August 28th Newsletter: Summer Report & Fleet Updates

We had another great Advanced Class with 5 students, starting out on the Var 37 from Norwalk to Mystic, where we then switched to the Hanse 400 for the rest of the class. Wim and I put a huge amount of effort and experience into making this course interesting, challenging and very worthwhile.

The following quote is from Todd C, a lifelong sailor who currently races a 21′ high performance sport boat in upstate NY;
“As a veteran dinghy sailor with some big boat experience I was wanted to leverage these skills into big boat cruising skills and a formal US Sailing Bareboating Certificate to be ready to bareboat extensively in the Mediterranean the following summer. Martin and his team delivered beyond my wildest dreams! I am a former college sailor who grew up sailing lasers, 420’s and ultimately campaigned a J/24 before having kids. I got back into sailing recently and sail / race a Viper 640. I wanted an efficient way to convert my extensive dinghy knowledge into coastal cruising experience and to be confidently ready to captain a bareboat in the Mediterranean with family and friends with less experience than I as crew. The Sound Sailing Advanced Cruising course was perfect. In just six days I gained extensive experience with big boat systems, from diesel engines to heads, docking, including the infamous Mediterranean mooring technique, navigation and passage making. The sail from Norwalk, CT to Rockland, ME was a journey to remember and the perfect way to constantly apply and test my new skills. Immediately after the course my girlfriend and I chartered a boat from Martin’s team for the next six days and I applied my new skills sailing from Mystic to Block Island, Montauk, and Gardeners Island, making an idyllic vacation that we will both remember for a lifetime – in fact, we are now seriously considering our own boat! Thank you Martin and Wim!”

A beautiful sunset as we work our way up the coast of NE.
Continue Reading →