Ocean sailing

Ocean sailing is significantly different than coastal cruising or sailing in protected bays, lakes or rivers, and it requires an entire new set of additional skills and knowledge.

In protected waters, the sailor needs boat handling and basic navigation skills. For coastal cruising along the edges of the ocean, the additional skills of cruise planning, boat maintenance, over-night sailing, crew management, collision avoidance and coastal navigation are needed.

For blue water ocean sailing, perpendicular to the coastline, sailors must have the skills, knowledge and confidence that they can deal with whatever comes along. This confidence comes with the experience of having actually been there in a small boat, on a large ocean, in a variety of weather conditions, and without outside assistance. But, confidence also comes from knowing the potential dangers and knowing one's capabilities in dealing with these dangers. Pre-voyage preparation must therefore include thorough research into the conditions to be expected and an evaluation of one's ability to deal with those conditions.

Our Ocean Training Cruises are designed to help sailors with inland and coastal experience make the transition to blue water ocean sailing. We have a structured program conducted by highly experienced Ocean Captains on rugged Ocean Yachts. You will learn by doing the important elements of cruise planning, yacht preparation, crew management, weather analysis, ocean navigation, watchkeeping, heavy weather, emergencies, collision avoidance and more. We've conducted our Ocean Training Cruises program since 1993 using Island Packet ocean yachts and graduated many hundreds of sailors from this program. Read the Ocean Reports of some of these past cruises, and see our Course Descriptions and Schedule of Courses for dates and fees for upcoming courses.