The Keys · Key West
Catamaran charter operation at Stock Island Marina Village with an ASA school built in, teaching Basic Keelboat through catamaran cruising on multi-day training cruises. Courses run as customized liveaboards around Key West, across to the Bahamas, or up on the Chesapeake.
The fleet is five named cruising catamarans, 38 to 48 feet, plus two power yachts, based at Stock Island Marina Village, and the school works the way the charters do: as multi-day liveaboard cruises, customized to the students, with the curriculum woven into real passages. The school lists three cruising grounds for its courses: Key West’s own waters, the Bahamas, and, in summer, the Chesapeake Bay; the charter side also runs to the Dry Tortugas.
The certification list covers Basic Keelboat (101) through Basic Coastal Cruising (103), Bareboat Cruising (104), and, fittingly for an all-cat fleet, Cruising Catamaran (114), taught private or group by ASA-certified, USCG-licensed captains. For a student who already knows the destination is a chartered catamaran, learning on a 40-footer with the anchorages included is the direct route.
The charter side runs day trips through week-long crewed and bareboat bookings on the same boats, with snorkel gear and swim floats aboard and paddleboards on some of the boats. Veterans get ten percent off the 101.
The Keys · Key Largo
ASA school on Buttonwood Sound, teaching from the Key Lime Sailing Club cottages at mile marker 99. Courses run on demand 363 days a year; stay in a cottage, learn on Florida Bay, and keep sailing the club's Catalina 22s free after you certify.
The Keys · Marathon
Middle-Keys ASA school running the full coastal-cruising pathway from Basic Keelboat through Advanced Coastal Cruising out of Marathon.
The Keys · Key Largo
Nonprofit youth sailing program on Buttonwood Sound, sailing from the Upper Keys Sailing Club beach in Key Largo. Summer, fall, spring and homeschool sessions for ages 6 to 18 in Optis, Club 420s and RS dinghies, scholarships, and host of the Buccaneer Blast each February.