Hello Captain Harold,

First of all I wanted to once more thank you VERY much for such a great experience and sailing course.

My wife and I are very happy and pleased with the course and the entire experience.

Thank you once more to you and your wife for a very professional as well as personal experience.

Sincerely yours,

Francisco

“The only thing I would say [about turning 60] is that a steaming train rolling down the track towards you clarifies the mind,” he says, laughing. “It does excite the senses and is thrillingly inspiring in ways that you might not have imagined.”

Been dreaming of Learning How to Sail? Margie and I moved aboard in 2002 and have not looked back.  New friendships, new places, new experiences are all reasons to do it now!

Vew from our evening's anchorage in the Lower Florida Keys

Greetings Captains Margie and Harold,

We had a fantastic week sailing with you on Island Dreamer in the Florida Key. The lessons, your excellent instructions and sailing knowledge are exceptional. After returning to sail our boat it was surprising how much our sailing skills had improved. The week of instruction, food, company, laughter and stops along the way truly exceeded our expectations.

Have a great Thanksgiving and Happy Sailing,

Monica and Keith

Thank you for the great article The 10 Top Green Places to Sail Now. Your segment on the Florida Keys was well researched but I have to take exception to the comment they should “furl the sails …and spend some time exploring [Everglades National Park]. Margie and I have been sailing the park and the entire gulf side of the lower Keys for the last 15 years in sailboats From a 24′ Venture with 18″draft (swing keel up)  to an 80′ schooner, 5 1/2′ draft.  The beauty of sailing while watching the bottom glide by in  7′ of clear calm water is an experience not to be missed. Snorkeling is not as dramatic but fascinating nonetheless, ranging from mangrove channels to turtle grass flats that are nurseries for many of the fish seen on the coral reefs.  The thousands of uninhabited islands are far different than the few connected to the mainland by US 1 and will alter your impression of the Keys forever.
This Summer Margie and I will be taking Boy Scouts on our 2 Morgan Out Island 41′ sailboats on BSA’s Eco-Adventure program from their Seabase in Islamorada. We will take groups of 12 sailing, diving, and learning about the ecology of the Keys. I hope to see your readers as they also sail in one of the most unique and beautiful areas in the world!

If you are not quite ready for advanced sailing classes and want to learn what its like to live on a sailboat in calm and protected waters come Sailing with Captain Margie and I in the Florida Keys. In any case don’t wait to start cruising, it’s a lifestyle that can’t be beat!

Sailing Cruising Consultants

A good hours work diving for Lobster

Of course it makes for a very tasty dinner. We have a cookbook called Just Florida Lobster, unfortunately out of print,  that has 55 different recipes in it.  I am proud to say I have tried them all.

The best one- Amandine Lobster first you lightly bread the tail, saute it, then make a sauce from sliced almonds, butter and Armaretto Liqueur. Not very healthy but well worth it.

If you join us during Lobster season (8-6 through 3-31) there is no guarantee, but we might just have fresh seafood for dinner.

1. Listen when she speaks- when Margie hears a sound thats different, wants to reef the sails or just doesn’t like the way something is going, I find after my instinctual  response (what do you know), that she is/was right.

2. Don’t lay the boat over on its side (heeling more than about 10 degrees).  The boat will make less leeway and go faster this way as a bonus.

3. Take your time, explain whats happening, enjoy the serenity of sailing. If you are in a hurry get a boat with 3-300hp outboards.

4. Know what the weather is, the boat can probably handle much more weather than you want to be out in. Know and teach her how to make the boat safe when the wind and weather picks up.

5.  Show her where the safety equipment is, the basics of how to use it, and what to do when you fall overboard. If you have been nice maybe she will come back to pick you up!

6. Teach her about navigation, charts, and markers. When you know where you are going you feel much more in control of your environment.

7. Give her the helm, when she gets comfortable go make lunch for her.

8. Sailing is all about where is the wind coming from. Make sure she knows this first. Then you can teach how to set the sails.

9. When you do something stupid don’t lash out at her. Yelling is a sign that YOU do not know what you are doing.

10. I just asked Margie for some input, she suggested that if the above does not work you might try just lying about how great it will be. I guess that means I must have made some of the mistakes above in the past!

1. Having my morning coffee, watching the sunrise while dolphins are playing around the boat in the quiet of the morning.

2. When we invite fellow cruisers over for a sundowner it only takes a couple of minutes to clean the boat (it’s a small space).

3. The boat may be small but my backyard is huge.

4. Visiting new and different places then coming home to my bed at night.

5. If the anchorage we picked last night was a little rolly, I will  appreciate tonights calm anchorage that much more.

6. Living comfortably yet having a low impact on the environment by using solar panels, sailing to get to my destination, catching rainwater, and using shade and natural ventilation instead of A/C.  I do have wireless internet, cell phones and Netflix, so I’m not really off the grid.

7. You can hunt for a Lobster dinner with a dive from the back of your boat.

8. How easy it is to make new friends and how helpful cruisers are.

9. Planning and making improvements to the boat systems. This one may not be for everyone but I enjoy it.

10. Arrival at a new destination after a long passage is much more rewarding than stepping off a plane. We are much more in tune with the changes in the weather,  not jet lagged, and  we made the trip happen.

Island Dreamer sailing on a close reach

Margie and I have spent the last few days sailing the backcountry of the Florida Keys on our journey  to Key West to pick up our next couples sailing charter. I am reminded once again how pleasant it is to sail along at 6 knots in 15 knots of wind and still have calm seas and not have the boat heeled over to the rails.  The combination of having the sails reefed and set properly and the protection of the many small islands and shallow water makes it easy to relax and enjoy gliding through the water.

We are looking forward to spending some time before our charter with our friends Captain Holley and Captain Denny who own the Schooner Conch Pearl. They do Liveaboard sailing scuba trips based out of Key West. We got to be good friends when Margie and I were running the Schooner Heritage of Miami for the Boy Scouts High Adventure Seabase and our days off coincided two summers ago.  Because they have a compressor on board to fill their Scuba tanks they are able to dive locations that diving day trip boats don’t go to in the Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary.