Charter Sailing School

[agprice22]

Anyone have experience with sailing schools for earning the charter license? My wife and I are looking for a cruising school that will help us earn our Bareboat Skipper license or other certificate to charter boats from charter companies. We are considering a 7 day cruising school in BVI or Fort Lauderdale with Bluewater Sailing.

Is ASA the endorsement we should seek?
Is Bareboat Skipper a worthwhile certificate?
Is Bluewater Sailing School a good school?

We own a 272 and sail regularly, and coastal cruising and Island hopping is our next plan.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Andrew

 

[Kings Gambit]

You don't need a 6-pack license to do a bareboat charter for you and your wife (or friends). You would, however, if you were going to hire yourself out as a charter skipper to someone wishing a skippered charter from a company. Charter companies will let you skipper your own bareboat charter if they deem you qualified for the size of yacht you wish to charter. The qualification criteria are set by their insurance underwriters. What matters is the length of time you've been sailing, number of days you sail per year, and the size of the boat you own, if you own one, etc. They may give you a written knowledge/skills test if they have doubt about your experience. Normally, 70% is passing. I would not spend a bunch of money at sailing schools if I owned my own boat and sailed frequently in order to get "charter certified." Call 'em up; see what they require. Call more than one.

 

[Crawdaddy282]

My wife and I just completed the Blue Water Sailing School 101,103,104 classes in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. We have been sailing on a 21' Aquarius for the past 7 years on Lake Erie. We kind of knew what we were doing to make the boat go where we wanted, but wanted some formal instructions.
The instructor was great and we learned a lot about navigation, course plotting and chart reading.
The area I sail in Lake Erie is safe, deep water and not much current or tide. Learning on a larger boat in unfamiliar waters and tides, gaining the experience/ instruction was a good time (was also part vacation).
We just moved to a 23' O'Day and I am already looking for our "great loop" boat. We have a plan to do this in a few years.
So- yes the school is good; and you will get the experience you want to learn from it.
Jason

 

[agprice22]

You don't need a 6-pack license to do a bareboat charter for you and your wife (or friends). You would, however, if you were going to hire yourself out as a charter skipper to someone wishing a skippered charter from a company. Charter companies will let you skipper your own bareboat charter if they deem you qualified for the size of yacht you wish to charter. The qualification criteria are set by their insurance underwriters. What matters is the length of time you've been sailing, number of days you sail per year, and the size of the boat you own, if you own one, etc. They may give you a written knowledge/skills test if they have doubt about your experience. Normally, 70% is passing. I would not spend a bunch of money at sailing schools if I owned my own boat and sailed frequently in order to get "charter certified." Call 'em up; see what they require. Call more than one.

Good idea! That is why I ask you guys!

I am confused about the six pack charter license versus the bareboat charter "license." I thought the bareboat charter "license" only gave you a credential to help certify you are a capable skipper to charter people's boats for your own use. Whereas a sixpack license is a 6 passenger captain's license granted by the USCG? Or do I have it wrong?

Thanks!

Andrew

 

[agprice22]

My wife and I just completed the Blue Water Sailing School 101,103,104 classes in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. We have been sailing on a 21' Aquarius for the past 7 years on Lake Erie. We kind of knew what we were doing to make the boat go where we wanted, but wanted some formal instructions. The instructor was great and we learned a lot about navigation, course plotting and chart reading. The area I sail in Lake Erie is safe, deep water and not much current or tide. Learning on a larger boat in unfamiliar waters and tides, gaining the experience/ instruction was a good time (was also part vacation). We just moved to a 23' O'Day and I am already looking for our "great loop" boat. We have a plan to do this in a few years. So- yes the school is good; and you will get the experience you want to learn from it. Jason

Thanks, Jason. Also a great response. By the way, there is a 21 Aquarius docked behind us in Watkins Glen.

I would love to hear more about your experience with BWSS.

When you were in the school, what boat and captain did you sail with? How many students were there? Were there any things you wished you did differently? Were there any things you wished had been covered better? Do you feel prepared to go coastal cruising? What is this "great loop" of which you speak?

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[duality]

my experience with bvi chartering is they are more concerned about your check clearing than any kind of license! "no worries mon"

but by all means, do take it for your own sake. if you dont have history of handling a similar size boat in brisk winds. no navigation experience for bvi is needed, all line of sight, except if you want to go to anegada.

mike

 

[Ron20324]

... I thought the bareboat charter "license" only gave you a credential to help certify you are a capable skipper to charter people's boats for your own use. Whereas a sixpack license is a 6 passenger captain's license granted by the USCG? Or do I have it wrong?...

That's pretty much right. The 6-pack is if you will be in command of a boat that you would receive pament for your services, thus a commercial event.

 

[MrBill_FLL]

a friend did the Blue water school in FLL (2009). that was a 'girls' class. they had planned to go the bahamas, but weather interfered and they went to biscayne bay / upper keys.

boat was a gozzard 37 (IIRC).
They had fun, learned to navigate and read charts. -overall good 'vacation' with some learning tossed in...

I tend to agree with others, that its not absolutely required for the BVI's but not a bad use of time and money to take the ASA classes.

if you haven't sailed in tidal /currents or coastal conditions, I would take the class. your lake experience alone is not sufficient for BVI's (imho).

Anchoring and picking up moorings can be tricky...

I would not do this class in FLL, until mid october when the storm threat lessens and its cooler to sleep out. nov/dec even better.

