Where would you go live to learn to sail?

[tarian]

Originally Posted by taxwizz

How is the sailing in winter?

Plenty of schools open , clear frosty days, to storm conditions with so many anchorages to stop over , I did my dive course in winter of loch long we had to break the ice at the edges and at depth got temps of -2 c , as they say if you can sail ,dive in high latitudes in all weather you can do it anywhere , I know it’s a shock to most sunshine cruisers but you can wear a woolly hat:

[taxwizz]

Originally Posted by tarian

Plenty of schools open , clear frosty days, to storm conditions with so many anchorages to stop over , why can you not sail in winter , I did my dive course in winter of loch long we had to break the ice at the edges and at depth got temps of -2 c , as they say if you can sail ,dive in high latitudes in all weather you can do it anywhere , I know it’s a shock to most sunshine cruisers but you can wear a woolly hat

Sorry....
If the girls can't wear bikinis, I don't go sailing.

[jmh2002]

I posted a comment in another thread a while ago which echos the thoughts of some members in this thread:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post2950274

Originally Posted by jmh2002

...I think that the RYA instructors in the UK are the best at this stuff.

They do it with wind, they do it with tide, and they do it well. Personally it's not my favourite place to sail, but at least there is normally a good pub at the destination to try and make up for it.

However if you really want to learn or hone skills I couldn't suggest anything better than doing some RYA practical courses in the UK. Preferably in winter when it is additionally unpleasant, cold, wet, and difficult.

Why? Because they focus on real, practical skills. You actually have to do it. Like the video above but with wind and tide. Or hunting down an unlit post on a sand bank through blind DR navigation - you are below navigating, and issuing instructions to the helmsman on deck (Bramble Bank anyone?).

After that type of learning experience most things will seem much easier by comparison.

And I used to give similar advice to younger deck crew: "If you just want the piece of paper go and do it where it is cheapest and easiest - but if you actually want to learn something, go and do it in the UK".

[tarian]

Originally Posted by taxwizz

Sorry....
If the girls can't wear bikinis, I don't go sailing.

Woolly bikinis invented in Scotland

[Augi]

Originally Posted by JensenJourney

I know that I can take sailing classes just about anywhere. So learning to sail isn't a location specific event, but...

My wife and I are looking to learn to sail with hopes of perhaps becoming liveaboards eventually.

We have no home currently. We are unhappy where we are. So we are looking to move anyway. We are not in a coastal state, and never have been. There is no employment considerations, so we can go anywhere we want. We do have a bunch of kids at home still. With a goal of sailing, we'd like to go somewhere where it would be quite easy to familiarize ourselves with the culture and activities. Where it is easy to visit marinas, boat shows, find crew opportunities, meet and befriend other sailors, etc. We'd rent rather than buy.

So if you could go anywhere to do that, where would you go? We are looking into East Coast of the US, but I'd love to hear about other worldwide locations. (Be specific if you can... so rather than saying South Carolina, give me the name of the town and why.) What sailing school/instructor? What yacht club, etc?

Cheers!

If you want to stay on the East Coast of the USA and have an easier adjustment for kids, have access to decent schools, etc Chesapeake Bay would be ideal especially if the 6 months is not in the winter.

If you want to try a different culture and that would probably cost a bit less than the USA ex the travel involved, try Split, Croatia. Croatia is among the places where you can charter boats short term for the least amount of money. The scenery, food, sailing and vibe are awesome in Croatia. It would be amazing for the kids as long as it was not too much change overall. A lot of locals, especially the boating crowd speak English. You probably could rent a house on the water(with anchorage out front), near Split or on one of the nearby islands and a boat for 6 months for less than just a boat in the USA.

Another place if you want to go abroad is Mallorca, Span. Mallorca ex travel would probably be similar to the costs in the USA. I doubt that there are English speaking public schools in Split or Mallorca but no doubt English speaking private schools. For Spain you can only stay 6 months on a visitor visa. Not sure about the rules for visa's in Croatia but it is probably a 6 month stay is allowed on a visitor visa.

For Mallorca checkout Porto Colom and Manacor. Manacor is 10 minutes inland from Porto Colom and where you could probably find a 6 months rental house or large apartment for about the same as the USA, if you wanted a house and boat. Or maybe a house and just use the sailing school's boats that you cut a 6 month deal with.

An idea if you went overseas is you could home school the kids and hire a English speaking tutor to help out. The kids could be required to get all their work done in the am and then could go sailing the rest of the day.

[darylat8750]

The "bunch of kids" note doesn't tell us much but triggered a thought.... If you include in your requirements a dinghy school with a youth program the whole family could learn the basics together and gain good skills while having fun. I'm not suggesting this separately from the big boat but four of five lessons on the dinghy before starting the cruiser size boat would be very beneficial and you (and / or one or more of your children) might find it to be enough fun that they would want to continue the dinghy sailing for the season.

