Frequently Asked Questions
What is the ASA?
The American Sailing Association is an association of sailors, professional sailing instructors, sailing schools and charter companies. The ASA is dedicated to promoting safe recreational sailing in the United States by administering an internationally recognized education system.
What are the advantages of certification?
- Internationally recognized credentials
- Quality educational materials
- Professional instruction
- Specific goals and training for each level of the program
- Discounts with many charter companies throughout the world.
Do I need certification to charter?
Every charter company has their own standards to qualify prospective charterers. Some may accept the ASA Bareboat certification alone; most will also ask for resumes of experience.
Charter companies look at a variety of variables in qualifying a charterer: experience, certifications, size of boat being applied for, charter area and conditions, and the experience and certifications of crew members. A certification in Bareboat Chartering or higher will show the charter company that you have received formal training and have passed a rigorous program with specific standards.
Why should I choose Blue Water Sailing School?
The goal of Blue Water Sailing School is to provide training and education in sailing, seamanship and boating safety. We offer the finest quality education in one of the nicest areas for sailing in the United States.
We are one of the few sailing schools that offers not only the basic sailing courses, but also the most advanced sailing courses available: Advanced Coastal Cruising, Celestial Navigation and Offshore Passagemaking. At all levels you will be taught by instructors who are not only expert sailors, but expert teachers.
You can start at Basic Sailing and continue with our program to owning your own boat and sailing around the world. For more, please see “Why Choose Us.”
What are the deposit requirements?
Please see our “Terms and Conditions.”
What course should I take?
The highest-level course you could take with no experience at all is Course A Plus - Bareboat Skipper. The three certification levels covered in this course are a lot of material to learn in a one-week period. We’ll send you course material in advance, and it’s very important that you study this material before the course begins. We’ve found that, with diligent study, even people with no experience can complete this course successfully.
For more advanced students, all ASA certifications courses require the previous levels as a prerequisite. If you do not have ASA certifications you can challenge the lower levels based on previous experience. Challenging the lower levels requires taking the written tests and performing the skills for the prerequisite levels.
To see where you may fit into the program, please see our ASA Course Summaries page, and click on the course headings to get a detailed syllabus of each certification level. Compare this with your experience.
If you would like to just take the course for the experience and knowledge no prerequisites are required.
Please call and we will help you decide which course would be most appropriate.
I’ve been sailing for years but have never gotten a certification. Can I take an advanced class?
Sailors may challenge any of the standards by taking and passing both the written and skills portions of the ASA test. You’ll then be eligible to take all further courses. Advanced sailors may also take any course for the training and experience, without receiving certifications.
I’ve been sailing for years – why should I take a class?
Many people — even people who have been sailing for years — have experience on only one type or size of boat, or in a limited geographic area. Also, many people who are self taught lack fundamental knowledge that can let them adapt easily to an unfamiliar boat or an unfamiliar sailing area. We provide the education and the fundamentals so that a student can then proceed on his or her own.
What kind of boat is used?
Please see our fleet page for boat specifications and photos.
How many students will be on the boat?
Class size is limited to four students. The Offshore Passagemaking classes (Bermuda, Transatlantic and Offshore Passagemaking) may have up to six.
What other charges are there?
Our prices are inclusive: boat, instructor, provisions, running expenses, books, certification fees, and customs and immigration fees. We even include sales tax, saving you 4% to 8% off of competitors prices.
Not included are one dinner, usually Saturday evening, alcohol, any expenses incurred off the boat, and dockage fees outside of our marina. (We usually will anchor out when away from our marina. If the group wants to go into a marina for any of the nights, that would cost extra and would be approximately $15 – $20 per person.)
What kind of food do we eat?
All meals are provided from Sunday morning to Friday lunch. We have the ability to provide a wide variety of foods in an attempt to meet most dietary requirements.
As part of your education in sailing and cruising, you will be planning the provisions for the week with the instructor. Together, we will inventory the supplies on the boat, create menus for the week, and make a provisioning list. Blue Water Sailing School will then do the shopping and deliver the food to the boat, where you will stow it away.
Who does the cooking?
Are we allowed to bring adult beverages?
Yes, for consumption only after the anchor is down and the instructional day is over.
Are accommodations provided?
Our courses are live-aboard cruising courses, with all accommodations provided on board from the first evening (usually Saturday) through the last evening (usually Thursday).
What is the weekly schedule?
Fort Lauderdale
Coming soon!
