2022 scheduling & sign-up

Over 50 Years of our family giving you more of what you go to sailing school for!SM

WANT SCHEDULES?   Use the drop down here to choose a course, and schedules will magically appear.  If a schedule says WAITLISTED, it means we might add another boat to the schedule and you can get on that list by hitting us up.  People sometimes change schedules, and COVID causes this last-minute sometimes – which can open a spot or two for you!

WANT WEEKDAYS?  NEED CUSTOM DATES?  PRIVATE LESSONS ON OUR BOATS OR YOURS?   LET US KNOW!  If the dates you see don’t work for you, we can probably set up a custom schedule – especially if you’re a group of two or more.  We often set up schedules that never even appear on the site as we book them by grouping people together who can’t join the ones shown in the posted list.  Weekday schedules are highly flexible, and another advantage is less boat traffic everywhere.  (Except, of course, on NY Harbor and the Hudson/East Rivers, where there’s arguably more due to commuter ferries and commercial shipping.  Ouch!  That’s why we don’t sail there.)

NEW:  we now also offer learn to sail in Brooklyn, out of Miramar Yacht Club in Sheepshead Bay – Gateway to the Atlantic! (We still teach at City Island, of course – our Gateway to the Sound, and the other Bookend of the Boroughs!)  If you’re interested in Brooklyn schedules, contact us.  Most schedules below are for City Island, but some can also be done in Sheepshead Bay and others we set up will be specific to Brooklyn or split between both locations!

Course:
Schedule (Start Sailing/101)
Schedule (Start Cruising/103):
Schedule (Start Bareboating/104)
Schedule (Start Navigating/105)

COVID POLICY:  all our instructors are  fully vaccinated & boosted.  Unless you’re Zooming with us for Live 105SM (Coastal Nav),  you must be fully vaccinated as well including a booster, and submit proof in advance via Excelsior Pass Plus, vax card, or other method acceptable to us.  If you show up without this, you will be turned away and will not be entitled to a refund.

(nb: we had the following up in August of 2021: it’s worth noting what we said in the Omicron context..: “Stay the course and stay safe, as the Delta variants are insidious and, while fully vaxed people are well protected, Delta sometimes slips past the goalie.  Also, we don’t yet know what’s just off the Radar that we’ll all read about later.”

So… “how it started:” Delta.  “How it’s going:” Omicron alphabet soup.  And, that’s why we require and validate vaccination.

Pano: click to zoom.  Contemplative camper on one of our Virgin Islands (BVI) trips, looking out at the last islands before open water from a plateau on Sandy Cay, a Rockefeller donation to the BVI National Park system. No “improvements” here… nothing needs improvin!  We can take you there on our trips, and train you to go on your own.

Ready to learn how to sail, cruise or navigate?  Live, on-line interactive navigation schedules (105) and on-water sailing schedules for 101, 103 and 104 at City Island are shown below.  See a list of courses with links here, or contact us with questions.

On this page, you can purchase our certification courses and Sailing Club memberships, or just check schedules in the drop-down menu below.  “Learn Live” interactive navigation schedules are not set far in advance; we roll with demand, so check back, contact us, or sign up for our eNews, “Tidings” to be notified when new ones are posted.

Weekday sailing and cruising courses are usually scheduled on demand, and private instruction on your boat or ours is totally on demand!

For specialty clinics, we will send you an email invoice you can pay directly from.  Our Price Matching and discount policies, as well as general terms and conditions of enrollment, all appear below.  

WANT TO SEE SCHEDULES?   Use the drop down here to choose a course, and schedules will magically appear.  Note the dates; sorry, can’t copy/paste.  If it says “waitlisted,” we might be adding another boat to the schedule, or one or more people are tentative.  Find out by hitting us up.)

