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Passage Making Courses

The ultimate dream of many sailors – whether they eventually do it or not – is to go sailing beyond sight of land or take long voyages on their boats or with friends.

Offshore Sailing School offers you the final two instructional steps attained through the US SAILING certification system to get you to “living that dream” level. If you have completed all the certifications to get you there (see What You Learn In Our Courses), then you are ready for the first step in the process of becoming a qualified ocean-going sailor.

Coastal Passage Making

Coastal Passage Making is an exciting adventure that takes you to distant points from Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, standing watches, navigating, learning what it’s like to sail through the night and make landfall on the money. Or you can take it in Florida: from St. Petersburg, sailing through Tampa Bay out into the Gulf ; from Captiva Island sailing out into the Gulf and around the barrier islands.

This is a great course to prepare you for sailing down the Intracoastal Waterway and into the Atlantic to the Bahamas and Caribbean beyond; spending long vacations on passages in the Great Lakes; heading down the Gulf Coast of Florida to the Keys; or sailing out of West Coast harbors to ports requiring overnight sailing along the shore.

With the arrival of new cruising boat in our fleet, a very special Coastal Passage Making Course will embark November 9. Read about it here.

Coastal Navigation is needed to get your Passage Making certification. You can take the Coastal Navigation course as a stand-alone four-day classroom program at various Offshore Sailing School locations; but better yet, consider Fast Track to Coastal Passage Making – a 10-day program you’ll never forget – to get everything accomplished on the same journey.

First you’ll start with four days of comprehensive Coastal Navigation instruction while staying ashore, then board a 45’ to 51’ cruising boat and sail for six straight days. There are few words to describe the true sense of accomplishment you feel when you dock back at base with high fives for all.

Offshore Passage Making

Ahhhh, the deep blue sea. It calls out to those of us with sailing in our souls; we can’t seem to get enough of it. Many sailors feel sailing beyond sight of land is a metaphysical pilgrimage that encourages you to take a second look at the values that steer your life.

Doris Colgate’s boss at Yachting Magazine was Bob Bavier, a seasoned ocean racer and winning America’s Cup skipper. He once said: “The sea can be most unforgiving at times.” That’s a phrase I never forgot,” says Doris. The Colgates will tell you over and over you never stop learning about sailing. Every passage, every day sail, every cruise creates a new experience.

“I can never get enough of being out there,” says Steve; “and I always learn something new.” This comes from a veteran racing sailor who has done nine TransAtlantic Races, 20 Newport-Bermuda Races, two America’s Cup trials and countless other competitions and long passages in his more than 70 years of sailing.This is Steve on a passage around Cape Horn several years ago and he's loving it! If you are indeed moving towards a long passage over vast ocean stretches, your first passage sailing experience could make or break your desire to pursue that goal. Choose your training wisely.

What you need to know for these courses

Offshore Passage Making is the final course in the US SAILING step-series of training. You’ll need Celestial Navigation knowledge in order to achieve your US SAILING Offshore Passage Making certification. To make it easy for you to achieve both, we have created the Fast Track to Offshore Passage Making course which starts with Celestial Navigation and takes you through Offshore Passage Making in 10 days in the British Virgin Islands.

Fast Track to Offshore Passage Making is designed for experienced sailors who want to build skills, knowledge and confidence in preparation for blue water sailing. The first four days are spent studying celestial navigation in a classroom setting while staying ashore at The Moorings or elsewhere in the Road Town area. Then you’ll board your 50 footer and take off through Sir Frances Drake Channel, out into the ocean for a 600 nautical mile voyage with at least 250 nautical miles of that voyage beyond 50 miles offshore.

All the US SAILING certifications are needed to achieve this badge of honor. See What You Learn In Our Courses for what is covered and the prerequisites involved. Don’t let anything stop you now. Go sail the seven seas, like one of our early Offshore Sailing School graduates Bill Pinkney – the first (and only) African-American to sail around all five capes, solo! And, yes, there are five capes.