St. Thomas
This itinerary is sample itinerary for our Virgin Islands Bareboat Skipper course. Your particular week may differ in specific routes, anchorages and schedules, but the main goals of sailing instruction will remain paramount. This itinerary is not guaranteed.
Saturday:
Welcome to Blue Water Sailing School. Students board the boat around 4pm and are greeted by the instructor. Cabin assignments are decided and students gear is stowed. An offer of cold beverages is usually meet with a resounding "yes"! We'll gather in the cockpit to get to meet each other learn our boating experience and discuss our goals and decide what our schedule is during the week.
You learn how to use different parts of the boat. Most students are inexperienced, which is just fine; by the end of the week you'll leave feeling much more confident and secure handling a 40' plus sailboat. Then we discuss the menu plan and provisioning. The instructor has several suggestions but will look to you for special needs and dietary requests. Once the final list is prepared the instructor goes provisioning. Students may purchase any alcohol and mixers desired. This is the the best grocery store that will be encountered for the week so care is taken and options provided for. Once back at the boat all provisions are stowed, now each of us has an idea of where things are located. Must be approaching dinner time now and Mollie Malone's restaurant is a good choice among the dozen within walking distance. You stay on the boat at the marina.
Sunday:
Class starts about 9 am and continues for a few hours. Terminology, rights of way, and reading a chart are on the agenda, as well as learning where the federally required safety equipment is located. We discuss dock lines, cleats, prop walk and figure out how to get underway. Then, once the cooler is filled with ice and drinks left to chill, we'll depart. St. John in the distance beckons but we'll spend a few hours on the water getting familiar with the chart, using it to find aids to navigation and local islands. We take time to do sailing exercises: learning to tack, the points of sail and applying rules of the road. Later in the afternoon, making our way east we must tack back and forth to make our way into Francis Bay, St. John. We'll learn how to pick up a mooring ball and use the dinghy when we motor over to the pay station where the school pays for the mooring. Back on board we're all hungry and fire up the grill as well as break out favorite beverages. Now's also a good time to jump off the swim platform for a few strokes around the boat. There is great snorkeling by Big Maho Bay, but if the sun is low then tomorrow morning is a good time to go.
Monday:
After getting our batteries charged up and the boat in order we have class which includes on the water drills and skills. Then we depart north for Jost Van Dyke in the BVIs. Arriving in the BVIs the instructor goes ashore to clear customs and immigration. Then we're off to pick up a mooring or anchor the boat and dive into the test for ASA 101. This is all usually completed by late afternoon. Diving off the boat is quite safe and the water is always refreshing. A beautiful little island awaits with tasty lobster, roasted pig or a fresh catch of the day and more for those who choose to take the dinghy ashore to explore.
Tuesday:
This morning after the boat is put in order and the course plotted for our next destination we have class. After that we may get in docking and mooring practice. If the weather report and the wind are favorable we will go around St. John. Our destination may be Leinster Bay or Lameshur. Along the way we do crew overboard exercises. Rule is: lightest person goes in the water! No, just kidding; only PFDs go in the water to await our return and pick-up. We will sail the boat in each point of sail and learn to heave-to. Then we'll pick up a mooring and learn to tie knots in the cockpit. Now is a good chance to snorkel and see something. Did anyone see that ray jump out of the water over there? Or, how about that sea turtle swimming by? We set up the grill and make another fine meal under the stars.
Wednesday:
Class in the morning and plotting our course for our next destination, Cane Garden on Tortola. And see the dolphin that lives on the reefs and listen to Quito Rhymer strum his guitar and sing his sings. If the north wind is blowing we may instead head to The Bight on Norman Island. This island was the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's book "Treasure Island". Leaving our mooring, we make our way through The Narrows. Students will take the 103 test followed by some great snorkeling. As a matter of fact, we can go for it right off the boat. Once dried off, we may choose to dinghy ashore for dinner where both the ribs and seafood are outstanding. There are some great hikes and a lovely beach. We're away from the city lights here so the stars shine brightly, it's a great view from our home on the water.
Thursday:
Class again in the morning, but this time we follow class by a spectacular snorkel at The Caves or the Indians just a short distance from where we moored. Then, with our course plotted, we'll make our way through The Narrows leading to Cruz Bay, St. John and US Customs. Whoever is captain for this day will bring us in. Yes, the instructor is right by your side as he or she gives you the moves for a safe and smooth landing. We all get off the boat to go through the experience of clearing into the US. Back onboard, we head to our last anchorage at Christmas Cove and great last snorkel around Fish Cay (remember to say 'Key'). We may take the dinghy in for a spectacular meal at Robert's in Cowpet Bay across the channel.