Course:
Schedule (Start Sailing/101)
Schedule (Start Cruising/103):
Schedule (Start Bareboating/104)
Schedule (Start Navigating/105)

WANT TO SIGN UP?  Options… 

1. Enroll securely right here.  All transactions are on PayPal’s platform – ultra secure!  (No need to have a PayPal account.)  Easy from any device; super mobile-friendly.  Use credit/debit, reward/gift cards, or a PayPal account if you have or create one. (Powered by them, but you do not need to have or sign up for PayPal.) In some cases, you can even use a bank account.  You’ll get instant confirmation both on-screen and by email.  Want an invoice first?  Let us know, and we’ll email one you can click and pay from and save for your records.

pay pal cc logos
You can enroll & pay below with PayPal or with a credit or debit card.  All transactions are on their ultra secure site. Yet another way we give you MORE!

2. One call does it all if you like speaking to someone, and we can answer any questions.  917-331-8558.  Payment is by credit/debit card, check, or cash.

(Any which way you pay to play, please read the terms and conditions at the bottom of the page before enrolling. There, you’ll also find a list of Courses, prices & discounts, with links back to their pages, in case you need to check anything before choosing.)

To sign up here securely: Scroll down to see our Sailing Club and Sailing Course options.  Choose the appropriate payment amount from the drop-downs.  Enter or paste the schedule, if choosing now, and click the yellow button to add to cart.  You can then pay with your choice of Visa, MC, Discover, Amex, or PayPal.  (For price matching on Start SailingSM, use the $1 price-match option.  We’ll verify your price match and email you a custom invoice that you can pay directly from.)

You’ll get instant on-screen and email confirmation, and we’ll follow up with a second and confirm your schedule if you chose one.  Or, shoot us a message or reply to our confirmation to set your schedule.  You can also call us at 917-331-8558 if you have questions or anything to add. Welcome aboard!

Ready to do this?  Here we go…

 

Start Navigating (ASA 105)
Paste/type schedule (optional)

 

 

Start Sailing (ASA 101)
Type in schedule (optional)

 

 

Start Cruising (ASA 103)
Paste/type schedule (optional)

 

 

Start Bareboating (ASA 104)
Paste/type schedule (optional)

 

 

Sailing Club Memberships
Read/agree to terms?

Here’s more about our discount & Price Matching, followed by a list of courses/prices with links to their pages, and Terms and Conditions of enrollment.

Graduates of any of our certification courses enjoy a 10% discount on all future courses & clinics (not extended to our sailing vacation courses abroad).

nb: Discounts can’t be combined.  The best available single discount will always apply, whether it’s a volume discount, sale price, or price matching.  Any discount requires at least 3 students in a schedule for nav and cruising courses, but only 2 for learn-to-sail/101.  We will still run scheduled courses that are not full, but discounts will not apply, even if a student must make up the difference in pricing.  No refund will be given in the event that a discount must be forfeited due to not having the minimum applicable enrollment.  Re-scheduling will not be allowed either unless, at the Sailing Center’s sole discretion, it does not create a logistical problem for the Sailing Center or other student/s involved.  (Many other schools simply cancel schedules that aren’t full, and leave students without plans at the last minute.  Again, we’ll run a schedule that doesn’t have full enrollment, but unless the boat or classroom is more than half full, we can’t give discounts when we do that for you.)

Price matching policy for our Start SailingSM course (ASA 101, learn-to-sail/Basic Keelboat):
We’ll match any Tri-State Area school’s price for an honest, full, 3-day learn-to-sail course, and split the difference for 2-day programs.  (Good luck finding a school that gives you as much as we do!)  We will BEAT the final price of any yacht club’s full 3-day course.  Their program must be accredited with ASA or US Sailing, and the course must lead to or offer ASA or US Sailing Basic Keelboat certification.  You can ask for price matching when you enroll, or for up to one week afterward (in which case we credit any difference owed you).  Choose the $1 option in the drop down pricing menu for Start Sailing.  Tell us which program you’re looking for a price match with.  We’ll verify the final pricing with you and send an email invoice for the balance that you can click and pay from.   Price matching can be invoked only one time per course & student, even if you find a better deal later.  Price matching cannot be combined with other discounts.  The best available single discount will apply.  More details on price matching appear at the bottom of this page before general terms and conditions.

