It's been a while that my brother in law and I want to pick up sailing, and I'm glad we finally pulled the trigger and went with Spinnaker Sailing. Everyone there are super friendly, attentive, and on top of things. Our instructor Dave G was simply awesome, and that felt like an understatement. We went from being totally clueless on Day 1 to now ASA101 certified on Day 4 (we are far from pros, but we know what we're doing to enjoy sailing now ). Anyone on the fence, do it and pick Spinnaker, it's gonna be money well spent. We're onto a few tag along rides and 103 next with Spinnaker! read more

Spinnaker Sailing - Well maintained boats and docks - Boat Charters Near Me - Redwood City, California

We were greeted by Rich who was in charge of our team. Our company rented 8 sailboats that accommodates up to 6 plus a skipper. This was our team building excursion. John was our skipper who provided us sailboat training 101 as well as kept us entertained. He was a fantastic story teller. John is living the dream after graduate school and working in the corporate world, he decided to retire early and do what he loves, sailing. So inspiring and I hope I get to do the same, retire early, travel the world and learn culture through food. Each of us rotated navigating the sail and driving the sailboat. I must say coordination is definitely essential and good listening skills is a must as each of us got the opportunity to work as a team. After sailing, Spinnaker provided us with a wonderful bbq treat over at their conference center. It was delicious. I had the opportunity to get to know our team up close and personal, caught up with what they enjoy doing outside of work environment (tech), and it was a great way to share each other's passions. I highly recommend coming to Spinnaker for a company retreat, or simply take advantage of a family and friends get together. They provide lessons, group discounts including one on one, boat included, and you even get to sit next to their awesome skippers who will assist you to navigate the San Francisco Bay waters. We all had a fantastic time, and we can't thank John, our skipper for his excellent service and to all Spinnaker staff who was responsible for a memorable time. Cheers! read more

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We had a great team building event here. We did the 4 hour option in the afternoon. They teach you how to sail the boat with the ropes, steering and the wind direction. We broke out into 4 people per boat + one instructor per boat. After practicing, then you can do races against each other. They also take pictures for you throughout the day while you are on the water and give it to you on a zip drive at the end. All of the instructors and staff we interacted with were great. Would highly recommend this place for your team building event. They can handle smaller and larger groups. It was a fun afternoon. read more

I recently completed my Bareboat Chartering Course (ASA104) with Spinnaker and in fact I've completed all my sailing instruction here. Without doubt, every instructor at Spinnaker knows there stuff and is both a good instructor and sailor. My instructor (Dan) is a little gruff at first, but boy does he know his stuff. From captaining ferries on the Bay, to delivering sail vessels up and down the coast, sailing to Hawaii on celestial navigation after a battery fail, he's done it all and he's got stories to share. Throughout my time sailing with Spinnaker I feel my sailing skills have continued to grow and develop and I feel ready for more adventures. More importantly I also feel part of a community and have developed many friends through sailing here and I highly recommend them. They just had 3 instructors win ASA instructor of the year - out of only 30 nation wide and 3 of 4 awarded in the Bay Area, you'll be hard pressed to find better. The only downside is that Redwood City isn't the prettiest location to sail from, but it is definitely convenient if you live on the peninsula. read more

Spinnaker Sailing - Sailing towards San Francisco after our overnight at Sausalito. - Boat Charters Near Me - Redwood City, California

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Finally made it under the Golden Gate Bridge as a skipper. read more

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I think this place all depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking to rent a really nice boat for a day just to get a one-time sail on SF bay, you're probably in the wrong place, especially with the smaller boats. First off, it's the wrong part of the bay for really *great* sails and second, spinnaker's boats aren't the "impressive" type. If, on the other hand, what you're looking for is a place where you can sail *often*, to get your sailing fix, or start sailing lessons, it's an excellent place. They have good instructors, decent boats, their location is quite convenient for those in Silicon Valley (15 minute drive for me rather than the hour trip to Sausalito, which I do occasionally) and the prices are more than reasonable if you want to join the club and be a regular --- one of the options allows you to pay a monthly fee and use the boats up to 29' as much as you like. Also, the calmness of the Redwood City channel and the south bay is a good place to get started in sailing and to build up your initial confidence. As someone who *does* want to get a sailing fix fairly frequently and not want to travel an hour to get there for just a couple hour sail, this place works out quite well for me. Also they have, in the warm months, Wed evening races which are a great way to get started in the sailing community and meet other people you can sail with (crew for them, or they crew for you)... read more

