Onboard instruction/signoff for a Leopard 46

[twigafloat]

Friends,
After 25 years of planning and daydreaming, we finally closed on a 2008 Leopard 46 for our family (mom, dad, 3 kids: 8,10,12) to set off on a cruising adventure.


We are planning on leaving from the south Florida area in mid February, and head to the bahamas. ( I can't be more specific than "south Florida" because we're still looking for a delivery crew from Panama and a slip in Florida. help?).


What we're looking for here is for an instructor Captain to join us for the first leg of that trip to Nassau to sign us off for insurance. More important than the insurance though is to ensure we know what we're doing before we go on our own. We have ASA 101 & 103, and will do ASA 105 via homestudy this winter. We'd love to do ASA 104, 114, and 106, but if we can't find an ASA instructor, the insurance is not demanding that. We've contacted some of the schools and the price is/seems quite insane given that we are providing the boat (3X the cost of hiring a charter captain).


Anybody have any ideas or connections that could help with any of the above (instruction, slip in S FL, delivery from Panama)?

[ChrisJHC]

Don’t know the situation in the Americas, but here in Aus many of the instructors are essentially sub-contractors to the schools.

I know a few who work for more than one school and also do private work separately.

You might find a more palatable response if you go directly to the instructors.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by ChrisJHC

Don’t know the situation in the Americas, but here in Aus many of the instructors are essentially sub-contractors to the schools.

I know a few who work for more than one school and also do private work separately.

You might find a more palatable response if you go directly to the instructors.

The way it works under ASA, regardless of country, is that only ASA affiliated schools can issue certifications.

An ASA instructor can teach private lessons, but cannot issue certifications independently. If a certification is not required, then its not an issue.

Most instructors, regardless of which certification system, work as sub-contractors.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by twigafloat

Friends,
After 25 years of planning and daydreaming, we finally closed on a 2008 Leopard 46 for our family (mom, dad, 3 kids: 8,10,12) to set off on a cruising adventure.


We are planning on leaving from the south Florida area in mid February, and head to the bahamas. ( I can't be more specific than "south Florida" because we're still looking for a delivery crew from Panama and a slip in Florida. help?).


What we're looking for here is for an instructor Captain to join us for the first leg of that trip to Nassau to sign us off for insurance. More important than the insurance though is to ensure we know what we're doing before we go on our own. We have ASA 101 & 103, and will do ASA 105 via homestudy this winter. We'd love to do ASA 104, 114, and 106, but if we can't find an ASA instructor, the insurance is not demanding that. We've contacted some of the schools and the price is/seems quite insane given that we are providing the boat (3X the cost of hiring a charter captain).


Anybody have any ideas or connections that could help with any of the above (instruction, slip in S FL, delivery from Panama)?

Where is the boat in Panama?

Only ASA schools can issue certifications, but if certification is not required then an ASA instructor can deliver private instruction with no certification. So it reads to me like you could just hire an instructor/captain for the trip.

Note that not all captains, nor all experienced sailors, are good instructors.

[twigafloat]

Thanks all!


so, it sounds like:
1) if we want the certs, we pay the $$ to the schools
2) if we don't care about the certs, we can go much cheaper via a direct captain


Anybody by chance have any recommendations on a captain that is a good instructor? As @belizesailor mentioned, "not all captains, nor all experienced sailors, are good instructors"

[twigafloat]

The boat is on the Caribbean side, just outside of Colon (Linton Bay)

[Chotu]

I’ve done some professional instruction on monohulls. I would advise you to definitely get someone that specializes in Catamarans. I’m about to learn proper techniques sailing a catamaran. And I need some remedial help even after being paid to teach people to sail monohulls. So be sure to get someone that specializes. It’s a different skill set

[sailorbobdeb]

Highly recommend Two Can Sail from personal experience. Husband and wife team. Both highly qualified and experienced and wonderful instructors. Look them up online. They spent a week with us relocating and learning our boat and we completed coursework as we traveled. Home base on FL peninsula.