[Stewie12]

There is an excellent British sailing school in El Gomera in the Canary Islands. Good for sailing all year round.

[Mithril Bham]

San Juan Islands to Alaska in summer will teach you everything. There are spots warm enough to swim. Not the tropics.
Bellingham, WA
Victoria, BC

[Precision 21]

St. Petersburg Sailing Center is located across from St. Petersburg Municipal Marina and offers both adult and youth programs.
St. Petersburg Sailing Center – St. Petersburg Sailing Center

[MJH]

Originally Posted by JensenJourney

I know that I can take sailing classes just about anywhere. So learning to sail isn't a location specific event, but...

My wife and I are looking to learn to sail with hopes of perhaps becoming liveaboards eventually.

We have no home currently. We are unhappy where we are. So we are looking to move anyway. We are not in a coastal state, and never have been. There is no employment considerations, so we can go anywhere we want. We do have a bunch of kids at home still. With a goal of sailing, we'd like to go somewhere where it would be quite easy to familiarize ourselves with the culture and activities. Where it is easy to visit marinas, boat shows, find crew opportunities, meet and befriend other sailors, etc. We'd rent rather than buy.

So if you could go anywhere to do that, where would you go? We are looking into East Coast of the US, but I'd love to hear about other worldwide locations. (Be specific if you can... so rather than saying South Carolina, give me the name of the town and why.) What sailing school/instructor? What yacht club, etc?

Cheers!

It sounds like you are all in for sailing. To me your U.S. choices would obviously fall along the coastline with other inputs being boat shows, marina availability, sailing schools/yacht clubs, and months of good sailing weather (what would you else do during the winter).

I learned to sail in the Bay area (San Francisco, San Pablo) and taught myself. It was a good place to learn and as the saying goes, "If you can sail San Francisco Bay you can sail anywhere." It has all the elements you need. The only downside is that California has a dearth of good cruising grounds...for that you need to move to Washington where it is in abundance all the way up to Alaska.

Good Luck

~ ~ _/) ~ ~ MJH

[sail sfbay]

Originally Posted by JensenJourney

We'd rent rather than buy.

All great suggestions above. I would like to add that sailboat rental is likely expensive unless you can score a deal I got with Seidelmann in the cheasapeake bay in the mid-80's of $50 per day for a Seidelmann 37 in the frost-bite season. OR you take a "fleet membership" for $175+ per month in a sailing school, such as Tradewinds in Richmond California and Club Nautique (see links below) which has a fleet of sailboats in a range of sizes and take sailboat lessons (typically ASA) from them to quality on their boats.

https://www.tradewindssailing.com/sailingclub/rates.shtml
https://boats.network/clubnautique/membership/membership-types/

I am partial to the San Francisco, California because I live there. You can sail all year round in a variety of conditions and you have access to sailing schools and sailboat active yacht clubs such as the Richmond Yacht Club in Point Richmond, CA (link below).

Richmond Yacht Club - Welcome to the Richmond Yacht Club

[TrentePieds]

Quote: "... but I'd love to hear about other worldwide locations."

Your are clearly a citizen of the US. To go, even temporarily, to "(an)other worldwide location" requires rather more than just going. You cannot, for instance, enter Canada without having a Temporary Resident Visa issued by the Canadian Government. There are quite strict requirements laid down, including ones speaking to financial stability, for obtaining such a visa. Among the requirements is that you supply proof that you will indeed leave Canada again in due course. It may surprise you to learn that the acceptance criteria applied to visa applications from US citizens are identical to those applied to applicants from e.g. The Democratic Republic of the Congo or El Salvador. Other countries also have quite specific visa requirements, so perhaps you might like to look into such things before you contemplate an "off shore" sojourn.

Learning to sail will be the least of the tasks before you if you are contemplating such a thing.

All the best,

TrentePieds

[mlydon]

newport RI - just about guaranteed wind daily

[JensenJourney]

I should clarify that I'd be looking to rent a house, not necessarily the boat. I don't want to buy a house, but I'd buy a boat.

There are 9 kiddos, but by the time we move we'll be down to 8 living with us. That's a lot. We plan on homeschooling them wherever we end up. But we'd need to rent something more than a 2-3 bedroom apartment... that might factor into recommendations.

Loving the suggestions so far, thanks for the replies. A few said the Chesapeake... what makes it better than anywhere else along the coast (Myrtle Beach, Savannah, etc?)

And what makes England so good?

[jump12k]

Annapolis, MD./ Chesapeake Bay is an awesome sailing community all around.
I am a live-aboard for 7 years now on the West River just south of Annapolis....Love it here!!
Hundreds of destinations around the bay to practice beginners navigational skills.