Spinnaker sailing Is a great place to learn how to sail. All of the spinnaker sailing staff are great.They have plenty of boats to charter there's never been a time where I went to charter a boat and there wasn't one. Boats are well maintain and clean great for taking friends and family out sailing. I would definitely recommend Spinnaker sailing to any body learning to sail or just looking to charter a boat. read more

The wife and I decided to learn how to sail here since this is the closest location to our house. It certainly beats driving to SF or Berkeley. Nearly 2.5k and two sets of classes (BKS and BCC) later, we were assured that we had enough skill to charter any boat in the Bay Area or the world for a day. Skip three months ahead with our busy schedules and off we go to OSCS to join their club and charter some boats. Turns out that they have a practical test over there and we promptly flunk it. Turns out that sailing in the wind up in central bay is NOTHING like the calm south bay we have had exposure to. Not to mention that the wishy washy instruction we had from the instructors at Spinnaker pale in comparison to the rigid expectations we found at other schools. This part is apparent from the broken down Merrit 25 boats that they use as you can see in other reviews. Overall, I would recommend this place for going sailing on a day trip with a skipper. I would even recommend them for a BKS class. Also, if you are into sailing dingy boats with no one around you and calm weather where you motor half the time (not their fault) this is fine. However, if you want to go higher, get a real school. Lots around near central bay with similar prices. read more

My brother, son and I tried an evening sail with Paul H. We met by the office and walked over to boat #5. We climbed aboard and put on PFDs (personal flotation device). We helped untie the boat as well as raise the sails once we got out of the harbor. We sailed the south bay between the Dumbarton and San Mateo bridge. My son and I were able to steer, it was great. Paul answered all our questions, he was really nice and helpful. It was a great experience, the bay seems bigger on a ship and you appreciate the wind on your face as you sailed the afternoon away. read more

We recently booked a team building session at Spinnaker and were very impressed. First, we were divided onto two boats and spent the first hour or so learning the basics of sailing, including terminology, the different parts of the boat, and maneuvers. After, we raced each other through an obstacle course, which put our newly-learned skills to the test. It was a great time! Rick made setting up the entire process very easy for us. Also, unknown to us, Rick documented everything with photos. He even gave us a CD with over 60 photos of our excursion. I will be taking person sailing lessons at Spinnaker and highly recommend them for personal lessons and/or corporate team building events! read more

Why would a guy who has been sailing for 40 years take basic sailing lessons at Spinnaker Sailing? When I moved here from the east coast, with all this water, I had to continue my sailing. I told my wife, "I'm buying a sailboat". With typical wife logic, she argued that renting was less expensive and troublesome than owning. So I relented and went to Spinnaker to rent. Spinnaker runs a tight ship with emphasis on safety. Before I could rent one of their boats,they required I take two courses, Basic Keelboat and Basic Coastal Cruising. Well, it was an excellent refresher for me, with a big plus I never considered, I made some like-minded sailing friends that sail with me today. During the course of the classes I had 3 different instructors. They were all competent and experienced sailors, but one instructor stands out : Dave Goeke. As a retired flight instructor that has taught private, commercial and instructor ratings, I feel I can objectively comment on an instructors' abilities. Dave took into account the capabilities of each student and adjusted his style to either make a newbie comfortable, or ask for more from a fast learner. His unflappable demeanor, even temper and sense of humor made each sailing class a pleasure. So, what happened after I took the classes? I rented a Spinnaker boat once and then bought my own boat. I'm docked in the same marina as Spinnaker Sailing School. I attend their summer BBQ's and get to chat with the people that run the school. They are a dedicated bunch that love sailing. You will not be disappointed if you learn to sail at Spinnaker. Ask for Dave G. I'll look for you out on the water. read more

Rich and his team hosted a fantastic team building event. Very friendly and professional. Our whole team had a great time.

