I cannot say enough good things about our week in the BVIs get our sailing certifications with Offshore! Captains Dutch, Kevin and Patrick were incredibly patient and had excellent attention to detail. Dutch always noticed when I was struggling with a knot or over correcting my course and would calmly steer me in the correct direction each time. No question was too ridiculous and they made sure we all understood the concept before moving on in class. It was not easy, in fact the opposite and the tests were intimidating but as long as you pay attention and practice you will pass. We plan to come back and charter a boat on our own next time and hopefully grab a drink with Dutch to catch h up and share stories. read more

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My husband and I had been thinking about purchasing a live-aboard catamaran and wanted to do a deep dive on how to manage these vessels and see if this lifestyle would even be possible for us. The Fast Track to Cruising was a fantastic course that places you in the drivers seat and reveals all the knowledge and effort it takes to be a proficient cruiser. This is no holiday, but a real sailing boot-camp and worth every penny. Active daily hands-on learning and evening exams, you need to study up before you go to get the most out of the course. I learned so much from the extremely qualified, professional staff and realized that sailing is so much fun and also a great deal of work. We look forward to chartering some cats with family and building on what we've learned, that's the confidence the Offshore Sailing School has given to me and we are still kicking around the idea of live-aboard - one day! read more

I recently completed the eight day Offshore Colgate Fast Track to Cruising course in the lovely BVI. Overall, it was fun and I will give my honest review below. First, the Good 1. Staff was pleasant overall to deal with 2. Most of the books arrived in advance 3. Package was decent in terms of hotel and live aboard accomodations 4. Food provisions were good and since one person cancelled, we had extra steaks and fish to grill and eat on the boat. 5. I learned how much I really love sailing before making the expensive mistake of buying a boat to learn on. The BAD 1. Little preparation time given to the very difficult written US Sailing tests. 2. Instruction was mediocre to subpar 3. Prior knowledge of sailing was implied EVEN though Colgate said none was required. 4. VERY steep learning curve with little time to learn the basics such as knot tying, damn that bowline knot is still hard for me to tie! 5. Instructor cared more about giving a sight see tour than teaching. BUT another instructor was quite good. 6. One of my course books never arrived so I had no time to study for the Cruising test which I failed. 7. No follow up from Colgate. Would I recommend this to a person with no sailing knowledge? No. read more

I've taken many courses here over the years and have maxed out on the course levels after finishing the celestial navigation course. These courses led to sufficient credentials to charter sailboats in other countries for great family vacations. The instructors are knowledgeable and friendly and the classes always contain interesting people. In my final course we had several people that were preparing to sail around the world and the instructor gave advice on that adventure that went beyond the course material. read more

Offshore Sailing School - Here's a picture of me sailing a Sunsail 4600 leaving Virgin Gorda. - Specialty Schools Near Me - Fort Myers, Florida

I have been a professional mariner within the commercial shipping business for the past 37 years. To be part of this industry I enrolled into a Canadian maritime college, graduated, earned a master's certificate of unlimited tonnage and finally to my present job as a ship pilot. In order to achieve my present occupation it required a lot of training from professionals from all parts of the marine industry and I would not have it any other way. The same holds true when it comes to sailing; I knew what it was all about but I lacked the sailing skills and it's terminolgy which is why I sought the help of Offshore Sailing School. I must say the Offshore Sailing instructors were extremely professional and knowledgeable to the point where one could see their devotion and passion towards the developement of their students in the art of sailing. I can not compliment them enough, I was totally taken by surprise to the quality of their "Fast Track to Cruising" with Bareboat preparation sailing course. Being a professional mariner I would never attempt to sail a vessel of any size without the proper knowledge and training; it's an accident waiting to happen! read more

We are moderately experienced monohull sailors who took a week- end refresher course in bareboat chartering as our introduction to a Cruising Catamaran.The course was all hands on boat handling and sailing following a brief classroom session. The course was excellent and matched to our needs by an attentive, thoughtful and self effacing tutor, Brian, who had a real gift for teaching. Brian declared us 'safe to charter' at the end. The course came without written material to study beforehand and take away at the end: an unexpected downside. The course was based at a resort with good service and 'whole family' amenities; The boat however was docked a fair walk away. Another reason we were glad to have rented a car at the airport. The sailing school would do well to coordinate its classes with the resort concierge so someone would be available to answer the student's questions out of hours. read more

I used to rate Colgate as 5 stars. I recently signed up for the offshore cruising and navigation course. I paid all my money and obtained air reservations and trip insurance. They cancelled the course at the last minute. The trip insurance Did NOT cover this! I am out my airfare. I asked if I could have that as a refund and received no answer back. I wrote Mr. Colgate and again received no answer. All they needed to do was say they would deduct the cost of airfare from the future course and I would be happy, instead no replies from staff or Mr. Colgate. Very disappointed as I have taken every sailing course from them and have spent many thousands with them. Again let me say very disappointed in this organization. read more

Offshore Sailing School was an incredibly fun and rewarding way to quickly learn to sail. The class was just myself and one other student, so we received lots of one-on-attention from the instructor and were able to spend all of the allotted sailing time sailing the boat ourselves. My instructor, Barbara, was very patient, attentive, helpful and fun, and she did a great job preparing us for the short exam. I am so glad I took the Offshore Sailing School Learn-to-Sail class, and now I am going to join the sailing club and take more courses. I recommend to everyone. read more

Overall I learned what I needed to learn. I took the course at Captiva Island and the location is very pleasant. The staff and instructors did not seem very interested in making this a pleasant experience. Instructor was late most mornings. He also seemed to improvise the lessen plans constantly and jumped around the various topics and skill training sessions fairly randomly. He could not get the PowerPoint projector to work reliably. A colleague instructor who was frequently present in the front office was quite unfriendly. First morning when I showed up on time she initially told me I was there one hour too early and should go away. After I pointed out it she was mistaken she then seemingly ignored me the rest of the week and never really spoke to me again. Not great customer service. read more