Discover

Sails luffing? Jib over-trimmed? Don’t know your half-hitch from your Boland knot? Maybe it’s time to go back to school—sailing school. Whether you’re a first-time skipper or a once-salty seadog looking for a refresher course, Florida Sailing & Cruising School has a lesson plan to get you coasting along Gulfshore waters.

Classes begin on the deck of a cutter-rigged, Island Packet 32-foot boat (you’ll like it, we promise). There, a coastguard-certified instructor, like Captain David Goss, outlines the necessary nautical terms in the syllabus.

Courses last from two days for basic skills to 12 days for mastering live-aboard life. Successful grads earn one of several American Sailing
Association certifications. And once you know your vang from your halliard, you and your floating classroom push off from the dock to cruise Charlotte Harbor for some hands-on-deck experience. In open water, students practice raising the main sheet (sail), tacking (turning) and navigating charts (maps). Just as in learning to drive, the lesson in parallel parking is the toughest. "Docking is going to be your scariest time," says Goss. Not to worry. By the end of the course you’ll be able to maneuver in and out of the docks behind any of Southwest Florida’s tiki bars.

That’s right, after class you can take your boat to the bar. You’re a sailor now.

Contact Florida Sailing & Cruising School at (239) 656-1339 or (800) 262-7939 or visit www.flsailandcruiseschool.com.

—Sammy Mack