Friday:
We do a review and take the 104 bareboat charter test. After grading it's time to pull up anchor and head back to St. Thomas where we may do our docking practice and get our boat back into her slip at around 1 pm. After some cleaning it's time to take photos, exchange email addresses, and say goodbye to each other and our home on the water.
Bahamas
Coming soon!
Newport
Coming Soon!
Do we have time to snorkel or scuba dive?
Our main goal is to sail and to teach sailing. If time and weather permits, we may have time in the schedule to snorkel on one of the beautiful reefs. Swimming from the boat in the morning before class or at the end of the day is another option.
Unfortunately, we have neither the time, space or insurance to accommodate scuba diving.
Will I have to share a cabin or berth?
Only if you choose to do so. Every student gets a private berth, couples will get a private cabin. All boats have at least one head (bathroom), some have two, some have more. The boats come equipped with linens, blankets, towels and pillows.
What is a typical day? Do we get some free time?
Sailing lessons and drills usually run from approximately 9am to 5pm. Depending on weather, tides and course material, a day may start earlier or run later. This is mixed between classroom sessions and sailing exercises, with the emphasis on hands-on sailing and drills. We will break for lunch, either anchoring or eating while under way. You will drop anchor in late afternoon.
Evenings are yours to relax, watch the sunset, swim, review your textbooks, read a novel or chat with your fellow students.
Do I need to study before the class starts?
Yes. Course material is included in the course fee, and is mailed to you upon registration. A thorough study of the material in advance is required to get the most out of the course. How much time you will need to study the material varies by student. There are approximately 325 pages of material for Course A Plus Bareboat Chartering (covering ASA certification levels 101, 103 and 104). If you are interested in what books we use, please see the Blue Water Bookstore.
What is your cancellation policy?
Please see our “Terms and Conditions.”
What happens if there is a storm or bad weather while I’m on the class?
Due to the nature of sailing and the weather, we do not cancel classes nor are we able to provide refunds for bad weather, with the following exception: If — at any time during your course — a tropical storm watch, warning or hurricane watch or warning is issued for the area you are sailing, you may take a rain check for the unused portion of your class. You may also be given a rain check if both you and Blue Water Sailing School agree to such, even if a storm or hurricane watch has not been issued.
Is there cell phone service?
Fort Lauderdale
Yes. There are a few areas of spotty coverage, but most of the time you will have service. Check with your carrier about roaming charges and service area.
St. Thomas
While in the US Virgin Islands and in some parts of the BVI that are in sight of USVI towers there is service. AT&T is the main carrier so AT&T customers have native service. Verizon, Sprint and other phones will be roaming so please check with your carrier for service and rates. While in the BVI the carrier is Cable and Wireless and you will be on international roaming (expensive). Again, please check with your carrier for international plans and service.
Bahamas
The Bahamas has a single mobile network provider, Bahamas Telecommunications Company, commonly referred to as BaTelCo. BaTelCo's mobile network is primarily GSM but they also have some CDMA tower support. The Abacos appear to be primarily, if not totally, GSM. If you have a GSM phone you should be able to use your phone in the Bahamas, although it will be quite pricey. Please check with your carrier for international rates, plans and service area.
Newport
Yes, you will be a major US population area. Check with your carrier about roaming charges and service area.
Can I get an instructor to teach me on my own boat?
Definitely - we do this quite often. As this type of course is totally custom please call or email to discuss options and pricing.
My spouse wants to come but doesn't want to take courses. Can he/she get a discount?
In general - No. We can only take a limited number of people on a boat, whether they are taking courses or not. Therefore, he/she would be taking the space of a full fare student.
What happens if the course does not fill up?
We are fortunate that we have been in business long enough and are successful enough that we almost always fill up our courses. Even if the course is not filled up, we seldom cancel courses. We understand that you have taken a vacation, booked flights and rearranged your life to take this course.
Our guarantee - if we have to cancel your course due to not having enough students, you will receive a full refund and a rain check to take the course at a later date for no cost.
Will the instructor expect a gratuity?
A gratuity is at your discretion, and should be based on the quality of the instruction you receive. As a guideline we suggest 10% - 15% of your course fee.