Price matching policy for our Start NavigatingSM course (ASA 105, Coastal Navigation):
We’ll match any accredited Tri-State Area school or Yacht Club’s price for a full coastal navigation course leading to ASA or US Sailing certification.  The course must have at least two sessions (on separate dates), and must have at least 12 hours of instruction (not including time allotted for the certification exam).  Any extra charges for materials, exam, certification, etc will be added to their tuition when we price match.  (Yup; we do the all-inclusive thing here.)  You can ask for price matching before or upon enrollment only, and only once – even if you find a better deal later.  Choose the $1 option in the drop down pricing menu for Start Sailing.  Tell us which program you’re looking for a price match with.  We’ll verify the final pricing with you and send an email invoice for the balance that you can click and pay from.  Price matching cannot be combined with other available discounts.  The best available single discount will apply.  More details on price matching appear at the bottom of this page before general terms and conditions.

BEWARE of misleading descriptions of how long a course is.  Schools do it; daily deal sites do it.  Be sure you’re clear about the following when comparing programs:

  • how many hours are considered a ‘day’
  • whether those hours are sailing or in a classroom
  • whether sailing hours are with an instructor or practicing without one

What do we give you?

  • 3 full days with an instructor, mostly on-water (approx 5 hours classroom and 18 sailing)
  • 3 students maximum per boat (almost all other schools do 4 per boat)
  • 2 or 3 half day practice sessions, supervised by an instructor, but you sail without one

So, you see, we are a better value BEFORE  price matching.  Having said that, here are the terms for this policy…

  • School must be an ASA or US Sailing Certification facility.
  • A yacht club is defined as a private, non-profit membership club.
  • Each ‘day’ must be mostly sailing time with an instructor.  A ‘3-day’ course that only gives you two days with an instructor on board is a 2-day course.  For two-day courses, if part of that time is practice sailing without an instructor, or taking and exam, etc, we will give you 25% of the price difference instead of 50%.  (Remember, we include two half-day practice sessions after our entire 3-day course, and don’t use course time to administer tests.)
  • Their price must be all-inclusive, or we’ll add on the extras – course materials, text book/practice problems, plotting tools, certification, etc – before matching the price or splitting the difference.
  • Price matching applies regardless of whether either course is on sale.
  • If their course is offered through a ‘daily deal’ site such as Groupon, Living Social, etc, we will still do price matching unless there are extra restrictions imposed on the purchaser through the offer as compared to that school’s posted terms & conditions.  In that case, we’ll split the difference for 3-day courses and offer 25% of the difference for 2-day courses
  • For Coastal Navigation: their course must have at least two sessions, each on a different date, and total at least 12 hours in instructional length.  Any time allotted for the certification exam doesn’t count.

Questions about this, or anything else?  Ask us.

Here’s a list of the most common courses with links back to their pages for more info.

  • Start Sailing: Learn-to-sail / Basic Keelboat (ASA 101).  $795, with Price Matching per the terms outlined above).  Discounts: $50 off each when 3 or more enroll for same schedule.  Full terms for discounts are outlined above.
  • Start Cruising: Basic Coastal Cruising (ASA 103).  $745.  Discounts: Full terms for discounts are outlined above.
  • Start Bareboating: Bareboat Cruising (ASA 104).  $795.  Discounts: 10% off for graduates of our Start Sailing 101 course.  Full terms for discounts are outlined above.
  • Start Navigating: Coastal Navigation (ASA 105).  $395, and we offer price matching per the terms outlined above.  Discounts: $50 off each when 3 or more enroll for same schedule (must enroll within one week of each other).  Full terms for discounts are outlined above.

Terms and conditions of enrollment

We’re pretty reasonable and flexible, and this is a fun business.  Having said that, it’s still a business so to be business-like about it, here’s what we expect from you and what you should expect of us as you take this journey.

All enrollments are subject to availability and to the terms and conditions both above and below, and by enrolling, regardless of the method used, you affirm that you have read and agree to them.

DEPOSITS & CONFIRMATION: Final confirmation and relevant materials will be sent upon receipt of full balance, which must be received 4 weeks or more prior to start date. If choosing a schedule less than 4 weeks prior to its start date, full payment must be made with the reservation – if there is insufficient time to send materials, they will be held for you at the Sailing Center. All reservations are subject to availability; this can change rapidly.  We list our schedules in advance of the season, and add to it from time to time. If it’s critical for you to know a particular schedule is available before purchasing, please confirm with us in advance. Payments and deposits are non-refundable except as outlined below.

RESCHEDULING:  In the rare event that there is insufficient enrollment for a particular schedule you‘re confirmed for, we will inform you as far in advance as possible and you may either reschedule or cancel.  If you choose to cancel, you will receive a refund minus a $50 materials and handling deposit, which is refunded upon return of all course materials in new condition (we don’t charge this deposit if no materials were sent).  This provision only applies if we re-schedule you due to low enrollment for a schedule – not for any other reason, including but not limited to weather, breakdown, reasons completely beyond our control such as transit issues, strikes, pandemics or other health concerns, and so on.

CANCELLATIONS & REFUNDS:   If you cancel for your own reasons 2 weeks or more in advance of a course’s start date, no refunds will be issued, but you may reschedule.  If you cancel within 2 weeks of the start date, we will only allow you to reschedule if we can fill the vacancy you created, and no refunds will be issued.  If we cannot fill your vacancy, your funds are forfeited* except potentially in the case of your serious injury, illness or other bona fide emergency, and solely at our discretion.  If we determine to allow rescheduling in these scenarios, you may do so within one calendar year for a $50 administration fee.  (*This provision is contemplated only as a last resort to protect us from frivolous cancellations, and while we bend over backwards to avoid it, on rare occasions we have had to enforce it.  We can count those on one hand, but if you have any questions about this, just ask us.)  We do not give refunds, either full or partial, for any package deals for multiple courses such as buy 4/get 1 year free in sailing club.  We also do not give refunds for holiday and other sales events, unless the purchase is a gift certificate for someone else, in which case the recipient has 10 days from the date of the occasion to exchange for another service or to get a refund (which is issued to original purchaser).

NO-SHOWS/MAKEGOODS: If you do not show up for one or more sessions, we’ll try without obligation to reschedule you within 2015 at our mutual convenience for a comparable session in another schedule.  Makegood fees are $50 per session or $100 per course; this is due to the administrative effort involved (and as a disincentive to disrupt your own sailing education!).

WEATHER:  Rain or shine – we go out whenever it’s safe and productive for teaching, so dress or pack appropriately.  Your learn-to-sail confirmation email contains some suggestions on what to get and where to get it, and you can call or e-mail us with questions.  We are happy to send the list to experienced sailors in more advanced courses as well.  If we lose a significant amount of time during the course that cannot be made up on the scheduled days, we will schedule one or more free makegoods as soon as possible at our mutual convenience.  No refunds will be given for weather delays, even if the entire course has to be rescheduled.

BREAKDOWNS:  On very rare occasions, gear failure can occur that can delay sailing.  We strive to prevent this from happening through routine maintenance and inspection.  If time is lost to a breakdown that cannot be made up on the scheduled days of your course, we will arrange a free makegood of the time.  No refunds will be given for breakdown delays.

START SAILINGSM GUARANTEE:  If you aren’t satisfied with the quality of your Start SailingSM course, tell us before you leave and you can take the course over again once for free.  To be eligible, you must attend and participate in all sessions of your first course, and let us know why you’re not satisfied (so that we may better serve you and others in the future).  All standard terms & conditions apply to your scheduling of the free course.  Nb: No one has ever asked to invoke this guarantee!  On rare occasions, people ask if they can pay for another session to get more training.  The answer they always get?  NO.  You cannot do that.  But you can come for free! The course and training are not over until you’re ready to co skipper with other students in the supervised practice sails.  Sometimes, after the practice sails, students ask for a third to further build confidence or practice certain skills under our observation before renting or skippering in our Sailing Club.  Sometimes we just recommend this based on our observations.  Either way, no one pays.  Just another way we give you more.

QUESTIONS? Get in touch for answers by contacting us.