 

[BigEasy]

USCG "6 pack" licenses are primarily for commercial use ie., fishing, diving, & sailing charters for hire. The license is a bit costly to obtain because you have to obtain TSA security background checks and have to either take a classroom course and test from a USCG recognized commercial school or take the test at a USCG testing facility. You must also show evidence of a minimum number of days of experience on the water. The license has to be renewed periodically at more expense.

I believe what you are interested in is gaining the necessary experience and "certification" to charter boats at locations other than your home port. There are a number of American Sailing Association schools that conduct a broad range of certification classes. It appears that the trend at most schools is to combine ASA courses including "basic coastal cruising" (ASA103) and "bareboat cruising" (ASA104) into a one week long experience while you are living aboard the boat. Some of the topics covered include systems, engine operation, docking procedures, sail trim, navigation rules, basic chart reading & navigation, anchoring, provisioning, use of the galley, onboard maintenance, emergency procedures, weather interpretation, & dinghy/tender operation. As other posters mentioned, a lot of charter companies may not require these certification; however, you will definitely be more comfortable & confident in your capabilities aboard a larger boat if you plan to charter. I did the ASA 104 class about 10 years ago at Lanier Sailing in Pensacola Florida. The class was conducted on a Beneteau 393 (3 stateroom/berths & 2 heads). The instuctors and boat are first rate. I learned a lot and had a lot of fun. It was certainly worth the time & cost; I would highly recommend it. You will find that operating & docking a 40 foot boat is much different than yours. Having the certification & experience should keep you out of trouble and allow you to have more fun while chartering.

 

[Crawdaddy282]

Thanks, Jason. Also a great response. By the way, there is a 21 Aquarius docked behind us in Watkins Glen.

I would love to hear more about your experience with BWSS.

When you were in the school, what boat and captain did you sail with? How many students were there? Were there any things you wished you did differently? Were there any things you wished had been covered better? Do you feel prepared to go coastal cruising? What is this "great loop" of which you speak?

Thanks,

Andrew

We were on a 51' boat but I forget the make. "Gitana" was the name of the boat with Capt. Bill.
There were 2 couples and the captain. Plenty of space to not be on top of each other.
We has originally wanted to do the BVI course but it filled up before I could ensure I would get my vacation time from work.
The course was informative, and as mentioned learned a bit about tides, charts, etc. I am always looking to learn more so this was a good educational vacation.
The experience of piloting that large of a boat in a few storms and reefing (double reefed at one point) gives me more confidence for off shore sailing. We didn't really get around as far as I would have liked as we stayed in the Biscayne Keys area except for the trip from Ft. Lauderdale and back. I wish we went farther, but we would have no wind and then see a storm around Miami, head toward it and catch some strong winds, hence the reefing practice. Quite a trip to have a 51' boat heeling pretty far.
Captain Bill was great, as he took time to explain things, but you can only get so much in a week.
This is a long winded response, but for us it was worth it; and I do feel more confident in my abilities for longer trips and bigger boats.
As far as the "loop" it is a mostly intercoastal trip with many different side trips available. We would start in Lake Erie through Great Lakes to Mississippi, down to Gulf, around FLA, up east coast and back to Lake Erie. Many people take different routes and there is a ton of info if you google it. There is even a "great loop association" you can join to connect with others that have/ currently doing it. We plan on a year trip, but some do it quicker and some go back and forth from boat to home for work/family/ holidays.
Best of luck,
Jason

 

[cephius (Dave)]

One skill that many sailing from slips often lack is ground tackle. In the BVI this is not a problem because of the high number of mooring bouys.

If you are looking for a course to improve your skills for bareboat charters, ensure it has a strong curriculum in anchoring methods. You will put it to good use once you start chartering outside of the BVI.

I agree with the others. The charter companies are more interested in your financial resume than your sailing resume.

 

[capta]

In reality, many of the bareboat charter companies do not care if you are licensed, certified or a complete idiot, as long as you have the money. You can't believe what we see on a daily basis, down here, as the bareboats muddle their way through their vacations. Thankfully, God suffers and protects the real idiots.
Some companies will ask you to do a "check out", like taking the boat from the slip to the fuel dock, but many honestly couldn't care less; they are well insured.

 

[agprice22]

Thanks All! Your input is appreciated and important. My wife and I are planning to move from Upstate New York to someplace warmer, where we can sail year-round. Thus, our inland sailing skill set needs to grow into a coastal cruising / island hopping skill set. A live-aboard sailing experience designed to push an expanded skill set seems to be a positive step toward our eventual goal.

I could not imagine being an unskilled yahoo on someone's yacht! I want to respect the need to learn all I need as I take on bigger challenges. I also want my wife to be a competent sailor who can command a yacht and reel me in if I am being over-confident or just plain lazy.

What I am hearing from all of you is that the ASA certification may not be as important for me or to the charter companies as I may interpret by its presence. I am also hearing that money is a motivating factor for schools and charter companies alike. Personally, I realize I have a very personal relationship with my yacht, and I could never let someone whom I did not trust explicitly take her for a spin, let alone a week-long vacation... Ugh!

I am also hearing that I we can gain valuable experience in a 7 day sailing school. However, weather and skippers vary, and the distance travelled may be limited by both.

Thanks again, and I and my wife will process this information and decide accordingly how to expand our skills. Also, thanks for the lead on the Gulf sailing school. I love the Pensacola / Destin area. I have had several wonderful 6 pack dive experiences there.

Thanks! And keep the info coming!

Andrew

 

[Chris Patterson]

In my experience, money is the motivating factor in ALL things.

I'm trying to think of a fer instance where it is not..