Monday, May 4, 2009

Sailing Classes Finaly

Finally signed up for Sailing classes. The next step towards achieving my dream. Soon you will have to refer to me as Captain CatManDav or some rendition of that. lol. Soon I plan to charter a Catamaran in the SF area. Awesome!

I signed up through the Afterguard Sailing Academy. I met the instructor at the Strictly Sail boat show in Oakland last month and was impressed with their operation and prices. Per her request I have purchased the book Sailing Fundamentals book by Gary Jobson. I have a lot of reading to do although I am sure I will do fine on the tests. three weekends and 3 or 4 weeknight sails and I should have completed the Basic Keelboat and Basic Coastal Cruising courses. After that it is on to bareboat and Catamaran classes at which point I will be ready to sail.

I found out at the Strictly Sail boat show about the Electric Leopard Catamaran that is available for day charters. I believe they said the price is about 500 for the day. Not bad if you split the costs amongst 12 friends give or take. Maybe I can even rent it for a big weekend someday soon. Might even make my captain services available for a chance to log some sailtime. Just need to find the time.

I recently won a 6 night stay in the Bahamas. We also have a week long trip planned to Lake Davis and I will no doubt spend a week hunting again this year. That only leaves me with 4 days of random vacation days. Maybe the boss will slip me an extra day or so here and there.

4 comments:

Paul from the bay Area said...

I heard from a guy, who heard from another guy that 'Charles Kanter' author of "Cruising Catamaran Communique" was at the Jack London Power and Sail this year.
He was giving a Catamaran seminar.

Had I known that, I would have stayed longer and attended his class.

Paul from the Bay Area said...

What were the diciding factors in choosing the "Afterguard Sailing Academy"?
There were three schools to choose from, present at the Sail and Power '09 at Jack London.
One of the others was "OCSC Sailing" in Berkley.
I signed up on their weekly emailing list, and like what ive seen so far.

Unknown said...

Deciding factors were initially two things. Price and the feeling I got when I met Mary the instructor at their booth at the Strictly Sail boat show. Now that I have almost completed the second course, basic Coastal Cruising, my feelings have not changed. I still would recommend them.

It is difficult to say they are better then any other since I have not been to any other school, but I really felt like I received some individual attention. Mary has a been all over the world and has a ton of experience and her staff is also knowledgeable and friendly. I have no complaints.

I also receive the OCSC sailing emails and they do appear to be a top notch sailing operation but I have not heard nor experienced them. All I can compare at the point is the price and Afterguard has them beat.

sailing classes vancouver said...

Sailing is a great way to fight stress and even depression, what's great is that there is now an opportunity to learn to sail.

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