Coastal Passage Making
The ultimate dream of many sailors – whether they eventually do it or not – is to go sailing beyond sight of land or take long voyages on their boats or with friends. Coastal Passage Making will help get you to “living that dream” If you have completed all the certifications necessary (see What You Learn In Our Courses), then you are ready for the first step in the process of becoming a qualified ocean-going sailor.
When to arrive for Coastal Passage Making Course
For the Coastal Passage Making course plan to arrive Sunday night, stay ashore that night at the resort, and board the boat the following Monday morning. You will sail sunup to sundown Tuesday through Friday except for one overnight passage. Saturday you return the boat back to your embarkation point, disembark at noon and head for home (or you may opt to spend that night ashore at the resort again.)
An incredible adventure
Coastal Passage Making is an exciting adventure that takes you to distant points and back. This is a great sailing course to prepare you for sailing down the Intracoastal Waterway and into the Atlantic to the Bahamas and Caribbean beyond; spending long vacations on passages in the Great Lakes; heading down the Gulf Coast of Florida to the Keys; or sailing out of West Coast harbors to ports requiring overnight sailing along the shore.
What you need to know in advance
To get the most out of this course, you should have Offshore Sailing School or US Sailing Bareboat Cruising Certification or equivalent skills for comfortable cruising or chartering on boats 35 feet or more. You should have basic navigation knowledge. And most important, you should want to lea
rn more about blue water cruising. You'll experience sailing at night, night time crew overboard and recovery methods, standing watches, navigating around the clock, and cooking underway. In addition you will learn anchoring techniques, med-mooring, crew management, passage planning, weather routing and more.
Passages aboard 43 to 50 footers
Currently the boats we use for this course are: Dufour 43, Hunter 50 or Leopard 46 catamaran. A maximum of six students and two instructors are divided into two watches – three students and one instructor on each watch. We provide plenty of provisions for all meals aboard and ease of cooking and eating underway in whatever conditions mother nature conjures up.
"Offshore Sailing School has been a pleasureable learning experience which I would highly recommend to any discerning person. From their back office oprerations, to classroom, to on-water instruction; they exceeded my expectations."
Bruce Haydu – Oakhurst, NJ
Fast Track to Coastal Passage Making - St. Petersburg, Florida - August 2009
Certification
pre-requisites
Coastal Navigation is needed to get your Passage Making certification. You can take the Coastal Navigation course as a stand-alone four-day classroom program at various Offshore Sailing School locations or on our Catamaran Live Aboard Cruising course. Better yet, consider Fast Track to Coastal Passage Making – a 10-day program you’ll never forget – to get everything accomplished on the same journey.
"Offshore Sailing School gave me the confidence to take on the world!"
Rodney Harris – New York, NY
Fast Track to Coastal Passage Making
Once a year, we conduct this course from St. Michaels, Maryland to Fort Myers Beach, Florida on a Hunter 50. Please see a separate description of this program here.
St. Michaels, Maryland to Fort Myers Beach, Florida
November 2-14, 2011 (approximate ETA)
November 7-19, 2012 (approximate ETA)
When to arrive for Fast Track to Coastal Passage Making Course
The rest of the year Fast Track to Coastal Pasage Making is held in Southwest Florida. For the Florida only courses, first you’ll start with four days of comprehensive Coastal Navigation instruction while staying ashore at South Seas Isla
nd Resort on C
aptiva Island, or Pink Shell Beach Resort and Spa on Ft. Myers Beach. Plan to arrive Wednesday night, ready for intensive Coastal Navigation workshops all day Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Monday morning you'll board a 43’ or 50’ monohull or 46' catamaran and sail for six straight days, returning to port Saturday and disembarking around noon. Your package includes five nights ashore, five nights aboard a cruising yacht with meals and snacks, plus your last night ashore before heading home (unless you choose to leave for home Saturday afternoon). There are few words to describe the true sense of accomplishment you feel when you dock back at base after six days on the water, with high fives all around.
Your textbooks for this course both come from US SAILING, the governing body of sailing in the United States. Comprehensive and inspiring, these
are sent in advance for you to study in preparation for your course.
Two expert Offshore Sailing School instructors aboard
During the Coastal Passage Making journey you will learn with two expert Offshore Sailing School instructors and a maximum of five other students. The crew is divided into two watches, each captained by one of the instructors. Your learning experience is non-stop — rotating four-hours "on" learning while sailing, four-hours "off" to rest, refresh, review. Berths are shared by each watch. When all hands are needed on deck, everyone steps forward for the task at hand.
Come prepared for sailing in heavy weather (if we get it during the course) as well as light winds. While itineraries are described below, ultimately the route you take is chosen by your instructors, with weather and wind conditions in mind. To learn more about this sailing course, read what Jeff Linstrom wrote (see sidebar) about his experience in May 2009 and check out Meg Atkins story on our blog: It's about the Fast Track to Coastal Passage Making on our Leopard 46 catamaran, April 2010 .
Passage Making packages
- Four-day Coastal Navigation course tuition, taught ashore
- Five-day Passage Making course tuition
- US SAILING Coastal Navigation and Passage Making textbooks
- Shared berths aboard
- All your meals and snacks during the Passage Making course (water included, but not other beverages)
- Five nights accommodations ashore in a private room with applicable taxes
- Last night ashore if you opt for this before heading home
- US SAILING Coastal Navigation and Passage Making certifications
- Diplomas and logbook or pages for logbook if you already have one from a previous course
- Graduation celebration
- Exclusive benefit from The Sailing Company - your choice of a year's subscription to Cruising World or Sailing World magazine
Florida passages
Southwest Florida is known as the “Nature Coast” due to its many pristine beaches and anchorages, an abundance of sea life, birds, manatees and sport fish. The crystal blue water turns greener and clearer the further south you travel and the 10,000 island area and fringes of the Everglades National Park will amaze you with their natural beauty.
Captiva Island to Key West and back: The overnight passage from South Seas Island Resort to exciting, funky Key West is 132 nautical miles. As in all the Coastal Passage Making courses, we do the long stretch first and then hop from port to port on the way back. Tentative stops are Boot Key, Shark River anchorage, Fort Myers Beach, Cabbage Key before returning to South Seas. Total number of nautical miles is about 355.
All itineraries from all start points are subject to change and dependent on weather and other conditions. The itinerary for your passage will be presented to you at the start of the course, and might even change as you progress through the week.
Locations and Dates for Fast Track to Coastal Passage Making Courses
May 17-26, 2012
September 20-29, 2012