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Offshore Passage Making Courses
The Ultimate Blue Water Sailing School Experience
Many sailors dream of long distance sailing and going offshore on an ocean passage. Some just want to travel up 
and down the East Coast from New England to the Bahamas, or on the West Coast from San Diego to Seattle. Whatever your goal, Offshore Sailing School’s ocean sailing courses provides ultimate blue water sailing school, offshore passage making school skills to build long distance sailing confidence.
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“I can never get enough of sailing on open seas, and I always learn something new.”
Steve Colgate – Offshore Sailing School Founder
OSS 105/106 – Fast Track® to Coastal Passage Making
If you have US Sailing Bareboat Cruising Certification earned in OSS 103/104, or combined 101/103/104, the next step is the Fast Track® to Coastal Passage Making Course, combining OSS 105 Coastal Navigation and OSS 106 Coastal Passage Making. This exciting week of offshore sailing experience involves learning how to navigate and sail through whatever weather brings, traveling longer distances between destinations. You navigate non-stop, managing whatever Mother Nature conjures up, learning what it’s like to be a long distance live aboard sailor, sailing after the sun sets. You may take OSS 105 – online Coastal Navigation and 106 – on-water Coastal Passage Making separately, but OSS 105 is required before starting OSS 106. View what you will learn in Coastal Navigation Certification – OSS 105. On specific dates, we offering special passage making courses between Key West and St. Petersburg, Florida. Call 888-454-7015 for more information.
“My wife and I enjoyed the entire experience. It was challenging and exciting to acquire new sailing skills through hands-on experience in the classroom and on the passage. We are looking forward to Celestial Navigation and Offshore Passage Making courses in the future. As an experienced sailor, watching my wife develop her sailing skill and confidence made for a great outcome. Thanks for helping us to sail as a couple.”
Thomas Flynn – Epworth, IA
Read more testimonials here
Choose Your Blue Water Sailing School Wisely
Steve Colgate is a veteran racing sailor and Olympian who has done nine TransAtlantic Races, 20 Newport-Bermuda Races, seven Fastnet Races, two America’s Cup trials, and countless other competitions and long passages in his more than 70 years of sailing. If you are indeed moving towards a long passage over vast ocean stretches, your first passage making sailing school experience could make or break your blue water sailing goals.
Your Safety Comes First
Offshore Sailing School’s Coastal Passage Making Course – OSS 106 and Offshore Passage Making Course – OSS 108 curricula are carefully developed by Steve Colgate and his team, concurring with the National Faculty of US Sailing – the governing body of sailing in the United States, appointed by Congress. Offshore Sailing School teaches no more than four students with an experienced long-distance cruising instructor on a Coastal Passage Making Course – OSS 106, and three to six students in the Offshore Passage Making Course – OSS 108 where you stand watches, sailing non-stop, with two instructors aboard. Combine Offshore Passage Making with our Celestial Navigation Course and you will be fully prepared for any conditions on the high seas. Check out our Celestial Navigation Course video highlights here.
Sail the Seven Seas
Sign up for an ocean sailing course and go sail the seven seas, like one of our early Offshore Sailing School graduates Bill Pinkney shown above at the US Sailboat Show in Annapolis, MD with Steve and Doris Colgate. Bill is the first and only African-American to sail around all five capes, solo! And, yes, there are five capes.