I love Spinnaker Sailing School. I have been sailing with them for many years. Regarding their instructors, I really like Dave G. I had not been sailing for a while and I wanted to get started again. I live in the south bay and Redwood City is close, so I took some private lessons at Spinnaker. The teacher was Dave G, very patient instructor and great sailor. He even showed me how to sail backwards, which drew some puzzled reactions from passing boats. Occasionally I sail the Wednesday night races on a boat skippered by an instructor. It is a lot of fun. I like the teachers, Redwood Creek is a nice place, and the location is very convenient. read more

It's a fantastic place to learn how to sail. We signed up to one of the Spinnaker sailing packages they offer, which includes: Club initiation, Basic Keelboat and Basic Coastal cruising. We passed the basic keelboat this week and cannot wait for the basic coastal cruising to start. We also joined the club as mates members for now and we will upgrade to skipper membership as soon as we complete the BCC. That will allow us to sail on our own on their Merits 25. Dan was our instructor for the basic keelboat and he was great! (so much experience under his belt). Everybody in the office made us feel so welcome and Dana, Mike and Bob are super friendly. If you are looking for place to sail , look no further. We love it! read more

Great staff, service, boats and training. Had an amazing time taking Spinnaker's ASA 101 keel boat sailing class and highly recommend it to anyone ready to try sailing. Bob and the whole team are fantastic! read more

Spinnaker Sailing - Boat Charters Near Me - Redwood City, California

Excellent experience! I just did a two-day basic keelboat sailing course and loved it. I had Dave as my in-classroom instructor and Rudy as my on the sea instructor. Both guys were awesome. I was super nervous about navigating the boat (never been on a sailboat before) and both guys were fantastic. So helpful, so instructive without being condescending, just a great experience. I was on a santana and a merit (between 20-25 each), and I liked both. On the water I felt comfortable on both by the end of the course. It's definitely a great place to learn and i would recommend it to any new sailor. read more

A friend had chartered here before and invited us for sailing. Unfortunately, the facility was little obscure by the Redwood City Port area and the boats that were chartered out here were also a lil under used/not maintained so well? They were all out of boats and we settled for a Santana 22 for $160 for a full day weekend rate. When rigging the boat, we noticed cobwebs on the halyard lines and a cracked window in the cabin. The tiller was also functioning odd. As we were still at the dock, we noticed that another family who chartered the Catalina 27 had problems with their engine. They went to get help from the staff and we overheard the staff telling them that there were no service personnel on Sundays and they had the option to opt for a smaller boat. They were a family of 6 and it would be an uncomfortable fit on a Santana 22. Hence we heard them saying that they will go biking instead. How disappointing. Nonetheless, we were out and about on our way....overall, we made the best out of our sailing day but we still prefer chartering from Club Nautique or OCSC who definitely have better facility and boats. read more

I had a terrible experience with these guys, terrible enough to encourage me to write a review, with hopes that doing so will help prevent anyone else from having a similarly terrible experience. I wanted to move my boat from Alameda to the marina managed by Spinnaker, so I emailed them, Rich replied, asked for photos of the boat, which I sent. He told me I'd have to apply, show proof of residence (to make sure I have a home and am not going to try to live on the boat), all the standard stuff, so I made the drive up there and gave them what they wanted, along with a $25 check for the application. A few days later, I got a call from them saying I can have the spot I want, but I need to clean the boat up before bringing it down, the photos I sent were taken after the boat hadn't been sailed or cleaned over the winter. No problems there, how much is it going to be, yada yada yada, the terms were discussed and agreed upon. I drove up today (taking a half day off work to do so) and when I got there, ready to write a check, and Rich told me my boat had been rejected because, well, frankly, it looks like a POS and the well-heeled patrons of THIS marina don't want to look at it. The man stood there and shamed me for having a POS boat and basically did his best to make me feel like the inferior pile of human garbage he thought I was. I would have been ok if he had said that when I initially emailed him the photos. Ok, I get it, this is a "rich mans" marina and I'm not good enough, I know my boat isn't pretty, it's just a starter boat, paid like $2k for it. But to make me drive up, pay $25, then drive up AGAIN (taking, as I said, a half day off work... Which is a big deal for peasants like me) only to tell me point blank that I was NOT getting the spot... Well frankly, that is shameful on a human level, and unforgivable on a "business 101" level. Either Rich decided to weasel me out of the $25 application fee (after having already seen the photos of my boat, which he pulled out and held in my face to shame me with), or he just didn't have the masculine fortitude to tell me the answer was no, hoping I'd just sort of disappear and never follow up, but either way, these guys don't do their business right, and have zero capacity to show respect to people trying to give them money every month to have a safe place to park their boat. These guys don't deserve your business. Pay the extra money and go to one of the many much nicer marina's further north. If you want to take sailing lessons, I recommend Richmond, where I take my classes, they treat EVERYONE well, not just rich guys with shiny new $200k boats. read more

Mixed bag. The boats are pretty good, the options are very good, the prices are good. But they have a couple of gold-plated jerks as instructors. They clearly think their mission is to be rude, abrasive and insulting. Total power trip. Maybe they are wanna-be Marine Corps DI's? Tip: get over yourselves. Some of us may have actually spent a lot more time on the water than you have, but we needed the certification to be able to use your boats. There are some instructors that seem quite nice, but we weren't allowed to choose who we went with. And of course we had to put up with these jerks because we wanted to get the certificate. read more

This is a great place to start sailing. You can go out for a couple of hours in the evening for about $40. You are on a 22 ft boat, with only four crew and the professional skipper, and you get to pull on the lines, steer, etc if you want to. You can also just sit back and relax. If you get into it, they have lessons and a membership which lets you go sailing anytime without additional charge, and costs way less that the berth for your own boat, never mind buying and maintaining the boat. read more

I have always wanted to sail so a few years back I started taking sailing classes at Spinnaker in Redwood City. I took basic keelboat including on the water instruction from Dave G. I learned a lot and enjoyed the instructor so much that I requested Dave G (as did others) for my next class, coastal cruising. He knows his stuff AND can teach it in a way you'll remember while having fun. That is a difficult combination as some are great at their skill but not at teaching or vice versa. Dave G and Spinnaker sailing really made learning to sail fun, sparking my own interest in the world of sailing. read more

New to the bay area last year, decided to try out sailing with a friend. We have taken a few classes at Spinnaker and joined their club. Now we are sailing all the time and love it. This is a good area to learn in the off season, the low winds and lack of hectic traffic allowed us to grow our skills without any problems. San Francisco is a good ways off, we can't really make it there and back in a day. You can make it out into the bay, and on a windy day that is thrilling. They have a lot of different boats and we've enjoyed learning how different sails work and so forth. All the instructors we've met have been excellent, knowledgeable and friendly. Bob Diamond was our first instructor and he ended up winning instructor of the year for the ASA. read more

I took both Basic Keel Boat and Basic Coastal Cruising from Spinnaker. I have to say it was one of the best experiences of my life. I've still have friends from the class the I meet with and sail with 10 years later. Everyone I take out on my boat that asks about classes always gets a referral to Spinnaker. Our instructor Dave was the best and still sails with us once in a while. We recently took some friends out on my Catalina 34 that had gone to 'another' school and taken classes. I quote "We learned more in a few hours with you guys than whole class we just took!". Dave and Spinnaker really know how to present the curriculum to beginning sailors, deliver the knowledge and pack entire weekends with fun at the same time. read more

I booked a intro to sailing class through Spinnaker sailing. Little did I know there were a couple of schools that have similar names in the bay.... So after completing one day of my two day course, I found out much to my embarrassment that I had ended up at the wrong school....! The Guys at Spinnaker sailing school in Redood city were very understanding., and let my one day sailing on the bay slide for free. Thanks a lot guys! read more

