Sailing Schools

Visit Website.  Azami Sports Sailing School provides safe and fun sailing lessons just outside Kamloops. We run one-day as well as multi-day courses and welcome families, friends and individuals, who would like to experience the thrill of wind in the sails. Our courses range from basic to intermediate, with the possibility of achieving ISPA Competent Crew and Day Skipper qualifications. We have a hands-on approach to learning and provide flexibility to address our customers’ needs.  

Visit Website.  Blue Pacific Yacht Charters, situated in British Columbia Canada, is a Vancouver yacht charter company, specializing in bareboat sail and power boat charters. Alternatively, you can hire a qualified instructor to help create unforgettable vacation memories aboard our late model charter yachts or do a Cruise and Learn course.  

No Website.  606 Cliff Street, Bella Coola, BC V0T 1C0,  Ph. (250) 799-5479  Learn to sail in one of Canada’s most beautiful places abounding in wildlife, magnificent mountains, glaciers and wilderness. The deep fiords, hot springs and great winds in the summer months could just spoil you forever. Make it a holiday as you learn from Janice Kyle, a seasoned sailor of many decades Victoria to Skagway – and beyond. A maximum of four students ensures a quality learning experience aboard ‘Circe”, a Moody 33. From one to six day options, ISPA Competent Crew to Coastal Skipper.  Contact us for more details at sailbellacoola@gmail.com  

Visit Website.  Desolation Sound Yacht Charters offers ISPA SAIL and POWER courses designed to fit your skill level and your schedule.  Put your friends or family together for the week that works for you, charter the yacht of your choice, add the ISPA instructor and course manuals and you’ve got your personalized course. You can spend your time cruising the Desolation Sound area while you learn to operate your sail or power yacht. What a great experience to live aboard, navigate and drive your yacht while exploring one of the most magnificent cruising areas on the BC coast. 

Contact us for more details at charter@desolationsoundyachtcharters.com  or check out our website www.desolationsoundyachtcharters.com

Visit Website. Our Cruise 'n Learn vacations are a step-by-step instructional, live-aboard program for those who want to become competent cruising sailors or power boaters. In a week of fun and excitement in the Gulf Islands we can teach you how to sail, handle a yacht and navigate safely through coastal waters. These comprehensive packages include your boat, instructor, course material, provisioning, bedding, and moorage. All you bring is your desire to learn. Our eight different course levels promise to challenge even the most experienced sailors. Cruise 'n Learn courses are an inclusive package sold on a per/person basis. As a cruising school, we provide the highest level of instruction, from beginner to offshore, by using the most comprehensive and modern methods of instruction, the most personable and knowledgeable instructors and the finest yachts. To ensure optimum personal attention, there is a limit to the number of students per course. Ask us about VHF radio certification.

ISPA or International Sail and Power Association certification is an integral part of maintaining our goal as a school and will be an important building block for you in reaching your own personal goals on the water. We have chosen the ISPA as our certification for its international recognition, its unsurpassed beginner to offshore modular workbook system, and the quality of instructors the program provides. On successful completion of each ISPA course level, the students achievements are documented in a personal ISPA log book. This logbook will assist the successful student in chartering and skippering vessels internationally. ISPA certification also qualifies the holder for significant insurance discounts on privately owned vessels and meets the requirements for the new Canadian Coast Guard Operator Licensing Standard.

Visit Website.  Dreams can come true- just make the one call. Whether you are individual wanting to learn to sail, improve your sailing techniques or learn to sail with friends, family or like-minded women we have the cruise and learn

program for you. 

Our students say it all as you read some segments from our Testimonial page:

“The boats are superb for the training, and all communications are prompt and professional. Your long-term instructors have been top-notch.”

"We jumped right into learning the instructor guided us through our paces, never getting excited even if we did once or twice. Best of all he (the instructor) was absolutely great with our kids. He would get them involved in the sailing as much as they desired and kept them occupied with other games and things when they didn’t. It wasn’t long before he was part of the family.”

"The whole experience has been a life-changing one for me and has reignited my passion for sailing. Thank you all for contributing to a significant moment in my life.”

Call us toll free today at 1-877-754-8601  for fun recreation and relaxation in the best cruising ground in the world.

