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On This Page:

1. General Information
2. FAQ

1. General Information:

We offer a US SAILING endorsed course called the Small Boat Sailor's Course. It is an entry level learn-to-sail course offering certifcation. It is an intensive 5-day format with more than 20 hours of hands-on sailing with our Catalina 22 keelboat, or F-20 trimaran. The course includes US Sailing textbooks "Start Sailing Right", and "Basic Keelboat", chalk talks and theory lessons. You will practice 15 different skills such as upwind and downwind sailing; tacking and gybing; starting and stopping; and, weather awareness, knot knowledge, docking, mooring, anchoring, sail handling, crew overboard, and outboard engine use.

The Small Boat Sailor's Course (SBSC) offers great flexibility for our participants, from those who just want to see what sailing is like, to those who are committed to eventually make sailing a major part of their lives. The Small Boat Sailors Course can be taught on dinghies, multihulls, and small keelboats. Your certificate will designate the boat you learned on, the wind conditions in which you sailed, and the number of skills you successfully completed on the logbook checklist. Another school or rental organization will be able to read your SBSC certificate or logbook and assess your level to place you in a next course or rent you a sailboat.

You'll receive a skills certification checklist to chart ongoing progress during the course, and may take practical and written exams. But participants are not obligated to take the exams; you'll still have the certifcation book as a record of the progress you do make. Your only obligation with us is to learn as much as you can and have fun!

You will also receive a US SAILING course completion card and a course logbook. These are often useful for day chartering similar boats in protected waters. With the completed certificate and logbook you can contact US SAILING or affiliated schools to take further courses such as Coastal Cruising, Navigation, or Bareboat Chartering at any US SAILING school. US SAILING is the governing body of sailing in the USA, training instructors, and race officials, developing courses, and administering programs as diverse as the America's Cup and the Olympics.

About the Instructor

Douglas Knapp, the head instructor, is a certified US SAILING Small Boat Sailors Course Instructor, Instructor Trainer, and Keelboat Instructor, Coast Guard licensed, with 20 years of sailing instructor experience, and 30 years of sailing experience.

Logistics

Our course runs Monday through Friday, from 8:30-4pm, and includes lunch.Participants will want to be in Loreto the Sunday prior to the course, or earlier, and plan on leaving the Saturday after the course, or later. Almost all of the instruction takes place directly on our Catalina 22, which is moored in the marina for the duration of the course.

Participants will be hotel based in Loreto during the course. There are hotels available to meet various budgets from $35 a night to $120 a night. Hotels and other meals are the responsibility of the participants. We can help you make arrangements. Course participants are welcome to, and encouraged, to bring non-sailing family memebers or friends along to Loreto as there are many interesting things to do such as cultural tours, day hikes, sport fishing, and whale watching, in season(Jan-Mar).

The cost is $525 per person. A $200 deposit will hold a reservation for a course. Courses run with 2-4 participants, never more. We run the courses once a month from January through April. Contact us for your preferred dates.

2. FAQ:

Q. What skills are taught in the SBSC?
A. The US SAILING endorsed SBSC lists 14 skill areas; wind direction, rigging/unrigging, knots/lines, Rules of the road,departure/landing steering/safety position, tacking, points of sail, gybing, overboard recovery, out of irons, and upwind sailing. At SailBaja, we also include outboard engine use, heaving to(variation of safety position) and anchoring.

Q. How much time will I actually be sailing during the SBSC?
A. Over five days, we expect to have students do hands-on sailing for 5 hours a day with an hour for a working lunch and a hour for theory classes.(7 hours) Students will divide time and learn skills as the helm(steering) and the crew. Most courses are 2 or 3 students so you can expect to be an active crew for all those five hours, or, close to 25 hours during the course.

Q. Will I be able to charter or rent a sailboat after doing the Small Boat Sailors Course?
A. The SBSC is a beginning course, good for beginners and as a fine tune/tutorial for those who have sailed but want a stuructured setting to polish and refine skills. Succesful SBSC completion leaves you with 20+ hours of sailing, a course completion card, and a logbook demonstrating your levle in 14+ skill areas. It is a daysailing course. The expectation is that you will continue to develop your skills and experience in a responsible way. Rental operations offering daysailing boats in protected waters will welcome you and your certificate.

Chartering, usually bareboat chartering, are multi-day trips in unprotected waters. Just as you probably wouldn’t expect or want your newly licensed teen driver to head cross country (or down to Baja)upon getting their license, Your certificate alone may not satisfy the operator.
Like any other endeavor, sailing gets better with practice. There are many paths toward your dreams. as you gain in skills and experience, you may take other US SAILING endorsed courses, or challenge the standards for a course like Bare Boat Chartering, or, with the sound base of the SBSC, proceed on your own. Charter boat companies want your business and they want you to be safe. You can ask any charter boat outfitter for their list of sailing qualifications.

Q. What happens if I fail the course?
A. It doesn’t happen. Ever! US SAILING formatted the SBSC to be an introductory course that allows you to proceed at your comfortable pace. If you don’ t complete a skill set like gybing or crew overboard recovery but do well on the other skills, that part of your logbook is left unsigned. You’ll still get a course completion card, indicating you did the time and the practice. You can work on that skill set at your own pace and time. Then when you feel comfortable with the skill set, you can go to any USSAILING certified instructor and ask for a review and check off. It is a great example of continuing education.

And, we should mention again that if you are uncomfortable with the thought of “testing” you are under no obligation to be tested. you’ll get 20+ hours of great sailing instruction and practice at your own pace. You will get a course completion card and your logbook with a number of skill areas signed because everybody will understand things like wind awareness and knots, etc; by the end of the course. You can, over time, add to the logbook as you choose.

Q. Does SailBaja provide instruction in Bareboat Chartering or other courses?
A. We have life-long affection for small boats. The SBSC fits us perfectly. The next courses up the “sailing ladder” require full keel boats with wheel steering and in-board engines. When that is your direction, we direct you to the USSAILING or ASA web pages for lists of schools offering that instruction. We do offer one-on-one tutorials at most sailing levels, without certification.

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