I just completed the 4-day Basic Keelboat coarse (BKS1 and BKS2). Four of us (friends) took the class together. Mike set us up to all be in the same boat for all four days. That made it a really great time and was helpful as we plan on sailing together in the future. The classroom instructors were very good as was our in-the-boat instructor, Dave. Dave was a fantastic teacher and provided helpful feedback without being condescending. We really didn't get much wind on any of the 4 days. But this is really more a function of the time of year and bad luck. Earlier this year my friend took me out sailing from the same place (Redwood Creek, from Spinnaker school), and it was very windy and exciting. We definitely took BKS1 and BKS2 with the goal of getting "Basic Keelboat" certification. The instructors to a great job of preparing you for the exam, and really took all the mystery out of it. With all the practice you do in the boat, and with some study and knot-tying practice we all passed easily. A very positive experience overall. We plan on taking the next level coarse "Basic Coastal Cruising" (BCC) with Spinnaker next January. I would recommend Spinnaker school to anyone. 5 stars! read more

I've done 3 courses there now and might yet take a couple more. Thanks to their excellent instruction, and a year of skippering their boats as a member, I've been able to take the plunge and get my own cruising sailboat and enjoy sailing it from the start, in safety. Personally I'm a fan of the location as you have the sheltered creek to play in when the bay is too wild, and on nicer days you'll have the south bay pretty much to yourself. I also like the fact that Redwood City is still a working port, with a ship being loaded at the wharf most of the time. However large ship traffic is very occasional, unlike the central bay. If something is wrong on one of the boats you can blame the last people who charted it for not mentioning it, as I can tell you that anything I've ever reported was fixed right away. It's a sailboat, something breaks almost every time you sail it! read more

Just finished basic keelboat sailing classes for a sailing trip we're taking in the BVI in July. Steve was our instructor. I was with my daughter and her friend who will be coming and we all had a great time and had fun learning from Steve. He made a class that I was expecting to be very boring, fun and interesting. He gave a lot of background as to why thing were called what they were called. Lots of stories of sailors from way back when. I was the one on the boat who was most uncomfortable and his calmness put me at ease and made the days very fun. We all passed the test easily. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone. read more

I just competed the 4-day Basic Keelboat Sailing class and had a great time! The class size of 3 per boat was ideal. The instructor, Rudi was very good in teaching us how to sail. I gained a lot of confidence on taking the helm and being part of a crew. We alternated between a Santana 22 and a Merit 25 which I really liked because it gave me a chance to work on different riggings. The location of the school was great because it was close to SV. Sailing along the RC Channel gave us the opportunities to apply what we learned in the classroom. Understanding Right of Way, Wind shifts, Navigation signs, Tacking and Jibing etc. I would recommend this school if you want to learn to sail and the safe way to sail in the bay area. One thing I would like to mention is the scenery is not very nice because it is surrounded by industrial sites which is quite an eyesore. But heck you're too busy watching the wind and sharpening your sailing skills you'll quickly forget about that. Thanks Rich and Rudi! read more

I bought a hunter 28 a few years back and with a friend decided we should take some classes. Spinnaker in Redwood City was not convenient for us but the school came well recommended . We took basic keelboat and coastal cruising and learned a lot. Our teacher was Dave G, competent sailor, great teacher, lurid sense of humor. The weather was really rough and I felt confident the teacher knew what he was doing. Now we have a Cat 34 and what we learned at Spinnaker really helps. read more

I completed my Basic Keelboat sailing class with Dave Goeke and learned a lot both in the classroom and on the water. This was at Spinnaker Sailing in Redwood City. Dave is an excellent instructor with a tremendous amount of practical experience under his belt. He covered the right techniques, safety and made it incredibly fun. Not difficult to understand once you know that Dave has been sailing since very young, and is obviously something that comes second nature to him. I highly recommend Dave to all aspiring sailors. read more