Visit Website  Offers educational programs geared towards learning about and understanding our environment. We offer International Sail and Power Association accredited courses through our Adventure Cruising School, Pleasure Craft Operator Card certification, Specialized Women’s Cruising courses, and Young Mariner programs for those under 18. We also offer camps for youth, including the Nature’s Sacred Balance Youth Camp and Sustainable Selective Forestry programs for both youth and adults. We are located on the beautiful Gulf Island of Gabriola, in British Columbia Canada. Please see our website for more information about our programs: www.mysticoceans.com, or contact us at info@mysticoceans.com, or via phone at  250-247-9953

Visit Website  Oak Bay Sailing School is dedicated to teaching safe boating techniques through  professionally qualified instructors and small class sizes. Courses are certified by the International Sail and Power Association in Canada, and are offered from beginner level all the way to Yachtmaster, and instructor levels. Whether you are a beginner,  or have been sailing for some time, we will plan a course that will work for you! .

Visit Website Pacific Encounters offers skippered charters and ISPA sailing instruction for up to six guests at a time aboard  Porpoise, a Hudson Force 50 classic, teak-finished ketch.  This beautiful vessel is owned and operated by John and Lyza Clarke, a couple with over forty years experience sailing together on the BC coast, including a recent trip offshore to Hawaii and back to Alaska.  You can choose an itinerary that ranges from the Gulf Islands, Desolation Sound, or up on the central coast of BC.  What could be better than learning to sail with experienced skippers as you enjoy some of the best cruising grounds in the world?

Visit Website We offer various packages and programs from Competent Crew [basic seamanship] to Coastal Navigation to advanced Coastal Skipper certification. Because we are a small, owner operated, sailing school, we are able to provide our sailors the flexibility and individual attention they need. We normally take one to three students on 'cruise and learns'. We also offer skipper and instructor services on other's boats. Please see the web pages for more details.

Visit Website  More details pending..

Based in the heart of the Gulf Islands at Genoa Bay, (near Duncan on Vancouver Island), we offer one and multi day instruction on a 36 foot Grand Banks trawler.  ‘Sea Star’ is of classic design and is one of the last wooden tri-cabins built by American Marine before they began production in fibreglass.  She is equipped with two sleeping cabins, two heads, full galley, sun-bridge, Zodiac tender and all safety and navigation equipment.  You will be learning to operate a single screw vessel which will give you an understanding of how a boat moves in the water and is affected by wind and current.  You will gain the confidence to operate a boat without relying on bow thrusters or multi-directional propulsion systems

Learn the skills required to operate a boat safely in our coastal tidal waters including:

-  Docking

-  Anchoring and picking up a mooring

-  Use of radar, chart plotter, VHF radio, depth sounder, nautical charts

-  Safe passage making including buoyage systems, weather forecasting, tides and currents

-  Launching, retrieving and operating the Zodiac tender and outboard

Experience the Gulf Islands, the towns and pubs, the wildlife, the scenery.  Enjoy Butchart Gardens, the Saturday Ganges Market on Salt Spring Island, the fabulous resorts of Poet’s Cove on Pender Island and the Brentwood Bay Lodge and Spa, the wineries of the Cowichan Valley.

Achieve certification with the International Sail & Power Association which will give practical experience and confidence to the new boat owner.  ISPA certificate holders are entitled to boat insurance discounts.  ISPA accreditation is an important item on your ‘cruising resume’ should you want to charter and skipper a bare boat in Canada or the Caribbean.  We are offering accreditation to the following ISPA course standards:  Competent Crew Power, Day Skipper Power, Coastal Skipper Advanced Power, Coastal Navigation.

We do not have a web site so please contact Mark Moore at SeaStar@hughes.net or phone
250-748-6416 or mobile 250-701-8717.  Sea Star can be seen at www.gbwoodies.com/gb36-358

Visit Website  More details pending.

Visit Website  “Swiftsure Sailing is an Alberta based Sailing school offering ISPA certified courses. We can arrange sailing holidays and can bare boat charter from most providers on the west coast. . We conduct sailing classes in Kelowna and the Gulf Islands and in Calgary we offer classroom sessions in basic sailing, coastal navigation, VHF-ROC certification and PCOC certification. We can arrange sailing holidays and can bare boat charters with most providers at the west coast.”

Visit Website  More details pending.

Visit Website (currently under construction)  White Light Marine specializes in helping cruising sailors who want to gain their Competent Crew or Day Skipper certifications or just wish to hone their own,  their partner or their family’s sailing skills either on their own boat or another vessel.  Particular emphasis is placed on safety and boat and sail handling under various conditions and building confidence and competence to face the particular challenges that are unique to sailing the Gulf Islands.   

We understand that “one size does not fit all” and we can tailor make a very affordable instructional experience that exactly fits your needs.    We take pride in quickly forming a friendly helpful relationship with our clients, and use a low pressure mentoring approach to reduce the stress level and build on the enjoyment and fun aspects of cruising these wonderful waters.  Many of our cruisers have become good friends and we look forward to making many more in the future.  

For more information please contact us at w-lm@telus.net, or via phone at 250-327-4434