Steve and Cindy Dunn - Learn to Sail Graduates

Ft. Myers Beach, Florida

When Steve Colgate asked Steve Dunn if we could put excerpts from his letter to a friend (see below) on our website, here's what he wrote:

I’m glad you enjoyed the letter. I impulsively printed it as an addendum to the survey. It was written to a friend of mine who has a sailboat on Lake Champlain in Vermont. My wife and I had gone sailing with him and his wife before but sailing didn’t really click with me until last summer when he asked me to substitute for his crew during a race. It was intense and we came in second although I had no idea what I was doing. I did know I enjoyed the sailing process more than being a passenger.

I have been interested in things nautical from my youth but for one reason or another I never was able to get close to water. When we moved to Florida last fall I decided it was now or never and asked around about the best way to learn. My eye doctor recommended I call Steve Colgate and I thought it would be ole’ Steve and me in a little boat. When I called I had no idea how sophisticated your company would be.

First impressions are everything and my first one was Carrie Cacioppo. She not only got me the information I needed, she basically built a last minute class for the time I had available, for my skills and price range. I expected to just take day classes in St Pete but she got me a deal on Captiva Island that wasn’t too much more. No driving each day and no distractions. I deal with customer service departments all the time and usually it is dull at best. The only ones I know that are as good as yours are LL Bean and Zappos (selling shoes on line you have to be good). Common theme? Conversational people here in the States, never rushed, concerned with my needs and they know their product! Carrie wasn’t going to rest until I was happy.

It could only go down hill from there, right? Not With Emily! I have been in countless training sessions and conducted several myself over the years. Only one other time have I met a person that had the perfect balance of enthusiasm, of confidence in their knowledge, attentiveness and patience (even when it must be brutal to watch raw beginners like us). (Editor's note: That's Emily with Steve Dunn in the photo above.)

I am going to look for a little centerboard boat. My wife wants a keel boat because “Sam says they can’t tip over”. We live on the water and there are a few small boats moored on our beach (when the tide goes out they are high and dry). I plan to add to this flotilla. I need practice so I can visit you fine folks at a new level. Meanwhile, I have a view of the gulf and when I notice a sailboat go by I grab my binoculars and watch with eager intensity. Even if they are just motoring down the narrow channel….

Steve wrote to his friend in Vermont after finishing the Learn to Sail course . . .

We got down to the resort on Sunday and took a long walk down the beach and had dinner: We started each day at 8:00. They had sent us study guides before hand and expected us to keep up. The other couple was taking a week to do the same course but we were on the “fast track” which is the same classes but two sailing sessions a day. (They had their little kids and spent the afternoon with them at the resort). It worked out well as we basically had our own instructor for sailing, Emily. Her dad has a boat in Boston and is a passionate sailor. She and her sister grew up on boats and both are now instructors.
 

In three days we memorized the parts of the boat, the points of sail, details like anchoring and man overboard drills, channels, grounding. The last day we had to take a surprisingly long test to get our certificate and we passed with good scores. We are both getting our “basic keelboat sailing certificate” in the mail.

As to the sailing we had strong winds the second day with Emily. White caps, heeled over at length, it was great. We had such good wind we had to reef the sails. It was a good experience because the last day we took the boat out by ourselves and went out a good long way, practicing all the maneuvers.

I am really glad Cindy took the class too. We took a lot of turns being Captain and crew. Sam, the other instructor, had told us in class he has tried to capsize the boats they use and they just won’t do it, so we had the confidence to push it a little.

We were exhausted; but it was one of those great kinds of tired. We have been moving into our apartment and setting up our offices since then and we are disappointed we can’t get back out right away. We have a view of the Gulf and keep looking out the window with binoculars to see what the sail boats are doing. We went to a furniture store today and they had ship models so Cindy was naming the rigging and bits.
 

I liked this sailing school company and may sign up for another course some time. I guess a lot of folks do it for a vacation; their biggest location is in the British Virgin Islands. The next one is “basic cruising” in 44-49’ Hunters, then “bareboat cruising.” (Editors note: Both of these levels are offered together in our Bareboat Cruising Preparation or Live Aboard Cruising course, so you only have to take one course to get both.) With that one I can charter a bigger boat with no crew. They go all the way up to full blown celestial navigation and passages. But for now I just want to keep what I learned and find a little keel boat to tool around in.

Editor's note: Steve Dunn is the SE Region Key Account Manager for a auto company. Carrie Cacioppo is an actor who has gone back to fulltime acting at the Florida Repertory Theatre in Ft. Myers, Florida (and she is very, very good).   
 

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