter for a reason, I am in Minnesota this year

Originally Posted by Time2Go

Shearwater Sailing School
Ipswich UK
Go for Day Skipper RYA certification
and get ICC to boot.
Sail across the English channel and
up and down the French coast a bit
Cost most likely be the same as a week
in the Caribbean
Cheers
Neil

[admiralslater]

LTD sailing in Grenada, are a full service ASA sailing school with access to a variety of boats mono and multihull. Chrystal and Chris run a first class operation in some of the best sailing waters around.

[Flagman101]

LTD is very good.
They are in Grenada.
I would go with them for sure. And what a nice setting to learn.

[svfinlandia]

Barefoot Offshore Sailing School:

https://barefootyachts.com/charters/asa-sailing-school/

It has been nearly 20 years ago since I took my sailing course there, but it was very enjoyable and very thorough. You get to sail from St. Vincent to most of the islands in the Grenadines in the steady trade winds.
My instructor at the time was tough and very thorough and I learned a lot, as well as doing some beautiful sailing through some beautiful waters and seeing some beautiful islands.

Al, S/V Finlandia

[gulfcoastsailor]

I did all the ASA courses in a week with Sunsail. But then again that was 35 years ago.

[Captain Scott]

I will put a plug in for my school here. V.I. Sailing School out of St Thomas, USVI. We are an ASA certified school and offer levels up to ASA 106 (Advanced Off Shore). The airport their (STT) is typically the least expensive to fly into. And.... the recovery from Irma from a boat's perspective is 99%. But the congestion has gone away. You can get a mooring ball at 5:30pm (before you needed to show up by 3pm in some places). Locals are super happy to see people coming back, so that is nice too.
#VIstrong

10% off our rates for anyone coming from the cruisers forum.

BTW, ASA 111, a new course, is now offered to those with ASA certification but want to brush up, get reacquainted, or focus on particular areas like docking, anchoring, sail trim, navigation, etc. This can be part of a week or over one or two days. Thanks to all. cheers, Capt Scott

[John_Trusty]

The ASA sailing school model is very decentralized. While the textbooks, tests, and learning objectives are the same, how they are taught is up to each school and instructor. I also was more interested in getting my money's worth and learning the material than in a vacation with a certificate. I shy away from courses that try to do it all in a week (101/103/104 + in five days). I cannot imagine retaining that much knowledge presented that fast.

Blue Water was very focused on competence and safety, which is what you want to have when you have your wife and kids depending on you to do the right thing. Not detracting anything from the others mentioned above. BWSS also has a Ft. Lauderdale school, if you don't want to go international. https://www.bwss.com/

[sailcrazy]

Since you're in MN, just as we are, check out Northern Breezes, out of MSP. While they teach several courses over the year in a classroom, they also offer on-water courses on Lake Superior (in the summer months), and in the Caribbean over the winter. I'm not associated with the school, but I do know the owner. I took ASA 101/103/104 from them a couple of years ago to earn an ASA BareBoat certificate, required by several countries in the Medd,.....even though we own and sail our own boat, and have for 20+ years. We had sailed her from the Philippines to the Medd, and then ran into the Certificate issue. We're currently sailing the NE Caribbean. We enjoy Caribbean each winter season, leaving our boat at a marina in Puerto Rico, and the MN lake we live on during the summer.

[Captain Scott]

Yes, I agree with John. Three levels in 5 days is too fast for the majority of folks. (I think Sailcrazy wouldn't have a problem though....) But the best thing to do is talk personally with 2-3 places and get a feel to best match your aims. Cheers

[belizesailor]

A couple of resouces:

One, you can look up all ASA schools world wide on the ASA web site: www.asa.com.

Two, a good friend runs an excellent ASA sailing school in Belize:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...kwdyQIgehI7F1v

[Lihuedooley77]

Like your idea, and you now have several different sailing schools to chose from.

a suggestion......your lessons on a 30 plus ft. sailing vessel, that also has all of the systems that you would encounter when making passages . Standing and running rigging, Bilges, and water pumps, fuel and fresh water tanks, life jackets, Electrical, navigation, ships lights, batteries, managing the electrical, wind and depth instruments, marine head systems, pump out procedures, engine room, oil, coolant, belts, impeller, bleeding the air, fire fighting ABC fires, stove and cooking on board, windlass, VHF radio procedures, etc.

You are probably familiar with system due to your motor vessel experience.

Plus sailing and maneuvering, reefing the main, sheet block placement for different sized jibs, points of sail, sail trim, heaving to, anchoring, single hook, bow and stern, bahamian moor.. and mooring procedures, plus proper cleat hitches, spring lines, knot tying and when to use them. etc, etc.

Man overboard procedures, fog procedures, plus a good coastal piloting and navigation course that can be done back in MN.

Docking under sail, no engine, as well as docking under power, backing and filling, bow first, stern first, etc.

This is just a brief suggestion, as to choosing a good sailing school, and investigate their syllabus, since there is much , much more to learn about sailing and coastal piloting and navigation, passage making, rough weather sailing , etc, etc.

Plus a good and experienced instructor who is dedicated to make certain that you understand and have absorbed the many different phases of basic, intermediate and advanced sailing. Plus, reading and studying on your own.

Trying to learn all that in a week or two is going to be challenging, and then you have to put all of that instruction to practical use.

Some people may say that it is too difficult to learn thru training and too much effort to even start. Well , the ocean does not love you, and your responsibility to the boat and to the passengers, crew, and family is actually high priority .

Good on ya, for your goal, and good plan to stay warm with sunny days is a fine idea. Many things need to be repeated and practiced .

Also, it is great that you already have ASA courses , and motor vessel experience .
Have fun, and having the family learn at the same time is a great plan as well.