Start your sailing adventure in the historic shadow of the War of 1812. You’ll start your journey at our school in the heart of Sackets Harbor, NY, right at Navy Point Marine! You’ll spend plenty of time on Lake Ontario, sailing past the historic battlefield that saw action in 1812 and 1813, and have plenty of wind. Sails go up within minutes of leaving the dock giving you maximum time on the water to practice all the skills until they are second nature.
We are ideally placed (geographically and academically) to develop your confidence and experience, and we do that with a syllabus that puts you on the boat within minutes of starting…no boring lectures here. What we do in the book only reinforces what you’ve seen, touched, turned, tied, trimmed, eased, hoisted and stowed on the boat. We consciously expose students to the basic concepts of sailing with a hands-on approach. We are the standard for hands on instruction on Lake Ontario and you will work hard while having fun on the water. Our instructors are committed to the highest standard of sailing training so YOU achieve your ASA certifications to safely charter sailboats here on the lake – or anywhere in the world.
Our primary Basic Keelboat (ASA 101) teaching boat is a super solid and forgiving Dufour 24 with a HUGE cockpit. We also have a couple of Catalina 22s for early/late season classes or the busy weeks in August. With a class size limited to 2-4 students, each sailing student gets max time with a hand on the tiller. In fact, once you complete ASA 101 with us, you return at your leisure for a day of sailing for you and your crew, for free, on a boat of your choice. Yes, you’re the skipper of your own sailing trip…we’re THAT confident in our program. As you progress in your sailing education, we’ll introduce you to more advanced cruising courses as we offer Coastal Cruising (ASA 103) on our 32’ Sloop and Bareboat Cruising (ASA 104) on our 38’ Sloop. Both are three full days with the Bareboat Cruising as a fully live-aboard course.
Our lead instructor is CAPT Brett, a qualified USCG Merchant Mariner and ASA Instructor with more than twenty years sailing experience on Lake Ontario, the Bahamas, and South Florida. He retired from the Army in 2009 and has embraced the ‘Salt Life.’ Also an adjunct philosophy professor, CAPT Brett knows how to teach and how to have fun doing it. You might just learn a bit about life while learning how to sail close hauled. CAPT Brett also offers captained sailing charters aboard both our 32′ and/or our 38’ Ericsons for 1/2 day, full day, and sunset charters.
